In Krumlov

We held onto the last hours of the night and lingered at the pub long after other patrons had left. Even after tying scarves and buttoning our coats, we stayed, talking with our waitress so long a round of slivovitz had passed our lips before we thought again of leaving. Our waitress laughed with empathy at our reluctance to depart and poured a second round, this time Becherovka. The sweet spice tasted like sparkling gold, like Christmas in my mouth. “No, no,” she smiled as we reached for our wallets, “the drinks are my treat. Merry Christmas.”

{image by me}

 

Catching Up

I just flew back from a visit to New Zealand. I say that like it was a quick little jaunt, when in fact the journey home took over 45 hours. While I loved my time in the southern hemisphere, I’m hurting with jetlag, which isn’t helping productivity. I have some stories and photos up my sleeve, but until I can get those polished up for you, here is a snippet from an article I did for Fuji, the official bike supplier for our team, Diadora-Pasta Zara. (The article includes a recipe for Bircher style müsli, my favorite pre-ride breakfast!)

…During a typical racing season, I spend nearly eight months on the road, so during the fall and winter, I really enjoy being at home in Graz. Don’t get me wrong; I love the empowering experience and exhilaration of exploring entirely unfamiliar places, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough of that fix. But there’s also a part of me that longs to feel settled, grounded, and home. I guess you could say I miss my Heimat. Overall, I think this unconventional profession strikes a perfect balance for me: I travel like crazy during the season, then get to recharge at home during the off-season before doing it all over again…

To read the whole article, click here!

This is Where I Live!

I recently stumbled across this great video promoting Styria (Steiermark), the region where we live in Austria. The two things I love most about this video are:  1, the guy who says “Jo, jo” (pronounced yo yo, typical Styrian dialect for saying “yes” while nodding ), and 2, not one bit of the video is an exaggeration. Styria is really, truly this awesome.

Das grüne Herz Österreichs. I love it!

Anywhere Road: Moment of Clarity

Here is a snippet of my latest column on Anywhere Road:

…. I hadn’t had Good Legs in more than a year. Sure, I’d had Fit Legs and Pretty Good Legs, which if raced with cunning can still yield a win. But that day, for the first time in a long time, I really (as affirmed by my powermeter) had Good Legs.

I didn’t want to stop riding, but began to lose daylight. I hit one last climb and paused near the top. Below me rows of olive trees cast lavender shadows across the hill, sloping down to the Mediterranean. The sun hung low on the horizon, its glow refracted red across the Tuscan landscape, which slipped into warm hues as New Year’s Day 2011 ebbed slowly out to sea.

Visions of the past twelve months flashed through my mind—pushing a walker through the hospital in Qatar, tedious hours of physical therapy, my first race win of the year in Bischofshofen, among others. In many moments I’d felt utterly crushed and hopeless, but with a lot of support and stubborn perseverance, met each challenge, and finally here I stood—happy, grateful and on Good Legs.

… to read the full column, click here!

From Oliva With Love

I’m back home after a week of training in Oliva, a small town on the Spanish coast south of Valencia. Bicycle practice took priority, which meant no real sight-seeing other than blurred landscapes peripheral to the tunnel vision of full-gas training sessions. Even so, nothing beats getting to know a place on a bicycle, and the stunning coastline and terraced desert landscapes left an indelible impression, photos or no photos. I loved it there!

Of course, I couldn’t leave without taking at least some photos. During a run to the local bike shop, I snapped these shots.

I loved the neon colors of the festival decorations and used the Accent Color function on my little Canon to emphasize the flamboyant contrast between modern and traditional.

