About thefasteryoupedal

Hi! I'm Liz and I am a 38 year old teacher from Las Cruces, New Mexico. I'm also a fan of mountain biking, road biking, running, and traveling. I'm always up to try something new! This blog is for me to share ideas and also to receive new ideas!

Sizing Up The Competition

Posted on May 8, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So we have a 12 hour race on Saturday in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Mike is excited because he signed us up for a four man coed team. The reason why he did it was that there is a greater chance to podium if you are on a coed team because there will hardly be any people signed up for it. Most people want to race all boys or all girls. We were hoping to be the only team. As a matter of fact, we were the only ones that were signed up as of Saturday.

Well….they extended the deadline and guess what happened? A group signed up. Tonight I got a frantic phone call from Mike while he was out biking and he tells me to check out the group. Usually when we race we will look up the roster and start measuring up the competition by Googling or looking on nmcycling.org for people who have raced before. My senses told me to look on Google first because the girl signed up was from Tucson, Arizona. And this was the first link I got:

“Women of Giant: Cindy Lacotta”

Cindy Lacotta, Giant’s only female account executive, sets a precident for reaching out to new riders and growing the women’s cycling community in her Southwestern territory. Cindy, truly a jack-of-all-trades, has worked as a as an electrician for stage productions, usually running a spotlight (citing that she’s seen Cats waaaaay too many times), has a background working in bike shops, and as you’ll read in a few minutes, has even been part of an archeaological dig!

In case you don’t know, Giant is a maker of mountain bikes and road bikes.I have some work to do…

Handsome Beast.

Posted on May 5, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I have been trying to practice taking pictures because I requested a camera for my birthday that I can use for blogging, school work, classes, etc. The only problem is that besides biking, there really isn’t much to take pictures of. So of course, I have to use Barney as my model and boy does he ham it up.

Isn’t he such a handsome man?

High Altitude Classic

Posted on May 5, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

It’s been years since Mike has raced in Cloudcroft, since they had to stop it for a while and then ended up cancelling it last year because of fires. We finally got to go try it out and even better, were able to sleep in our own beds the night before.

This was my first Cloudcroft race and I was VERY nervous considering I had gotten way out of shape during the winter and lost all hill climbing skills I gained last season. Here I am right before the race. It was nice because we actually had time to be ready and hang out before the race.

Mike was sporting Crazy Cat and Zia Velo.

The hill climbing was intense and we had to do it twice! Mike was able to do it under two hours and it took me a lot longer. Afterwards, we had todown some pickle juce so we wouldn’t get cramps.

Even though I did pretty crappy, I still got 2nd place!

Overall, it was a fun race, but VERY HARD.

A Trip to the Local Market

Posted on May 4, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

The hunt for Chia seeds. I know you can order them online, but I was looking for a local place where I could pick thm up in town to keep it simple for me. I have been reading about them online a lot on how high in fiber they are and how healthy it is to eat them.

I finally made it over to the Mountain View Market here in Las Cruces and found out that the store has some very EXOTIC things in it, things I have never seen before. I wish I could describe all the things I saw, but everything was gluten free, organic, local farm grown, pesticide free….it was so crazy! It made me want to go home and throw everything out that wasn’t good for me and just go on some crazy shopping spree in the store.

I was having a hard time finding the Chia seeds, but the friendly staff was very helpful. Anyone have a local market they like to go to?

P.S. I put them in my oatmeal and they puffed up a little, but they don’t taste bad at all. The guy at the store said that i you put them in juice, they blow up into little gooey balls and you can eat them (kind of like boba..google it).

Homemade Baked Chicken Taquitos

Posted on May 4, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Every Christmas I can look forward to a gift from my sister that I use year round and beyond. She makes a homemade cookbook where she has some “Tried and True” recipes. Most of them are “light” meals that are pretty delicious and often good for you. Of course, there are a few that sneak in that are just great tasting…but maybe not as good for you. 🙂

This was my second time making them and I changed it a little bit to fit the things I had in the fridge.

