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Outdoor Retailer: Park N Pedal

More bike-related goodness from Outdoor Retailer.

For the past four years, Outdoor Retailer has be offered free bike valet and rentals to all attendees. Presented by Osprey and Park N Pedal.

The full valet service, operated by the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, provides a safe and secure location for local bike commuters to leave their bikes while they attend the show.

photo courtesy Outdoor Retailer

For those who want to get away from the Salt Palace for lunch, or want to take a leisurely ride and check out the sights of Salt Lake City, Electra bicycles will have a fleet of cruisers available.

I took advantage of the cruiser rental last year to meet a couple of friends for lunch at a downtown restaurant several blocks away. It was a lot of fun riding down the streets on a big cruiser bike, taking it easy. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to do that again this year.

yes, I know. No helmet.

Events at OR Bike Share include daily raffles from Osprey Packs and a cruiser ride sponsored by Green Guru at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5.

Outdoor Retailer: It's Coming...

Outdoor Retailer is just around the corner. The 2011 Summer Market edition starts on Wednesday, August 3rd with the open-air demo at Jordanelle Reservoir. This year, I am actually going to attend the open-air demo. I wasn’t sure that there would be anything for a bike geek like me to find or post about up there, then I looked at the website and found this:

Paddle Pedal Challenge, presented by H2O Overdrive and Outdoor Retailer

Between 9AM - 3PM: A time trial event, the first ever Paddle Pedal Challenge, where attendees will complete a short standup paddleboard course, followed by a 2.5-mile bike leg on a mix of pavement and dirt trails. Points will be awarded based on finishing times and can be redeemed for prizes.

I have never been on a standup paddleboard, but this sounds way too cool to pass up.

More to come about Outdoor Retailer…

Bike Stamps

For 2012, the USPS is releasing a 4 stamp set depicting bicycles.

The stamps are set to be released sometime next year.

This isn't the first time the postal service has recognized bicycling in stamp form, but I believe that it is the first time that they have shown different facets of cycling, from a kid with training wheels, to a fully-loaded commuter(cyclo-tourist?), to racing (triathlete?) and BMX.

With the issuance of these stamps, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates bicycling, one of the most popular outdoor activities in the country. Each of the four colorful se-tenant stamps features a different kind of bike and rider: a young child just learning to ride with training wheels, a commuter pedaling to work, a road racer intent on the finish line, and an airborne BMX rider.

Recent surveys indicate that Americans enjoy approximately 2.5 billion bike rides a year. Bicycling organizations around the country report increased participation in local biking activities, and nearly half of all Americans say they would like more bicycling resources, such as trails and bike lanes, in their communities.

Bicycling is a low-impact aerobic activity that just about everyone — from young children to retirees — can enjoy. The health benefits are impressive: Riding a bike lowers the risk of obesity and heart disease, while improving muscle tone and strength. Bicycling can also lower stress. Whether riding along a lakeside path or through the bike lanes of a bustling city, bicycling is therapeutic and just plain fun.

Art director Phil Jordan designed the stamps using illustrations by John Mattos.

you can see more about the stamps at Beyond the Perf.

Monday Grab Bag

Happy Monday!

Over the weekend, the Tour de France ended, with Cadel Evans on top of the GC rankings – the first Australian to win the Tour de France. Congrats to Cadel for a great win to what was a surprising and enjoyable race filled with crashes, upsets, no clear favorites, new heroes (Johnny Hoogerland, Thomas Voeckler) and (hopefully) no doping.

Only problem is, what am I supposed to do at work until the Vuelta starts on August 20th?

Here in Utah, Pioneer Day was yesterday. Pioneer Day, (aka, another reason to set off illegal fireworks) culminates in the Days of ’47 parade in downtown SLC, which is going on today this year. Unfortunately, my office sits right off the parade route. What that means is that getting into and out of my building is next to impossible until sometime well after noon – unless you arrive by bicycle...

