I had hoped to take the Vespa out for a spin in honor of the Giro d’Italia, which began today with a team time trial, but it was not to be. It remained parked next to the lawnmower, which at least got rolled out of the garage and then rolled right back in without so much as a tug on its starter cord.
Those In Authority at VeloNews.com had thunk up a couple of new wrinkles they hadn’t told me much about until D-Day (the off-site contractor is always the last to know) and so the usual Saturday chores took just a wee bit longer today and involved several of the famous words that introduced George Carlin to the Supreme Court. The only two-wheeler I straddled, briefly, was human-powered, if you will concede that I am human, which is a subject of debate in some circles.
The fun continues tomorrow with a mostly flat stage that all agree practically has Mark Cavendish’s name spray-painted all over it. In the Manxman’s honor, however prematurely, I’m drinking beer instead of wine. We have a jug of Yellow Kite pilsner from the fine folks at Bristol Brewing, and a sixer of Red Chair NW Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery, a longtime favorite here at the DogHaus.
We’re likely to need all of it to put out the fire from the tinga poblana I made last night. It’s a stew with chunks of pork, chorizo and chipotle chiles, and I think I put in a couple-three chiles too many, because the goddamn thing is nuclear. I’m surprised the leftovers didn’t burn their way straight through the bottom of the refrigerator and head straight for the earth’s core, which is only slightly hotter.
Mad Blog Media 
Hmm…I’m wondering how well that tinga recipe might work if I substitute some venison from my freezer for the pork. Good chorizo can be had from the Compadre Foods.
How’d you serve yours Patrick? In tacos, over potatoes or whatnot, or what? You’ve gotta watch those chipotles, especially the canned ones in adobo sauce. Those fuckers will light you up!
Barry, I just served it up in bowls, with sliced avocado on top and organic yellow tortilla chips and a green salad on the side. I was thinking about using the leftovers in tacos, but ran short of time.
And yeah, next time I’ll dial back the chipotles a tad. I don’t mind a little head sweat, but that stuff had me looking like I just ran a marathon in Phoenix in August.
I know it isn’t likely your day to worry about it, but the Velo site seems to be having issues -at least on my computer. It opens all jumbled, and I have to scroll down a page to actually find the news -yesterday I didn’t realize that and had to jump to that other ‘cycling news” site to find the Giro results.
VN looks OK on mine right now. I just upgraded to Mozilla Firefox 4.whatever on a Windoze XP rig.
Rick, you ever get your issues resolved? I haven’t heard of any other complaints, but the other lads may have gotten a few. So far so good on this end, anyway.
I had the same VN.com problem but it seems OK now. Watched the Giro stage via Universal Sports..they had the Brits doing commentary for a short time, then switched to Schwangler and Gogulski…I wish I could have switched back…they’re better than Versus’ Heckyl and Jeckyl but no comparison with the Italians Pancani and Cassani. It’s the same with LeTour, nobody describes these things like the natives. WHY these American-audience oriented guys must provide “bike-racing 101” constantly is beyond me…it’s TV, not radio!
Enjoyed a Barbera d’Alba last night in honor of today’s stage as yours truly treated the nice folks who look after things for us here in Iowa while we’re gone to dinner. After a prosecco toast we proceeded to crostoni with a white bean, tuna and onion spread along with prosciutto and melone, followed by a “primo” of homemade ravioli filled with asparagus and cheese in a butter and sage sauce. We uncorked a bottle (or two) of a Sangiovese/Cabernet/Merlot blend to go with the “secondo” of grigliata mista di carne (pork chops, ribeye and Italian sausage- all from happy local critters) done outside over charcoal along with potatoes roasted with rosemary and olive oil. Finished off with gelato affogato al caffe (vanilla ice cream “poached” in espresso)
The wife was out of town so yours truly managed not to mess any of this up too much and send our friends away happy and satisfied.
Old Ale-Jet rewarded my toasting with a win today over the Manx Missile — the kid was pretty pouty on the podium with the maglia rosa on his shoulders but in the endless replays I thought Petacchi did far less than I’ve seen from the likes of Renshaw and Cavendish over the years! Tomorrow they finish close to Ale-Jet’s hometown and Cav will want revenge — could be very interesting…and one week from today we’ll be there to watch live TV in ITALIAN.
I saw the post- game ‘Processo alla tappa’. It is hard to believe unless you see it: Cavendish is not merely dismayed when he speaks; he maintains an unpleasant, uncomfortable face and body language. The host got down on her knees at one point to sort of baby him along and he still wouldn’t snap out of his funk. He comes across as childish,selfish and also uncaring to the other guests and public gathered right in front of him. Guests included Mario Cippollini, journalists, an actress and a patron/philanthropist.
I was rather surprised that Pettachi didn’t shake Cav’s hand when he joined the group (he did later) but then Cav’s body language did not invite contact.
I love the Processo, just one more reason I can’t wait to get over there. I assume Alessandra DiStefano is the host again this year? She took awhile to get a handle on it last year (her first) but as she started to put her own stamp on it I hoped the RAI folks would keep her…though her finish-line interviews were the best…so her talents are in some ways wasted on Processo. Cavendish is a spoiled brat — when he wins (no matter how) he’s all smiles and tears…when he gets beat he’s a pouting whiner. The rest of HTC is admirable to me — but not this guy. BUT there’s always a need for a villain and Cav’s does a good job there!
Larry, Cavendish was so churlish and persistently ungracious that the crowd began to boo him and Alessandra had to insist, paraphrasing in English: you don’t boo the pink jersey!
Alessandra looked really uneasy last year – it was painful to watch – I felt for her. I’m glad she’s back and has risen above her discomfort.
Nope, still doesn’t work. I don’t speak geek, so no idea what system I am using, only know that I am not having problems with any other site.