Joys of Leisure Bike Riding

  There are many things I miss about my childhood, mainly snow days and summers off, but the other thing that I came to realize I missed greatly was bike riding.  I don't mean the kind where you train daily to do marathons, I refer to the type, where you just meander and enjoy the scenery, stopping at the local small grocery to grab an ice cream bar, then continue riding one handed, while licking furiously to keep the ice cream from running down your arm. You know, the simple fun kind?


  As a kid, I spent hours and hours upon my bike.  Cruising around with my friends, pretending to be superheroes (because in our heads Spiderman and Superman would be naturally be riding bikes, duh) or doing daredevil tricks like jumping ramps, or wheelies to impress boys. I was a pro at fixing  a bike, often called upon to rescue a fallen chain, tightening a loose handle bar and even building a few by combining the parts of old ones. In the summertime I would patrol the neighborhood until the streetlamps came on, signalling it was time to go home.  My bike, like a cowboy's horse, was my constant companion.


  I realized a key component was missing in my life, when I started to admire the retro bikes I have been seeing around town lately.  I started to day dream about a mint green beach cruiser with a basket.  I could visualize myself breezing around town waving at my neighbors, stopping to pick up a sack of groceries or two and maybe visiting the used book store in search of a cool find.


  During my trip to Seattle to visit my sister, we decided to take a trip to India in a few years.  I know several friends that have done this they have all told me that there are certain parts that are best toured on bike. On this same visit, I took a ferry to the San Juan Islands.  We encounter several cyclist on the ferry and the idea of exploring new places by bicycle really appealed to me.  It was then and there that I concluded, what was sorely missing in my life was a bicycle.


  After looking around the inter-web for a month, I decided that, until I found out if the reality of riding was as enjoyable as my memory of riding, I would limit myself to spending no more than $150.00.  I found this great bike at Walmart.com within my price range.

  Although not mint green,the raspberry color seemed fun and rear rack, basket and beverage holder seemed really to suit my needs as leisure and commuter rider. Now to go purchase the bike!

  Ah the disappointment of finding something online, only to not find it in the store.  The Walmart Sporting Goods rep told me that although they did recently have it in stock, the bike had been an extremely popular model and he had sold the last one that very day. Drat!

  He offered to call around town to see if he could find one, so while I waited, I causally looked at the other bikes on display. I had my heart set on that one, still I had to admit some of the others were kind of cute, but most were too this, or too that for my taste. Then I saw it, a teal blue Huffy Cranbrook Cruiser.  It was love at first sight.  No, it did not have a rear rack. It didn't even have a basket. Those had been two requirements in my search and would be imperative in my eventual plans, but I really LOVED this bike.  It spoke to me in a way that no car or designer shoes ever have.  The best part was, it was almost $40 cheaper! 

The sales rep came back and told me he had found the deluxe cruiser at another store, but I no longer cared. My heart was set on the teal blue bike with the green and gold flower detail.  Sure I would eventually have to spend money on a rear rack.  Of course I would have to find a basket, but this was MY bike, it knew it and I knew it.  She whispered to me "Take me home with you" and I whispered back "Okay, let me get my wallet".  

  Isn't she pretty?  I couldn't wait to ride her and yes guys, it really is just like riding a bike, you never forget.  I rode up and down the street so filled with joy, that I could hardly contain myself.  That little girl inside went 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' and the adult in me reasoned this will work off quite a few calories. The little girl told the adult to shut up and just enjoy the ride.


 Unfortunately the temperature has climbed up near 100f, so my plans to ride all over the neighborhood have been thwarted. Still, I think I will brave the heat late this afternoon, to get the high of zooming my new bike up and down the hills.  We are told constantly to 'act our age' or 'grow up', but I think this is one time that it's perfectly acceptable to enjoy a long forgotten past time.


This is just another step in simplifying my life and I hope to have many trips and adventures on my bike to blog about later.  Until then, WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

REVIEW: Bumpy's Texmex Grill

I try not to eat out much anymore and when I do, I tend to make sure my restaurant dining experience is a treat, rather than the same ole same ole. A friend at work has been trying to get me to try out Bumpy's Texmex Grill for weeks now.  I am the guinea pig for all places new, but frankly, the thought of yet another TEXMEX place in central Arkansas did not excite me, so I danced around a visit for quite awhile.


Friday, a workmate and I finally decided to take the plunge.  I will admit my expectations were low.  I mean, come'on, we have loads of great authentic Mexican restaurants (And lunch trucks, shout out to my favorite Luncheria Mexicana Alicia) around here and I seriously doubted that a texmex place was going to thrill me. What I got was a nice surprise.


