What a Lovely Bike Ride It Was!

And so we got back into long-distance bike riding. I had some doubts about it, as it was over 90 degrees and I hadn't ridden a bike for more than 10 miles in probably a year, or at least since last fall with Adam...so let's say I was not that confident I could do 25 miles. (That was the compromise with Ben who had wanted to do 40). And may I note that it actually turned out to be a 27 mile ride. Chad and Ariel were up for the adventure, and so we trekked out to Athens (Georgia that is) and embarked on our ride.

Soon enough, Ben and Chad had sprinted out of sight, occasionally waiting for us to catch up to them. Eventually they apparently grew tired of this, though, because we came to a T in the road, and they weren't there.

Never fear, for Ariel is good at maps, even if I'm not, and we moved on ahead. The next 17 miles were much harder than the first 10. The beating down sun didn't help (I have a history, when biking on extremely hot days, of losing my cookies) and even though I had my trusty platypus I was scared I would...you know what. Towards the end, I really didn't think I could do it. I was so tired, so hot, my back hurt, and--Ben and Chad had all the food.

I forced myself onwards and made it back to the car. Ariel "broke into" the car (parked at a church) with some sticks (so smart!) and therefore we were able to eat some snacks, and lie down. However, I was skeptical that I would be able to enjoy the next part of the plan--dinner in Athens (a place I had long wanted to go thanks to raving reviews about the town and its local seasonal organic food movement!). The waves of sun were still pulsing through me and nauseating me "to the max" as Ben would say.

Thank goodness for medical students though--Ariel encouraged me to eat something salty, and I started munching on sunflower seeds. They are impossible for me to eat, but I certainly got the salty factor of it. It was incredible because in about an hour I felt much, much better.

Heading into Athens was a treat. But arriving was even better. We headed directly to Farm 255 to eat a tasty dinner. The place was quiet, but quite beautiful (I was happy to see the Tartine and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone cookbooks lying around the kitchen). This is a special place, and their shtick is:

We are a restaurant that seeks to reconnect food to its roots & people to their food. We serve local, seasonal, & sustainable food for supper nightly. In addition to the Farm we manage Full Moon Farms, a 7-acre organic/biodynamic farm in Athens. Unlike the owners of any other restaurant we know of, we are the folks sowing turnip seeds in the morning and cooking turnip greens in the evening. We are as committed to good community as we are to our cuisine. We have an open kitchen so that dinner is a dialogue, where the farmer-chefs and diner-neighbors can have a meaningful exchange; we offer live music every night in honor of its legacy in this town; and we designed our restaurant with an eye toward the history of the 1930’s building that houses it. For us here at the Farm, eating is a celebration of food’s origins, the paths it travels on the way to our tables, and the lessons learned through the journey.
Does it sound awesome? Because it was. Sunday was "tasting night" meaning only small plates. Despite my best intentions, my camera wasn't happy and acted fussy all night. But some of our favorite plates were:
mixed olives - house-marinated, mint & orange
fried eggplant -Full Moon Japanese eggplant, romesco
And locally made chevre and blue cheese (accompanied by local honey and cherry/orange confit), as well as things I can't find on their website, like fresh grilled okra and salmon with romesco, arugula and the best--black eyed peas! Click on the photo below to get a better sense of the delicacies we ate:
But dinner was just one of many good things to come our way, because next was the Trapeze Pub, rated to be one of the best beer places in the US. They weren't lying...37 active taps with several of our favorite breweries represented: Avery, Lagunitas, Dogfish head, Brooklyn, Oscar Blues, and about a billion more. Ariel and I both had the Celebrator (a nice spicy dark lager) and Chad and Ben both got the "Collaboration not Litigation"--a cross between Avery and Russian Hills beer. The story behind this beer is hilarious and makes it all the better.