56 miles to Ireland and back

Absolutely gorgeous day.  Again!  Our Saturdays have just been amazing all summer and into fall (although it technically is still summer).  The plan was to bike down to the Irish Fest for the early afternoon.  You do know it is halfway to St. Patty’s Day, right? Started off the day with some pumpkin oats.  These were made with fresh pumpkin that John cooked up the other day with a pie pumpkin I brought home.

1 tsp of molasses, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin, topped with apple cranberry jam (that I made last month) and almonds.  Pecans would have been better, but we are out.

Nice relaxing morning waiting for the fog to lift and the temps to warm up some before heading on out.   After 11 miles, it was a stop for a quick snack. Pear power!

22 miles to lunch. Avoiding the festival $food$, we stopped in Saratoga at our favorite Cupcake lab!  I had a breakfast burrito that was super yummy.

It really helps when you are hungry.   Of course, that was just the prelude to the real reason we stopped in:

This was a green tea chai cupcake, which John and I split.  Needed more cardamom flavor.  I actually think this cupcake would be good as is with an apple filling.

I had my own Pistachio cupcake.

I love pistachio gelatto, so I quite enjoyed this one.  Lot of frosting, which is always a good thing.  The cupcake itself was green 😀

Gratuitous cupcake shot.

This was John’s Almond Joy.

With a tummy full of cupcake goodness, we headed on another 6 miles to the fairgrounds.  We actually biked this last year for another reason and using Google, it said it was 25 miles there.  Using actual odometer this year and it was actually 28 miles there.  Longer ride than anticipated today!

Lots more fest happening today and a lot more people. 3 different music stages for different types of music:  Traditional, up and coming, and rock/contemporary

Many imported Irish things:

Plus the usual fair junk.

And some alpacas.

Biker dudes in leather and kilts:

What does a complete dork get?  Porridge!  LOL.

I can’t wait to try these  (aren’t you all surprised).

We listened to some more music and then the real reason we came – Lunasa.  If you don’t have a CD of theirs, you should get one.  Go now.  I’ll still be here.

One of my very favorite things to have at any kind of fair is the fresh squeezed lemonade.  I don’t know why I love it so, but I do.

John also picked up some Irish soda bread so that we could get few carbs for the ride home.  So much for not eating at the fest…

Unfortunately, Lunasa got moved back in the schedule, which meant we could not stay for the whole performance as we had a 2-hour bike ride to get home with no real stop for any kind of dinner.  And we left at 5:00! As it was, we really pushed it past the lightness buffer.

We did stop around mile 45 for some coconut water and dates.

I felt so rejuvenated by the coconut water.  I don’t know if Gatorade does the same thing, but it is amazing to me.

Pushing home and my legs really felt good.

Can you see my odometer? The garage light is on.  That is how dark it was for the final mile or so.  Kinda scary. We don’t ride at night for safety reasons – even if I had lights on my bike, I don’t trust the cars.

Ride stats:

56.9 miles (damn close to 57!)

Top speed:  29.9

Avg Speed:  13.2 mph

Calories burned:  1720  (sweet).

This is the kind of long ride I like.  Leisurely with stops and yummy food in the middle.  Riding with my buddy:

I felt like I could have ridden for another 10 miles.  A lot different than the charity ride last week!  My legs are so awesome – I just love them! 😀  It’s one of those times where I am feeling in great shape (last 10 pounds be damned!)

As you can imagine, we were ready for food when we got home.  It was way past dinner time and that was quite a calorie burn.  I was totally craving veggies, as my diet has been deficient in them the last day or 2.  I made up a stirfry of cauliflower, broccoli and chick peas sauteed in coconut oil and some ginger stir fry sauce.

It was really good and cured the veggie need.  However, still deficient in calories.

The cure for that?

John made pumpkin donuts.  He had the dough rising for the last 2 days and I made him do them so I could take advantage of the long ride 😀

With some decaf coffee it was delicious.  Who doesn’t want a fresh donut (or more) at 10 pm?

This was a most excellent day.  I am going to miss these long rides in a couple months.

18 thoughts on “56 miles to Ireland and back”

  2. Shelley B

    Girl, you are killing me (you know why)! 😉

    Looks like a great day – what a fun thing, to bike to and from a festival! You certainly earned/burned the calories for your treats!
    .-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Friday Mishmash =-.

  8. Vee

    Sabotage, I tell ya! The world is conspiring. I just got done blogging about not being hungry tonight, then I watch undercover boss where the guy is making krispy kreme donuts (my very most favorite) then I see donuts on your post. Is it a conspiracy?!?

    Just kidding. Although I’d love a donut, I talked myself out of it real good seeing those krispy kremes (too many carbs, too far to drive to get one, too many calories, all sugar and flour and things I can’t have and be healthy, and no nutrition, etc.) I realize John’s are probably must better and definitely healthier, but I’m still not in that place. One day. Soon.

    I love irish / celtic festivals. Even worked at a gaelic bakery booth one year in aspen. Was wonderful. Glad you went. Great riding too.

    Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com
    .-= Vee´s last blog ..Im not hungry =-.

  9. Fran

    Another great Saturday. I look forward to your Saturday’s posts because the two of you do such fun things during your bike ride of the day.

    I love those cupcakes! I’ve got to bake some too soon with a nice topping.

  15. Pubsgal

    Oooh, that Irish festival sounded like so much fun! And heck yeah, I’d ride 56 miles for homemade raised pumpkin donuts in a heartbeat. (Well, it would probably take me longer than *one* heartbeat to do it, but you get the idea.) Those look superb!
    .-= Pubsgal´s last blog ..An Embarrassment of Riches =-.

  17. Dawn

    Sounds like a great day. Think I’m going to look into the coconut water, sounds good to me. It was your advice about the pumpkin that had me buy a case last November and I sure wasn’t sorry since I’ve yet to find a can of it in the store. I have 1 can left in the cabinet. They say they are going to have it this year but I don’t know. If not I will just buy another case of it. Thanks for all your good suggestions.
    .-= Dawn´s last blog ..The Weekend =-.

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