Our waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The first thing he informed us was that Bumpy's promotes use of fresh and local products, including, but not limited to produce, beef, and chicken.  Case in point, the grilled vegetable side dish is seasonal, so it changes  constantly, depending on what our local farmers are growing during that time period.  Today's offerings were zucchini, yellow squash, and onions. Yes my friends, that is exactly what is in season in Arkansas right now!


Now, seeing I too promote local, fresh, and sustainable, it seems like serendipity that Bumpy's and I would find one another. I cannot tell you how excited I was about this news (a new blog was flowering in my head), so much that I whipped out my phone to start taking pictures of food and asked our very patient waiter dozens of questions.

Like other texmex restaurants,  Bumpy's offers complimentary salsa and chips.  The salsa was a decent, hardy variety with a good  kick to it.  I was told if I wanted spicier, I could opt for the Salsa Verde. I passed, wishing to concentrate this time on my food and not wanting to consume that many chips. My friend ordered the queso, which after sampling seemed to be a hopped up version of   my favorite Velveeta/Rotel combination, quite tasty.  Our waiter assured us it was not Velveeta and that fresh cheese was melted every day and the tomato spice combination were indeed local. This was all served with slices of fresh local peppers which I adore.


I  spotted fish tacos on the menu and decided to get one my weekly fish serving out of the way. (I am behind, but I will be having fish tonight, so all is good!) I figured with this being Arkansas and Bumpy's promoting local, the fish was probably catfish.  I am not a fan fish, as you are all aware, and especially not catfish.  Before I settled on my choice I asked JP (Not going to list his name, because I didn't get his permission to put him in this blog) what type of fish were in them.  I asked if it were catfish and he said, no, it was a Mexican fish called pangasius.  A warning bell went off in my head.  Where had I heard that before? Nevertheless, I opted for the tacos and was not disappointed.

They served a spicy tartar sauce with my tacos that was a delicious companion to the fish .  The fish nuggets in the tacos was a mild flavored fish coated in a well seasoned, crispy coating.  The grilled vegetables, including a roasted pepper, was so enjoyable.  I truly love grilled vegetables, especially local, seasonable ones! The black beans, topped fresh tomatoes and peppers perfectly complimented the already flavorful beans.  This lunch was so good and filling, that I was only able to consume half of my meal.  This meant take home for a yummy meal latter.


My companion chose the chicken enchiladas with cheesy potato soup and  cheesy mashed potatoes. She deemed her meal completely delicious and quickly consumed the majority of her meal.  She's a picky eater, so it must have been good!


We agreed that this was a very lovely experience and Bumpy's would be put into our lunch rotation.  I left there full, satisfied, and happy that I had found another restaurant that promoted the same values I do.  The price wasn't too bad either, cashing in at around $11 apiece for each of us, the same amount we tend to spend at our favorite Mexican restaurant.


On a side note, the name of that fish continued to bother me.  Being the food sleuth I am, I did some researching.  Suddenly it came back to me. OH! THAT PANGASIUS! Yeah, the Vietnamese Pangasius (yeah it's not local), is a shark catfish that has flooded US fish markets.  US fish farmers, most notably Arkansas catfish farmers, raised a stink that this was ruining the local markets, due to the abundance and low cost. They even went as far as demanding that it could not be labeled as catfish, because it was not truly a catfish and confused consumers.  The farmers got their way and pangasius is now labled as Basa, TRA, SWAI, PANGASIUS, CHINA SOLE, BOCOURTI, RUFFY,  PACIFIC DORY.  


Although I do enjoy the taste of pangasuis, much prefering it over the taste of catfish, I feel that if Bumpy's using this fish, while promoting themselves as supporting local products, that they are being a bit misleading.  I am hoping my waiter was wrong and plan to call Monday and clarify what fish they do use.  I would rather they support local fisheries and gulf cost fisherman, than to use a fish that a picky fish eater like I would eat.  When I find out for certain, I will update this blog.  Let's not condemn them before we have the facts.  If I in fact do find out the waiter was correct, I will encourage the owners to rethink this practice. 

Still, I applaud Bumpy's for promoting local and seasonal.  This is a trend in central Arkansas that I hope I continue to see grow.  I would really like to know if any of my local farmer friends are suppliers for Bumpy's.  If you are, hit me up with an email. (located in the profile section of my blog) I will keep it confidential, unless you and Bumpy's wish to publicize it.  Then I will be all about the shoutouts.  ;)

If any of my readers know of other restaurants, please alert me.  I am very much wanting to promote these places.  Local and fresh is best!