Surprise Present

Before I gave up cycling as a teen, I passed along the passion to my cousin Cole. He was very enamored with the fitness aspect but never really got the bug for racing as I did. He bought a bike just I used for racing, albeit a model later and different color than mine. His job allowed him to move frequently all over the world and he always brought his Cinelli. Unfortunately his life ended suddenly on 9/11 at the Pentagon. His wife kept good care of his Cinelli and knew I would be one of the few people who would really appreciate having the bike. This Christmas she asked if I would like to have it and since we would find ourself at the same place (my parents) it was a good opportunity to pick up the bike. It brought back lots of memories. I had not seen it since his funeral, and not ridden it in 20 years.

They don't make bikes like this anymore. Everyone is so wrapped up in the technology and forgot about the esthetics. This is a 1985 Cinelli, all Campagnola Record racing machine. He and his wife kept this bike in wonderful condition. For more picture go HERE.

Birth Control Dip

My brother has this thing he tells girls when he doesn’t care for their shoe style, “I see you have your birth control shoes on…” For some reason that always tickled my funny bone. Anyway I made this dip the other day that had enough raw garlic in it to keep the opposite sex at bay. No one wanted to invade my personal space of about 2 rooms after eating half the container. Perfect!
It’s a healthy alternative to the normal sour cream type of dip.

1 can (15 oz) Canelli Beans drained
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 tbl stone ground mustard (not yellow mustard)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
dash of hot sauce
1 tsp cumin

Combine all above in a food processor, turn on and clean up your mess, about 1 minute. Slowly drizzle in

1 tbl olive oil

Keep on while cleaning up any remaining mess.

Its really good on French bread or crackers. Pretty much anything can be added or removed as far as spices go. I suspect roasted garlic would be good, or perhaps a dill and citrus variation for a sauce for fish.