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Happy 4th of July!  It’s been a great weekend so far and I just love the extra day.  I hope you are all having a nice holiday if you get the time off.  Chris and I have been watching the Tour de France and it was great to see an American win today’s stage 🙂 Go Farrar!  I had my own little crash boom bang this weekend and I don’t mean fireworks! . . .  

Saturday started out with a great ride around the RMT.  It’s a 35 mile loop around Lake Mead and we had a comfortable pace going. We started at 5:30am and it actually wasn’t too sweltering hot yet which was nice.  Our highs have been around 110 F lately!

This is my favorite decent around the lake.

We even saw a guy on his way to California . . . crazy but very neat!

Just as we were getting close to home, I got a little ‘pull’ happy coming fast upon a sharp right turn.  I have made this turn probably a thousand times and should have known better that I needed to slow down more.  For some reason I misjudged my speed for that turn and when I came around the apex there was a shout out ‘riders up’ for some riders coming ahead.  In that instant I must have over reacted to try to get out of the way because I went off the pavement slightly and hit the gravel on the side.  Once I hit that loose surface that was all she wrote and I went down.

I was just a little shaken up and had to sit down for a few minutes.  I got a nice scrape on my elbow.  I’m not sure why I’m smiling here, but I guess smiling always makes me think I’m doing ok at least 🙂

After I sat down for a little bit and got my bearings back, we headed back home and I spent a good part of the day icing my bum and elbow, and watching the Tour de France.

I’m doing pretty good today, just a bit sore.  Here’s the bruise on the side of my bum.

This is my second crash in about 2 years of cycling, and I guess it does come with the territory once you start racing and pushing the envelope for what you can do.  Everyone has their crashes, but it does suck.  I’m glad I’m ok and I didn’t get anyone else involved.  I will take it as a learning experience to improve upon my judgement of speed for turns, bike handling skills, and not over reacting.

My bike sure needs a good cleaning!  I hate getting it scratched up, but it seems to be functioning properly 🙂

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Sunday we had some friends over for a little BBQ and it was fun!

This ’06 Zin from Jessop Cellars was fabulous!  Actually I believe this is their featured wine of the month!  I would definitely drink this again.  It was full of ripe fruit and had a nice medium-bodied finish.

Black pepper, clove and a hint of bell pepper precede a succulent attack of rich, ripe blackberry and cherry. This Zinfandel is delicately powerful and has good structure, balanced tannins and a smooth, firm finish. Pleasing and enjoyable, this is a Zin that will pair with almost anything.

I made some fun munchie appetizers like prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe…

I like to sear mine to get a nice outer crust.

Also made some pesto and goat cheese stuffed mushrooms.  These were fantastic!

I started by making a pesto base in the food processor and added some goat cheese for some cheesy goodness.

• 3 cloves garlic
• ~ 1-2 cups basil, packed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup parmesan
• 1 log goat cheese
• salt and pepper

Then I topped them with a parmesan/bread crumb mixture and baked them on a sheet pan at 400 F for 20 minutes.

mmmm

For grilling we whipped up some veggie pizzas and our friends brought over some beef kabobs, peach salsa, and pork chops.  Lots of food!

It was a great time!

Today I’m looking forward to chilling out, cleaning my bike, and visiting Kristen at her mom’s 4th of July party 🙂

What are your 4th of July favorites?