Daylight! & Rebirth!

My favorite time of year has arrived!  The time of year where it stays daylight for long enough for me to see the sun!  AND to do many exciting things like bask in it and frolic and run and bike and lounge among the shiny rays of sunshine.

Yesterday was also probably on the short list of one of the warmest days of the year.  Perfect timing right?  I promised myself on Friday that I would finally dust the cobwebs off of Rosalita and take the inaugural ride of 2012.  So, after a late night Saturday I  wasn't exactly bouncing out of bed.  In fact I was actually quite comfortable on the couch in my blanket cocoon where I had spent my late night and morning.  But the sunshine called me so I drug myself slowly out of my hibernation cave and into the daylight.
 
Even though I saw my phone change times at 2am when I woke up somehow it had reverted back to the old time and for about 2 hours I thought I had still managed to get an early start to the day.  Then I realized it was almost noon....there went breakfast.
Or....?
PANCAKES!
I think this is my new obsession.  And it's also a plan to stop the bagel obsession.  At least these I know are healthy and still can top them with nut butter and chew on them when I read my magazines, drink my coffee or enjoy a morning show.

muh protein pancakes

This time I actually made note of my ingredients instead of pouring a bunch of random shtuff in the food processor.  And I cut the amount of flour in half..which actually means they were half as filling and I ate twice as many..but it's all good :)

Here's the ingredients I used:
1/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 cup egg white
1 scoop Teras Whey Dark Chocolate Protein Powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Tahini
Maybe 1/2 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast.

They cooked VERY quickly and came out a lot thinner than the other pancakes.  Made 5 pancakes all together and the entire recipe only came to 264 calories.  I topped one with apple sauce and sandwiched some tahini & honey in between the other two.

nom nom nom

They were even better than my morning bagel and oh so cheap to make!  And now I have multiple plans for toppings. I'm all stocked up on fruit and yogurt!

Then of course I had to finish off the last two with some apple sauce.  I'm definitely going to make these more often and try to have them throughout the week as breakfast or snacks :)

But after as much put-zing around as I could to delay my first cycling conquest I finally had to just suck it up and go.  I am always nervous for my first ride of the year because I don't typically keep a regimented training program in place through the winter to keep all the strength I build climbing all these northeastern hills during summer.   So my plan Sunday was to just take an easy "stroll", really pay attention to my form and any tuning that needed to be done on my bike.  I tried on about 10 different outfits, afraid it might be too cold or afraid I might not be prepared.  My tights still fit (good sign :) ) and I finally had it figured out.  I chose some arm warmers with a red full zip jersey and a thin wind breaker shell.  As I stepped awkwardly through the back door to my apt (picture that music that plays before an epic reveal..bahhhh..bahhhhh...bahhh.....bunnahhhhh!!!!)  I stepped forth, with my bike, hopped aboard and realized that it was just like riding a bike and it felt like I had never had the winter hiatis at all.  HA, just kidding..it was not an easy ride.  But I followed my plan and focused on form and not trying to flail around putting as much effort as I could into climbing and flying fast - this is what leads to my injuries and I will have NONE of that this year.  I actually want to spend a summer where I can bike AND run at the same time (stupid IT bands).  

Anyway.  It was a lovely ride along the coast 20 miles in all..my favorite quick and easy ride with good sights and places to stop and chill.  People were out EVERYWHERE!  And I love the beaches before beach season because they get so "stuffy" once the parking rules are enforced.  I stopped a couple of times to enjoy the scenery and lay in the sun.  I returned home home with some shaky legs and enough of a "happy" boost to fuel me for an entire week of bliss.  

Long Island Sound on a beautiful breezy day