The view from my building.

Since my bus doesn’t run on Pioneer day (observed or actual), I’ll usually drive into my mom’s house, and ride from there, a nice leasurely 12 mile trip. No fuss, no problems accessing my building.

Spudman is only 6 days away!

I feel good about the bike leg of the race - I actually installed some aero bars on the Fuji, and the course is pancake flat (only 164 ft of elevation gain). Should be nice and fast!

The running and swimming legs I don't feel so confident about. I've only been to the pool to swim laps a handful of times since last year, but I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of times I went.

Running on the other hand.... I developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot sometime last year, and haven't been running hardly at all. I do have some 3M thinsulate insoles in my shoes that help cushion my foot. (I actually was given these by 3M for review at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, but haven't had a chance to provide a review yet) I am not sure if I'll be able to beat my mediocre time from last year, but I know that I will be able to finish.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Food Friday: Banana Ice Cream (vegan)

July is National Ice Cream Month. And, since I talked about it on Monday, I guess I’ll post a recipe for banana ice cream (vegan, of course).

It’s a painfully simple recipe, with only a few ingredients. I’ve made it twice now, with very good results both times. My decidedly non-vegan brother-in-law really enjoyed it, and suggested that I work on a Bananas Foster variation, using this recipe as a base. We’ll have to see…

Banana Ice Cream (vegan)

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas (the riper, the bananas are, the better the flavor of the ice cream) 
• 2 cups non-dairy milk (almond milk is my preferred choice) 
• ½ cup sugar 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• pinch salt

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a blender, and puree until smooth. 
2. Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

That’s it! Like I said, very easy and super simple.

Nothing better after a ride on a hot day than cooling off with a nice bowl of ice cream. Enjoy!

A Change in Plans

I know that on Monday I posted my intent on riding (not racing, my whole goal would be to just finish) the Epic 200 in August. Well, plans have changed…

I am not wussing out. I fully intended to have a go at it. If I made it, great! If I made it 120 miles, I could live with that. I was going into this with zero expectations as to my performance.

What is influencing my decision is money.

The registration fee for the Epic 200 is $95, going up to $105 next week. I am not complaining about the cost – I understand fully that the registration fees go to cover the cost of the t-shirts, food, permits, insurance costs and other assorted fees that the event promoter has to pay in order to put on a ride. If they are very lucky, they may actually break even.

After discussing this with the wife, we just can’t justify the cost right now.

Riding your bike is relatively inexpensive – assuming you already have a bike. Riding your bike in an organized ride or race is not. Aside from the entry/registration fees, if the ride is out of town, you have to include gas, lodging and eating out to your monetary output.

A 200 mile ride is still on my bucket list. It will just have to wait till next year – and I plan on riding this next year. When I sit down to plan out 2012, the Epic 200 will be part of that plan, and I will register early – when we can still afford it.

My "Encounter" with a Car this Morning

Today I had an “encounter” with a car on my commute to work.

I’ve mentioned my commute before, but just to summarize: Bike to bus. Bus to downtown. Bike to office. The last leg is only about 4 blocks long, on wide, multi-lane streets, with only one right-hand turn. The street I turn on to (200 S, for those of you who are familiar with Salt Lake City), has a bike lane, and for a couple of blocks, has the outside lane marked with a green sharrow, All of this means – from my perspective – that there should be no reason for anyone to feel that I am “in their way”.

Today, the ride from the bus stop started off as normal, I rode up State St., signaled my turn (this is important, and comes into play later), and turned onto 200 S. less than half a block down 200 S., a car all of a sudden comes up past me on my left side, and makes a right turn into a parking garage. Right in front of me! I grab the brakes, and am able to narrowly avoid running into the side of her car. As I swerve around behind her, I give the trunk/rear quarter panel of her car a thump with my fist.

