Away From The Madding Crowd

mark55man

That is very true OG.  I was in Paris for the last day of the tour when I was 18 - and didn't even know it, until I joined in with the crowds and watched them do loops.  But watching them go up hill so quickly is astonishing.  Doing a virtual Alpe d'huez is on my bucket list but I have a long way to go - not sure I could finish it even going downhill

Organgrinder

mark55man said:

That is very true OG.  I was in Paris for the last day of the tour when I was 18 - and didn't even know it, until I joined in with the crowds and watched them do loops.  But watching them go up hill so quickly is astonishing.  Doing a virtual Alpe d'huez is on my bucket list but I have a long way to go - not sure I could finish it even going downhill

I've done a virtual Alpe several times. It's a lovely feeling of achievement. Honest! ;-)

Clowance

Organgrinder said:

I've done a virtual Alpe several times. It's a lovely feeling of achievement. Honest! ;-)

 Is this on an exercise bike with a screen? Curious

Organgrinder

Clowance said:

Organgrinder said:

I've done a virtual Alpe several times. It's a lovely feeling of achievement. Honest! ;-)

 Is this on an exercise bike with a screen? Curious

Yes it is.

It's an app called Zwift that runs on pc, Mac, apple TV, iOS and Android.

You need a bike and a turbo trainer. 

Basically the trainer measures your power output and that gets converted to virtual speed. (You can do a virtual power set up which is much cheaper but it's not very accurate).

Hopefully you can see from the photos the sort of thing I mean.

Clowance

thanks looks fun (ish!)

Organgrinder

Clowance said:

thanks looks fun (ish!)

It is. Did the Col de La Madeleine on it today.

Humboldt

BrilliantButScary said:

I hope the weather is kind to you this week, so that you can enjoy the time you spend with your family outdoors. How are you getting on with your air fryer ?

Hi @BrilliantButScary, hope that you are enjoying the weekend.  We had only one rainy day this week, and fortunately it didn't impact on our plans too much because we visited a local museum.  The museum catered for all ages, was really interesting and also interactive, so a great day was had by all.  Sunny days were spent at the seaside, visiting new places, paddling in a beck followed by a picnic, BBQ's in the garden and cream teas in a café.  We then had a quick turnaround on Saturday morning, before new family members arrived in the afternoon. 

Early days with the air fryer, but I'm impressed so far.  On Monday I used it to roast the vegetables and was pleased with the short cooking time and overall result.  On Friday I used it to cook the frozen chips that the family had with homemade pizza's. The oven was full, so it was handy to be able to cook the chips separately. Someone who already owns an air fryer offered to supervise the cooking of the bacon for butties this morning, so that was an added bonus ;0)

Humboldt

Hi @Organgrinder and @Mark55man, I've never visited the Pyrenees, but the area looks stunning.  A family member went there as part of a university course and did ice climbing and winter hiking, the photographs were amazing.  Thanks for sharing the details of the trainer set up that enables you to virtually complete the routes.  I will pass the info onto someone who I think will find them of interest. A great way to keep fit! That said, a bit like @Clowance, personally I'm not so sure, even if it is only on a screen   

Today's simple pleasure - spending time with family.

BrilliantButScary

Humboldt said:

BrilliantButScary said:

I hope the weather is kind to you this week, so that you can enjoy the time you spend with your family outdoors. How are you getting on with your air fryer ?

Hi @BrilliantButScary, hope that you are enjoying the weekend.  We had only one rainy day this week, and fortunately it didn't impact on our plans too much because we visited a local museum.  The museum catered for all ages, was really interesting and also interactive, so a great day was had by all.  Sunny days were spent at the seaside, visiting new places, paddling in a beck followed by a picnic, BBQ's in the garden and cream teas in a café.  We then had a quick turnaround on Saturday morning, before new family members arrived in the afternoon. 

Early days with the air fryer, but I'm impressed so far.  On Monday I used it to roast the vegetables and was pleased with the short cooking time and overall result.  On Friday I used it to cook the frozen chips that the family had with homemade pizza's. The oven was full, so it was handy to be able to cook the chips separately. Someone who already owns an air fryer offered to supervise the cooking of the bacon for butties this morning, so that was an added bonus ;0)

Sounds like a busy, but enjoyable time for you with family visitors. It sounds like you live near the seaside, whereas we are about the furthest you can be from the sea! My husband always says that I don't think I have been on holiday unless I have seen the sea.

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I should be following your lead and doing some decorating, but have not felt very motivated. It's been a bit too hot for me at times.

We had a very local walk this week, to watch the sand martins, still appreciating being retired and dancing to my own tune. 

Savvy_Sue

BrilliantButScary said:

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I have had courgette cake - similar to carrot cake. Google has turned up many options, including one with raspberries!

The big advantage of that might be being able to cook in bulk and freeze it ...