The Bulldog/St. Bernardus

This blog was intended to talk about food occasionally, so here we go...

The Bulldog is a bar/restaurant in NE Mpls on East Hennepin (just a block down from Surdyks).

They are known for 3 things:

The variety of Belgian beers they serve.

Their hamburgers, which are domestic Kobe beef.

Their truffle oil and parmesan dusted french fries.

On Saturday night, my child bride and I went there for the 3rd time to eat. The first time was very good and the 2nd time so-so. We were very pleased with the food and service this time. We ended up sitting at the bar the whole time, which was fine. Diane and I both like sitting at bars in restuarants. Anyway, the first time we went to the Bulldog, I told the bartender I wasn't all that familiar with Belgian beers but that I liked Newcastle Brown Ale. He suggested the St. Bernardus Abt 12. Well, the Abt 12 is one FINE beer! Heavy, malty, and 10.5% alcohol. Have 3 of these, and you know you've been drinking serious beer.



And yes, they serve it those funny little glasses. $6 for 10 oz ain't cheap, but it's damn fine beer, my friends! Their food is very reasonably priced. Our food portion of the bill was $20, the beer and wine came to $45. I've got links to the restaurant and the Sint Bernardus brewery below.

http://www.thebulldogmpls.com/ne_index.php

http://www.sintbernardus.be/en/beers.html#abt12

No Record rear for me...

I had mentioned putting a Campy Record rear derailleur on the Luna. Even at my bike shop discount, I decided that it was more then I wanted to spend. I also want to upgrade my cranks on the Superlight, so after consulting with Stu and Larry, I will go with a Chorus rear.


Still pretty sweet looking, ain't she!

OK! I'm not going BMX after all.

I've decided to remain true to my roadie roots and join these fine ladies on road bikes. It might hurt a little bit in the saddle, maybe I should ride standing up?

I'm selling my bikes! BMX ONLY from now on!

Yup, I'm selling my two road bikes and the superlight. I'm going to change over to BMX. If all you guys can go and build up or buy a single speed then I'm going all the way. No fiddle farting around for me! (My dad used to say fiddle farting, where in the world did that come from?)

Anyway, I found a new team and I will be riding with them from now on. Nothing can change my mind.

I will admit, it took me a while to realize that they were BMX bikes, but I was distracted.

I looked pretty closely at this photo. I really don't think any of these fine ladies have artificially

enhanced breasts, thank you very much! I ain't sucking on no silicone!

Girl riding a bike...

http://www.playvideos.com/comedy/277.asp

Fair weather, indeed.

After seeing Vito's blog several days ago, showing his cycling room in the basement, I had to show the other side. About ten years ago I bought a trainer and set it up in the basement, put on some tunes and went at it. I think I did it a total of 3 times. Absolutely bored me to tears. The same with Nordic track and treadmills in the house. I tried videos, loud rock and roll (is there any other kind?), nothing worked. Spinning at the health club and to a lesser amount, skiing, became my salvation for the winter months. I like skiing very much, but this tome is called "fair weather Kenny's" for a very good reason. As I write, Diane is downstairs running on the treadmill, watching TV! Anyway, the point of this is to show how my bikes spend the winter. Vito, has his set up in a special room. Mine are as follows:

The Super light has a very inglorious spot in the garage. Locked in place to keep it safe, stuffed behind my new patio door screen! One of my favorite all time bikes. Lots of quality time spent in the saddle, and it has many races under it's belt. I should put a new crankset on it. I try to upgrade something every year on this trusty steed. I could never change it to a single speed. I suppose if I still had the Wheeler...

The steel queen, the Talladega, gets an upgraded spot indoors. This spare room isn't neat under normal conditions, but during our remodeling, it became the catch all for everything that had to move! The steel queen doesn't get the miles in as it used to, thanks to Luna, but, she knows when the season begins, she will be the ride of choice. This bike came so well equipped, I've never upgraded any of the original components. This was back in the day that Bianchi would equip a bike entirely with one groupo, not mix and match like they do now. In this case it was Ultegra.