Yes, I probably shouldn’t have done that, but at that time, my heart rate was through the roof, and the adrenaline was pumping. I didn’t do it to damage her car. At the time, I was thinking I just wanted to let her know how close she came to hitting me.

As I went past, she started cursing at me. I should have let it go, but like I said, the heart rate was racing, and I was in confrontation mode. I spun around on the sidewalk to have “words” with her. She parked and got out of her car. She was still yelling at me, telling me that if I am going to ride on the roads, I should follow the “rules”, and that I should have been over on the green sharrow lane, not further to the right. I pointed out to her that she came around me and cut me off. I also pointed out to her that her actions could have killed me. At this time, a guy – he may have been in the booth at the parking garage, or just on the sidewalk – joined in, on her side no less, saying that he saw the whole thing and I was at fault! At this point, I saw that this wasn’t going to get better, but had the possibility of getting much worse, so I left.

First off, aside from running the occasional stop sign (sign, not light, and only when I am absolutely certain that nothing is coming), I follow the rules of the road. I waited in the right hand lane on State St, with traffic for the light so I could make my right turn. I signaled my turn, and stayed to the right of the lane, and was heading straight for the bike lane which started up just down the street from where this occurred. I wasn’t weaving in and out of the lane, I was doing exactly what I would have done if I was in a car. I couldn’t have been following the rules any more at that time

She was right on one thing, I wasn’t in the sharrow lane, because I just made a right turn, into the wide section of the lane that is to be used for vehicles turning right. At the point where I was, the sharrow lane was about 10 feet to my left, and it also ended right where she cut me off, as you can see in the Google Maps satellite image that I drew on below.

Blue line is me, red line is her, green line is the sharrow lane painted on the road.

street view of the parking garage.

What it all comes down to, is that people in cars either 1) don’t see cyclists, or 2) don’t care about cyclists and think that we are in their way. What is your opinion? Obviously the above is my side of the story. Was I in the wrong? Was she? I will admit that I shouldn’t have touched her car, and I should have just kept on riding instead of confronting her. I could of handled the situation differently.
So, how is your morning so far?

Delivery by Bike

I love it when I see bicycles replacing cars and trucks for everyday tasks. So, when I saw this guy riding down the street, I had to get a picture.

Local brewery, Desert Edge delivering kegs by bicycle (locally made by Madsen cycles, no less), to the Bar X (co-owned by Modern Family star, Ty Burrell - who lives part-time in Salt Lake City).

I don't drink, but I think that is just cool!

200 miles in one day?

100 miles is the longest distance that I have ridden in one day. There are longer rides that I have considered doing, but whenever anyone asks me about them, I always answer “I want to do it, but I’m not ready yet”. A safe answer, that doesn’t really answer anything.

LOTOJA, is the race that is brought up most often in this area. A 206 mile race from Logan, UT to Jackson, WY that for the past 29 years has been the standard that some cyclists measure themselves by. Past participants of this race are easy to spot in their cars by the white stickers that adorn their rear windows.

Truth is, any distance over 100 miles intimidates and scares me. I know I’m not fast, and thought of spending 12+ hours on the bike fills me with dread.

That being said, I may be considering a 200 mile race in the very near future…

Saturday Morning, Greg and I decided to go down to the local shop – Epic Biking - to ride in their weekly shop ride. About 10 of us rolled out from the shop at 7:30 AM, and almost immediately, the group split into the fast riders, and the rest of us. Due to a couple of misunderstandings - the fast group thought that we all knew the route they were taking, and a directional mistake in the slow group – we ended up going in the completely opposite direction from the fast group. It wasn’t a bad thing, as we ended up going out to an area that I’ve never ridden – let alone driven – through. A nice 57 mile ride was had.

A side note, I decided that I want a Garmin GPS for the bike. I would have liked to map the route that we took, and I have the ability to do so on my phone, but I rarely do so, because I either forget to start the app, or I don’t want to because of the potential of draining the battery on longer rides.