Stay tuned for more stories and a few more images, which I’ll soon be posting to my column Anywhere Road on TripleCrankset.com. You can also follow these adventures on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ambermalika

[images by me]

Blick aus Italien Nr. 3

{images by me}

Blick aus Italien Nr. 2

{images by me}

Blick aus Italien Nr. 1

In December, David and I migrated south to Italy, in search of warmer weather for training. We found an extra 10 degrees and a lot of rain in Tuscany. Between exhaustion from training and the monsoon-like weather, we didn’t get out on the town much. When we did, I naturally had my camera on hand. The next few posts will feature some of the images I nabbed on our strolls through the walled city of Lucca. I hope you enjoy them.

{images by me}

New Anywhere Road Column

Here’s a sneak peek of the new column up on Triple Crankset:

Winter in Austria is spectacular. Every Hütte and Gasthaus offers gemütlich warmth with cozily intricate carpentry, fireplaces and hearty dishes, but the real party is outdoors – from the unparalleled natural beauty of dramatic mountain pistes and snowy Nordic trails, to the shining holiday markets in every town square, bustling with crowds, lights, music, hot fresh waffles, roasted chestnuts and steaming Glühwein. There is no cowering from the elements, no huddling away from the cold. Instead, people embrace the outdoors as enthusiastically in the dead of winter as they do in the heat of summer (perhaps even more so).

… to read the whole column, click here.

For the Love of Leftovers

The leftovers: two baked-but-firm sweet potatoes, a head of radicchio, some onions, stock, and the sad-looking remainder of a head of garlic.

I wanted to use everything up in a healthful dish, and since it looks like this outside,

I also wanted the dish to be hearty.

My solution: brown rice risotto with sweet potatoes.  For a dish made completely from leftovers and whatever was in the cupboard, it turned out tasty enough that David requested we make it again sometime. A compliment that good warrants a recipe post, so here it is.

Sweet Potato Risotto

2 cups short grain brown rice
5 cups stock*
2 cups white wine
3 small white onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 large yams, baked but still firm, cubed
1 medium head radicchio, shredded**
4 tsp smoked paprika***
2 TBSP olive oil
120 grams (4-5 oz) spicy pork sausage (Cevapcici)
toasted pine nuts for garnish (optional)

In a heavy stock pot (or large, deep skillet) over medium heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces as you do. Once it is cooked through, drain off the fats and oils, then set the sausage aside in a separate dish.

Wipe the residual oil from the stock pot, then add olive oil, onions, garlic and 2 teaspoons smoked paprika. Stir over medium heat until onions begin to soften.  Add the sausage and mix until combined.

Add the rice and stir until each grain is coated with olive oil/onion/sausage/garlic mixture. Add a cup of stock, bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low.  Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat until the stock is absorbed. Add a cup of white wine and simmer on low heat until absorbed.  Add another cup of stock and another cup of wine, and simmer until absorbed. Add the third cup of stock, and again stir and simmer until absorbed.

The rice should be a tad chewy at this point (think al dente). Add yams, the fourth cup of stock and another 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika (more if needed); stir to combine. Simmer until stock is absorbed.

Fold in the shredded radicchio, and stir in the remainder of the stock. Continuing stirring over low heat until the moisture is absorbed and the risotto has a creamy texture.

At this point, do a taste test. Check if the rice is cooked through (you want it cooked, but not overdone and mushy; it should be chewy, but not raw in the middle of the grains). If the rice isn’t done yet,  add more stock 1 cup at a time and continue stirring until rice is cooked, all moisture is absorbed and the risotto has a nice creamy texture. If needed, add more paprika or salt to taste (whether or not you need salt will depend on how salty your stock is). Stir until well combined.

Serve warm with a garnish of toasted pine nuts.

Mahlzeit!

{images by me}

* 5 cups stock probably sounds like a lot for risotto, but brown rice takes a long time to cook, which means a lot of moisture will evaporate as you make the dish. You may need more or less than this, so let the rice be your guide. You need enough to make sure it gets thoroughly cooked, but not mushy.

** David thought the dish could use more radicchio. If you try this, let me know how you like it!

*** It is key to use Smoked Paprika (not regular Paprika), and I heartily support liberal seasoning for this dish.