Ahhh, the Luna! My carbon mistress!

As you can see, she gets the most special place in the house, the throne room! She's all cleaned up, waiting for her first ride of 2008. Stu needs to give her a tune-up, and she is ready to go.

I'm thinking of giving her a little upgrade this year, a Record rear derailleur.

My usual view...Isn't that inspiring!!

Thanks, Bill, for inspiring my to write this morning. And Madonna, the picture of your bike in the bathtub is classic.

Misc

Today will be a miscellaneous portion:

I went to the club today to try out my new Asics Kayano running shoes. As I walked into the locker room, the first thing I see is a naked man sitting in a wheelchair drying himself off. Did I mention he had no legs? Trust me, the Catholic guilt kicked in immediately. Sometimes we need reminders how lucky we are. The new shoes worked out fine, by the way.

Just got my results from my physical the other day. I'm pretty happy with them:
Cholesterol: 170 (<200), HDL : 92 (35-80), LDL: 70 (<130), Triglycerides: 39 (35-160)

I'd like to think it's from good living, but it's probably genetics! (or beer)

It was good to see all the amigos at Claddagh's on Wed night. Not used to seeing Matt drink
Coke, hopefully he's eating solid food again.

Alos, check out Madonna's blog. I hadn't read it till today. She is making us all look like wienies the way she works out so often!

Lowlife mother****er out there

Some lowlife mother****er stole my Brooks running shoes today. I was in the shower at Lifetime Fitness after spin class. I usually put them in the locker with everything else, but, today I forgot. I came out of the shower, started dressing, and couldn't find my shoes. All I can say is, what lowlife, **** sucking ###hole, mother****ing SOB would steal a pair of size 13 shoes?
Nothing like walking in 20 degrees in your stocking feet and driving home the same way to piss a guy off. I can't believe it. Especially after talking fondly about them and looking forward to running on the beach. What a ****ing loser that would steal your shoes.

Anguilla

I can't help myself. This time of year I start thinking of my favorite place, Anguilla. A small island, 3 X 17 miles wide and long. It has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Soft, ground coral sand fine and cool, even in the hot sun. Since I can't write a whole lot about cycling this time of the year, I'll be waxing poetic about the island, people, and of course, the Pumphouse; the best bar on earth. I'll drop in a few pictures of the beach for now. We stay about a 45 second walk from this beach. Last year, to stave off getting out of shape, I decided to run the beach. Running of course, for me, is torture. But, I figured it would be great to do it on this beach, barefoot, like I've observed people for the past 10 years. It was great! Nothing like a little Heineken hangover run in the morning. The next day I got up and had blisters! I didn't bring running shoes along, only 1 pair of sandals and a pair of beat up docksiders. I continued to run every other day and was careful not to over due it. Interestingly enough, I was the only guy wearing a Bianchi bandana. This year I will bring my Brooks shoes along to avoid the blisters.

Of course, when I'm not "pounding the beach," I'll have a view more like the one below:

TDF 2008: FABIAN!

It's never too early to think about the tour. Especially when I go to spin class 4 times per week and see the same stages of the 2005 tour over and over again. Today was a treat, Scott B. was doing a solo spin before class and he had the 2005 DVD in. The instructor, who is fucking clueless, left it play from where it was. I got to see Rasmussen crash all over the course again in the individual time trial. You'd think he was on drugs or something.

Anyway, back to the TDF. I think there is a damn good chance that Fabian could win it, but which one? Fabian Cancellara of team CSC or Fabian Wegmenn of Gerolsteiner? I know if the race were to held underwater, Wegmann would win it. Team Gerolsteiner has always been my favorite as far as their kit is concerned. Love that blue.

I love George. He always looks like he's having fun, doesn't he? Oh, that's Cancellara in the mellow johnny.

Bobke

Found this on the PEZ cycling website. Classic Bob!

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5559&status=True

Happy New Year everyone! 2008 will be a great year to ride a bike.