Back at the shop after the ride, several of us were discussing upcoming rides and races. Someone brought up the Epic 200, which is coming up at the end of August. My reaction was that I am not even close to being able to handle 200 miles in one day.

Sunday night, I had a craving for some homemade ice cream (vegan, of course. I may post the recipe on Friday). Greg and Stephanie stopped by for some ice cream (as payment for giving me some vanilla extract, since we were out), and he brought up the Epic 200. We have a couple of centuries under our belts this year, and Greg is thinking that 200 miles is not outside the realm of possibility.

It still scares me, but having someone besides the voices inside my head telling me that I can do it (the voices tend to be very negative), almost makes it seem possible.

So, I may be riding in the Epic 200 this year. There is still the cost of it, but considering that I won’t have to get 2 hotel rooms – as with LOTOJA – since the start/finish line is 10 miles from my house, it is considerably cheaper.

More to follow?

Book Review: Zombie Survival Guide

The Zombie Survival Guide is a guidebook to help you survive a potential zombie outbreak. It provides proven suggestions on which weapons, vehicles, and defensible locations work best against the hordes of undead. It also has a chronological history of zombie attacks throughout history.

Obviously it is fiction, but the author has treated the subject as if it was an actual threat, and all of the suggestions are based on real-world scenarios, and reactions to them. The zombie threat is compared to a virus, rather than an attacking army in that there is no thought or tactics to the way they advance – food is sensed. Move toward food. Do not stop until food is consumed.

Considerable research was done to make the scenarios and how to prepare and react to them as realistic as possible, Everything from weapon selection to which type of buildings and terrain are the most easily defend are explained in great detail.

Interestingly enough, on the back cover of the book, above the ISBN number, it lists this book as belonging in the “humor” category. The book, while fiction, definitely is not tongue-in-cheek.

By this time, you are probably wondering why I choose this book to review on this blog. I’ll answer that questions with a couple of excerpts from the book. First off, on the back cover:

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Then, on pg. 108-109:

The Bicycle


In a class by itself, this vehicle offers the best of both worlds. The common bicycle is fast, quiet, muscle-powered, and easy to maintain. Add to this the additional advantage that it is the only vehicle you can pick up and carry if the terrain gets too rough. People using bicycles to escape from infested areas have almost always fared better than those on foot. For optimum performance, use a mountain bike, as opposed to the racing or recreational model…

There you go, in a world where access to fuel is restricted, and where stealth and accessibility is prized, the bike reigns supreme.

Photo of the Day

Seen in the window of Este Pizza in Downtown SLC.

How *not* to Train for a Triathlon

Those who are regular visitors to this blog may remember me saying several months ago that I was racing in the Spudman Triathlon again this year. Well, that is still the case.

What also hasn’t changed since that announcement is my preparations for this year’s race. Back then, I hadn’t ran for several months due to a tear in my right ankle, and the only swimming I had done was taking my kids to the pool – this was in part to my work schedule changing, preventing me from going in to the gym early in the morning before work. I am not happy to report that I still haven’t swam any more than a couple of laps, and the only running I have done has been on a hotel treadmill.

Cycling is the only part of the triathlon that I have had any regular, continuing exposure to, with my multi-modal commuting to work, regular charity and group rides, and having a friend who wants to go riding at almost any and all opportunity.

So with a little more than 2 weeks to go, I finally renewed my membership to the local pool/gym, and will spend several evenings there relearning my form and working on my stroke. I will also be getting out on the trails around town and try to get some miles under the sneakers.

I don’t doubt my ability to finish an Olympic-distance triathlon such as the Spudman, but I do doubt my chances of improving on last year’s time – which wasn’t stellar by any means.

Definitely not the way to train for a triathlon.

Be Back Soon

Taking the day off to celebrate my wife's 39 years on this planet.

peace out!

