They Call me....Bobby Flay....

No, they don't really call me Bobby Flay. In fact, I wouldn't even call myself Bobby Flay. However, pictured above could be one of the best, most complicated, yet simple dishes I have ever made. On the upper right we have some Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil CousCous. Below that some broccoli and to the upper left: Venison. That's right...one of the greatest foods known to man.

The recipe really centered around the venison. I am not going to lie, the coucous came in a box and I actually made it in the microwave and the broccoli...well just about any monkey can make broccoli...I steamed it on the stove. On to the venison...nature's gift.

The recipe was Cranberry Chipotle venison. It involved cranberries, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, honey and wine. Like I said, elaborate yet simple. I had never done a meal where you actually made a sauce for the meat, so, it was an experiment and one that I would say succeeded. The venison is some tenderloin from 2008 courtesy of Flip. I started by making the sauce...combined honey, water and the cranberries. Then, I made the venison, then put it all together. I would have to say, my body was happy! There was a little bit of bite in the after taste of the sauce, but it was decent. The picture doesn't really do justice to how nice it looked and definitely doesn't do justice to how great it tasted! Even Amanda said it was good, and this girl cooks a lot and does it very well!

Anyway, enough talk about food...I did my first Trocadero team ride last night and faired better than I thought. I kinda missed out on the first and only sprint, but was involved in some tempo setting on the way back and responded to an attack...up a hill...on the way back. All in all I felt pretty good. The day before I had done some hill sprints, so my legs were a little fatigued. I followed that ride up with almost 4 hours today. There was a serious wind from the southwest, so I road to east troy...which is conveniently southwest. Though I had to ride into the wind on the first half of the ride, the second half of the ride I probably could have coasted the entire way back home. It was sweet.

Tonight Amanda and I are going to go hiking and hopefully will get to see a cool sunset out at Lapham Peak. Then, back to work tomorrow. Hopefully people won't get stupid with the warm weather...though those things seem to go hand in hand! Nothing a good tasing can't take care of though.

Slightly less motivation

Well, today was a day in which I had planned another good ride. However, when I woke up this morning, saw the grey, cloudy skies and heard the wind blasting against my window, I decided I would just not go for a ride today. Plus, the temperature was quite low...ok, not that cold. I basically decided I wasn't going to ride today for no other reason other than I just didn't want to.

Instead, I went and visited my old co-workers at Allstate. I had only planned to be there about an hour, but ended up being there for 2.5. Really. So, I am now at the parental's using the internet and washing some clothes. I just started watching the last episode of "24."

Regarding the whole internet thing...I am wondering what I should do. I have roughly 3 months left at my apartment and I am thinking I may just start looking for a house. I am not sure if it will be worth it, or I will be allowed, to go on a month to month lease from July to October. July is when my current lease ends and October is when my probation period is done. So, the question is do I go to Cricket and go with the wireless modem, or do I go to ATT and sign up for a service or do I just continue coming to the parentals to use the internet. It is much more convenient and time efficient to look on the internet while I eat breakfast and drink my coffee, as opposed to eating and then going to mom and dads. I am not sure what to do, but will come to a decision eventually. The Cricket thing is $40, but portable to wherever, ATT is cheaper than that, but not so portable.

Time to look for something to eat for dinner.

Peanut Butter Combo

Yesterday was an awesome day for a ride, again. It seems we have had some pretty great spring days for riding here in the Midwest. Hasn't been too windy and the temperatures have been very mild, for the most part. You can't really tell from this picture, but there was not a cloud in the sky yesterday. It was pretty awesome. I made up a newer route, which essentially incorporated a bunch of old routes. It included some good hills and some good time on some flat roads. This is a picture of the Fox River, which the Thursday night ride from Wheel and Sprocket goes over...twice. It is definitely spring because this thing is swollen and...it smells. Not sure why, maybe it is because there is a bunch of garbage that is caught up and stuck among the river line, but, it still looks nice despite the smell. This was a pretty good spot for a picture.




All in all it was a good 2.5 hours of riding and once it was over I enjoyed a banana with one of the greatest creations made...dark chocolate and peanut butter. You can find more information out about it by clicking here. Seriously though, it is awesome and tastes fantastic. I don't know how my mom found it, but, she done good! There a ton of varieties of flavors and best of all they are all natural and organic. Not that I am an organic only eater, it is just great these awesome flavors don't include "high fructose corn syrup" or "partially hydrogenated oils" like most other peanut butters do. Lets examine some of the flavors shall we:

**So let's first just note that this place now has "Easy Squeezy" Packs. Seriously, if you don't believe me go to the website and look at it. It is a to-go package of peanut butter, what a sweet idea!