1 package of chicken fajita precooked mix

3 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup of Pace salsa

garlic salt

1/2 cup of cilantro

1/2 cup Sargento Mexican Light cheese

1 pack of corn tortillas

Spray pan and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. You might need to heat the cream cheese for 20 seconds in the microwave to soften it.

Put mixture on the end of a warmed corn tortilla. Heat the tortilla in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften.

Roll tortilla in taquito shape and place face down on cookie sheet.

Line up taquitos until all the of the mixture is used.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with salsa.

Guess What I’m Doing In Two Weeks?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

In two weeks, I will be competing in a 12 hour mountain bike race with three other guys. We are going for the gold for Coed 4 man Team.

Last year, I was on another Coed Team called “Lady Cluck and the Boys”…and each time I rode around on my lap, they would say “There goes Lady Cluck!”.

It was awesome.

Pre Race Superstitions

Posted on May 2, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

As hesitant as I want to admit it, I am a little superstitious when it comes to race day. There are certain rituals that have to be done in order to make sure we are calm and ready for a race. For a while it was never discussed, until we finally came to terms and told each other things we HAD to do or else it would ruin any routine we had.

Superstition #1: You must eat a bowl of oatmeal before the race. We seriously love Starbuck’s Perfect Oatmeal (if you haven’t tried it, do it…and its only $2.95!). Even if you have to force it down your throat, which I usually end up doing out of nervousness, you must eat some!

Superstition #2. Let me back up a second. You have to have a night before meal which consists of chicken pad thai (from Thai Delight) and salads. It is fuel for the legs and lungs. 🙂 Anything else, leaves you less than ready for the next day.

Superstition 3 : If there are bad songs on the radio, then it will be a bad race. Only good tunes allowed.

Superstition #4: No talking before a race. We both are nervous, therefore we just make it worse if we talk. It helps to avoid any confrontations.

Superstition #5: Mike must check the front tire of my bike. Even if I know its on, I’ve raced where the tire flew off and it wasn’t pretty, so Mike has to check it and put it on each time from now on.

That about sums up the basic superstitions we have. If these rules are not followed, catastrophe lies ahead.

P.S. Chocolate milk and pickle juice. Awesome after race combination.

Cheap and Easy Popcorn

Posted on April 29, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I immediately will begin this by giving credit to my sister for this idea (and maybe the person or people who gave her the idea). She is on Weight Watchers and told me that she found an easy way to control what’s in her microwave popcorn. I LOVE MICROWAVE POPCORN…but, I do know how bad it can be for you with all the added oils and butter.

Anyway, all you do is take a paper bag, pour seeds in it, roll it up, and hit the “Popcorn” button on the microwave.

Then you can add whatever seasoning, or low fat spread on it. I usually just spritz it with spray butter, but I have tried sprinking some cheese on it too and it tasted awesome.

Of course, I had an audience. 🙂

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos

Posted on April 28, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

When Mike and I go to San Diego, we stay at this same hotel along a bike path that takes you over to Mission Beach. Along the way, there is a Wahoo’s Fish Tacos we park our bikes at and eat away. It’s usually on the way back after a LONG 20-30 mile ride across San Diego and we usually wash it down with a well deserved Sierra Mist.

Anyway, I wanted to recreate the tacos, because they are awesome! So here is my recipe:

1 cup of cilantro

3/4 cup miracle whip

1/2 cup of lime juice

(add more lime juice is sauce is dry)

corn tortillas

4 tilapia fillets

cajun seasoning

garlic salt

olive oil

Warm skillet on medium heat, add a little olive oil, and place 4 tilapia fillets on the skillet. Sprinkle garlic salt and cajun seasoning on top. Flip over fillets when browned. Season tilapia fillet on the other side. When fillet is cooked, cut into slices and remove fom the skillet. Warm corn tortillas.

Sauce: Add one cup of cilantro, 3/4 cup of miracle whip, and 1/2 cup of lime juice into a blender. Blend together ingredients until it becomes a sauce. If not “saucy” enough, add more lime juice.

Apply as topping.