My Opinion on Michael Smith/ESPN

You may, or may not be aware, but the first week of the Tour de France has been filled with several crashes and accidents. One of the more shocking crashes involved a French TV car that decided that it needed to pass the breakaway group on Stage 9. The car – to avoid hitting a tree on the side of the road as it was passing the group – swerved into Juan Antonio Flecha, sending him to the pavement. Johnny Hoogerland, unable to avoid hitting Flecha, struck his bike, which catapulted him into a barbed wire fence on the side of the road. A senseless, and completely avoidable accident.

Why I bring this up, is that some people find that funny. And more disturbing is when those people have a voice that is listened to.

Michael Smith a sports reporter and writer for ESPN. Has tweeted to his 95,000 followers that he thought the accident was funny.*

Of course, his unrepentant attitude (he has since issued an “apology”, but to call it even half-assed is a huge stretch) has angered and enraged cyclists everywhere. Gary Fisher – the father of the mountain bike has even threatened to punch him in the face.

The problem is, we’re helping him by re-tweeting, forwarding, and passing along what he said.

Every time someone goes to ESPN’s website to comment – whether in support or against Smith, it’s traffic for ESPN. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad publicity, it is driving traffic to them, and traffic = $$$.

People are calling for the ESPN big-wigs to suspend or fire Smith. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen, no matter how many of us call for it. Like I said above, his comments are driving massive amounts of traffic to their site, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the ESPN big-wigs don’t support him fully in his comments. If they didn’t, we would have had more than his half-assed apology that he tweeted.

The other thing is that “we are few, they are many”. He has 95.000 followers. I’ll go out on a limb and guess that the majority of them aren’t cyclists, and I’ll go farther out on that limb and say that the majority are probably anti-cycling. He, his followers, and his employers aren’t going to care what a relative handful of cyclists have to say.

He is a D-bag, and he is following the shock-jock handbook step by step. He is even going as far as openly "thanking" individuals in his twitter feed for their tweets against him. This is nothing but a game for this sick bastard.

His ongoing remarks, and ESPN's continuing lack of action say exactly how they feel about cycling and cyclists.

*I refuse to post any links to Smith, ESPN, or any part of this story.

Bear Lake Monster Century

This past weekend was the inaugural running of the Bear Lake Monster Century up in Montpelier, ID.

I've lived in Utah almost all of my life, but I've only been past Bear Lake a couple of times, and never spent any time up there, so I was excited to ride somewhere I've never been before.

Let me say that the ride was perfect! The weather couldn't have been better, and the scenery was beautiful! The climb up to Minnetonka Cave was challenging - but not overly so. And, we had some interesting "street furniture (of the mobile, leather upholstered, mooing variety)" to deal with on the ride up and back down from the cave.

If I had any complaints about the ride - nothing against the organizers, they did a great job - it would be the road surfacing that the state of Idaho seems to like to put on every street surface. The chip-seal surfacing that saps your momentum every time you stop pedaling, resists every pedal stroke, and vibrates up through your tires completely drained my energy on the east side of the lake through the rollers.

After the ride (and requisite nap), we went to the little Mexican restaurant next to the hotel for dinner with some friends. Remember how I said the weather was perfect? Well, when we came out of the restaurant, it was pouring rain! Someone likes the event organizers up there!

Not too many pictures were taken, but enjoy what there are. There was also an event photographer at a couple of locations on the ride to capture our suffering and enjoyment of the ride. The best (subjective terminology, considering the subject) pictures of me are here, and here.




Route map.

It's July, the Tour de France is on, and I'm riding in Paris!!! (well, Paris, Idaho...)

I know I posted a pic of the "mountain cows" over the weekend, but they were so much fun!



Greg and me at the top of the Minnetonka cave climb.

 

riding towards North Beach

on the east side of Bear lake.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...

...and we're done. 100 miles

What would you expect to get at the finish of a ride called the "Monster"?

back to the hotel, and... crash!

next morning. Vive le Tour!