Alright...on to the flavors:

1. "Cinnamon Raisin Swirl" - Really, how could you not like this. It really speaks for itself.
   
2. "The Heat is On" - Peanut butter with, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper and paprika. I don't think this would be an everyday kind of peanut butter, for in a PB&J sandwich, but, they suggest using it for crackers or celery. You could have "Fire Ants on Logs."
3. "Dark Chocolate Dreams" - This is what I enjoyed on my banana yesterday. It is amazing. They also have a white chocolate version, obviously not called the same thing.

I mean really, what is better than chocolate and peanut butter. I am pretty sure if you don't enjoy a Reese's Peanut Butter cup every now and again, you probably have no sense of taste in food! Alright, maybe you have some taste, but you don't know what you're missing. Peanut Butter and Chocolate is probably the greatest creation since peanut butter or chocolate! If you add in a little honey...WHOA!

Now that I have spent most my time today looking at things online, I might actually go and get ready for a ride. Today will be an easy day due to the fact tomorrow I am going to do a harder ride and yesterday was a little taxing.

Take some time to examine the Peanut Butter and order some...you won't be disappointed!

Tatiana

Hello friends...meet Tatiana, my new bike. Yes, that is right I have named my bike. I had a name for my other bikes in the past. I don't think I ever actually gave the bike the name, however, a name did exist.

This one I named myself though. The picture doesn't really do it all that much justice, it is a very lovely bike. It is a Trek, made in Wisconsin. I believe my brother may have won a race that was held in the town where the race was held...not surprising really.

This bike was a team deal we got through Wheel and Sprocket for this season. It is a Trek 6.9 Madone, made with red carbon. I have no idea what that means, other than it is super light and stiff. Which is a good combination for someone of my power (read that with a lot of sarcasm). It has SRAM Red components, which are pretty damn nice and light. I am excited and think I may, in fact, do some racing on this nice machine this season. Which does require me to renew my racing license, all in due time I suppose.

The weather here in the great state of Wisconsin has been decent to say the least. I haven't ridden quite as much as I had hoped, however, I chose to work some overtime hours which were until 4am on a couple of occasions, so, it is slightly difficult to recover from that. We had some crappy weather over the weekend but we are in a good stretch now, and tomorrow will be a day to Holy Hill.

Not much else to talk about...I'd like to mention something about the Obama-Care bill that was recently passed last night by our wonderful congress...but I think I might just let it be.

Well, thats all for now...hope all is good in your world!

Aaron

No Riding Today

Well, it would appear as though I will be rained out of today's ride. I say "I" only because there are others who are probably hardy-er than I am and will be riding in the rain today. I don't mind riding in the rain but there are a few conditions:

1. It needs to be at least 52 degrees.
2. I need to have time to clean and wash my bike.
3. It has to be a little later in the year.

Anyone who rides a bike knows that, particularly in Wisconsin, the roads immediately following the winter melt are covered in crap. Anything from salt to rocks to nails...who the hell knows what else. In any case, they are simply nasty. We have had about 2 good rains that would have washed anything off the road. I caught the second of those two this morning when I was up at about 6:30. Which makes me a little bit tired.

I should mention, I am house sitting for some good friends of mine. They have two of the coolest dogs I know...super relaxed and easy to take care of. Currently they are sleeping in front of the tv. One has pretty terrible gas. Part of the reason I didn't sleep well is I didn't get to sleep on my own bed. So, back to the ridiculous and meaningless comments on the rain and making excuses not to ride outside...

I also don't enjoy having a dirty bike, so if I were to ride in the rain, I would be forced to clean my bicycle which is no simply task. For anyone who knows me it takes some time for me to clean said bicycle because I get a little OCD about it. I am faster at doing it than I was in the past, but, it still takes me some time to get it done.

I don't want to get sick...I hate being sick and I feel as though putting on clothes that don't exactly repel water the best, then riding in cool weather doesn't seem like a very good idea. At least, that is my rational. I guess if I was maybe a pro and getting paid to get results I might have a different take, but, I'm not, so, I can sit and enjoy my breakfast:

I am not quite sure it qualifies as a breakfast of champions today, but, it was damn good. A little oatmeal with some fresh raspberries, honey and granola and a homemade cappuccino!

Well, I think it might be a good time to go watch a movie. Hope you all have a good day!

When the time comes...

The title of this post really has nothing to do with anything. I don't have a lot to write, a few observations and other than that, not a whole ton.

I went for a lovely little ride today. I felt pretty weak, but I think that is going to be a consistent feeling for at least a few weeks while I re-acclimate to riding outside and needing to actually use my leg muscles. I feel as though I am pretty decent shape at the end of this winter...I did a fair amount of cross training...XC skiing, which is super frustrating, running and weight lifting. So all in all, I think I am coming out of the winter slightly ahead. Either way, I rode without gloves today, which is a win no matter how you look at it.

Today was supposed to be on off day, but, I got to go and work the high school basketball game. The state tournament is going on and there were two games tonight. I get to work the one game tomorrow night as well...which is another off day. All that really means is that the time is all overtime, which is nice! Both games tonight were very competitive. The first game was supposed to be a rout, but, ended up being really close. For a while, it looked like the underdog might pull it off...but, then the pressure got to them and all went to hell. The point guard looked like me trying to handle the basketball...putting it between my feet, kicking the ball, falling on the ground...it wasn't pretty.

The second game was good and close, but, not for the right reasons. The ref's were calling ticky-tack fouls...and one sided. I understand being a referee is a difficult job, I wouldn't want to do it. It is tough as a sports fan to watch a game where one team is clearly outplaying the other, but the game is close only because the better team is being held back. Either way, the better team did end up winning and that is mostly what matters.

Tomorrow the plan is to go for the group ride from W&S, that's Wheel and Sprocket. I say that is the plan because there is still a chance for rain and as I type this now, it is raining and extremely foggy! So, if that doesn't happen, not all that terrible. Maybe that would be more time to spend with the lady.

Sunday should be a good day though...the plan there is a team ride through the Holy Hill area. This is sweet riding country and it is supposed to be sunny and nice.

All for now, keep it real.

Rain...Rain...RAIN...

Well, here is the forecast for the upcoming few days in this corner of the world:

Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
47° F | 40° F	45° F | 40° F	45° F | 38° F	43° F | 36° F	45° F | 36° F
Chance of Rain 70% chance of precipitation	Rain 70% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 50% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 50% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 40% chance of precipitation

It isn't terrible, certainly, but, it could get in the way of some good quality riding. Of course, it could always be worse. The really great thing about the rain is the washing of the local roads. Some may or may not know, but the Milwaukee area uses a lot of salt on the roads in the winter. There are some local towns that don't, but their roads are super slippery in the winter. So, the salt is used on the roads to make sure it is safe for all those wonderful drivers. As I was saying though, salt is not so good for a bike. So, ideally, the rain will wash all the salt from the road and it will leave them clean and clear for riding!

As for the riding...I have ridden several times now that the weather has changed for the better. I am not sure if maybe I was just being weak or lazy, but I think I rode the 'cross bike outside once this winter. Pretty pitiful really. I rode the rollers more than last year and I took up cross-country skiing. Overall, I am fairly certain I am in better shape, cardiovascularly, this year than I was last. Only time will tell though.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new bicycle. There have been a few issues and it has not yet arrived at the local shop. I am told hopefully by the end of the month...we shall see. Thankfully I am lucky enough to have another bike to ride for now. Hopefully the weather cooperates for Friday and Saturday...my off days...and I can get some good riding in. I feel a ride to the holy hill area necessary, but, we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Nothing too interesting in the way of work. I can say I met the "Cat Lady." She clearly has an affinity for cats and everything about them...not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but, we all have our thing.

Well, that is all for now...I am hoping to get in for a workout before I hit the streets, but, time is going to be a little tight.

Ciao ~

Another New Start

Well, welcome back to the world of Busche - number 1. I am saying #1 only because I am the oldest. If you look at who is really #1 it is probably the #2 Busche.

Since I last wrote, which was two years ago on a different blogspot, a lot has changed. The little bro got married and is riding for Team Radioshack. Yeah, pretty sweet...this is why he is clearly the #1.

I too have a new job. I can't really talk about it too much. Not that it is all that secret, but, I'd prefer not to discuss too much about it. I will have some interesting stories to share at times, hopefully, and will surely write about them on occasions. Lets just say, I am no Barney Pfief. I have no idea if that is spelled correctly.

I am living in a new place, which is above a cool little bakery. Sometimes I can use the wifi from the bakery, but lately it hasn't been working too well.

I also have a new lady-friend, who is very lovely and is doing a good job keeping me occupied and happy. She is a good friend and it is nice to have someone to share some pretty cool experiences with.

All in all, life is going well and I am hopeful you enjoy reading some of the stories.