You can't go to Bear Lake without having a raspberry shake (at least that is what the wife was telling me). No non-dairy versions unfortunately, so none for me. This was only one of 2 places open on Sunday, hence the line.

Maybe I'll rent one of these to ride in next year's Bear Lake Monster...

We came home to a freak downpour that completely overwhelmed the storm drains. Several houses were flooded in our neighborhood. We fortunately didn't have too much water in our basement, Greg didn't fare as well.

This ride is definitely among my favorite rides now. I'll be back next year!

T-Shirt of the Day

In honor of Jens Voigt joining Twitter today twitter.com/thejensie, I thought this shirt from Gage + Desoto would be a good choice.

Photo of the Day

We encountered some "leather upholstered" street furniture on the climb up to Minnetonka cave on the Bear Lake Monster Century today.

Geography Fail

I don’t know if I’m just lucky, or if the motorists in my area are used to cyclists on the road, but it is very rare for me to have someone yell something at me from their car as they pass.

Last night was the exception.

Greg and I are riding in the Bear Lake Monster Century on Saturday, and he wanted to get in some training miles before we head up to Montpelier, Idaho tonight. So, we went out last night for a quick 2 hour ride. As we were coming back down the hill, a teenage girl leaned out of the passenger window of a passing car and yelled at Greg and me “The Tour de France is that way”, as she pointed north.

Um, France is east of the United States. I hope you didn’t get a good grade in Geography.

View Larger Map

Artwork from my 8-Year-Old

I went up to Logan for the Bike MS ride by myself. When I came back home to the family on Sunday, my 8-year-old, Jack, gave me this picture. I love the detail he put into the bike, like the teeth on the chainrings, and the pedals. I also love that I'm wearing a helmet!

Photo: Arts & Crafts

Sunday was arts & crafts day at the Hill household. We pulled out a bucket of "melty beads" (I don't know what they're actually called, that's what the kids call them) and had some fun.

Here's my contribution.

About Helmets and Irony

The article is about a motorcycle accident, but this scenario is just as likely to happen on a bicycle.

ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — A man riding bareheaded on one of about 550 motorcycles in an anti-helmet law rally lost control of his cycle, went over his handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and died, police said Sunday.

The motorcyclist, 55-year-old Philip A. Contos, likely would have survived the accident if he'd been wearing a helmet, state troopers said. (read more)

Do I believe that helmets will prevent accidents? No. Awareness and education will do more to prevent accidents than a piece of foam and plastic. Do I believe that there is a possibility of avoiding, or lessening serious injury by wearing a helmet? Absolutely!

The irony in the article is very sad, but it shows that anything can happen, and it can happen anytime. Helmet use is not mandatory on bicycles, and I don’t believe that it should be. Like I said before, awareness and education will prevent more accidents than a helmet will. I think that legislation for more rider education will go farther than mandatory helmet laws. Also, I feel that making helmets mandatory for adults will drive some people away from cycling.

That being said, I wear a helmet 99% of the time that I am on my bike. Anything can happen, and why wouldn’t I do what I can to put the odds in my favor?

I do, however, believe and feel very strongly that helmets should be mandatory for children. Around my neighborhood, very few of the children, and almost none of the adults I have seen riding their bikes have a helmet on. It makes me cringe to see kids who have just learned how to ride a bike, and are still wobbly and unsure riding down the sidewalks without helmets, kids riding their bikes off of makeshift jumps, trying to “catch air” without helmets, and racing each other around the block without helmets. About the only time I see kids with helmets is when they’re out on a family ride with mom and dad – and in almost all of those situations, mom and dad aren’t wearing a helmet. What kind of message is that sending to the kids? That is the other reason I wear a helmet, to set an example for my kids. By me wearing a helmet, they know that it is expected of them (in fact, I said 99% of the time I wear a helmet. I have caught hell from my kids on those rare occasions, such as when I am testing out an adjustment on a bike I’m working on without putting on a helmet).

Yes, helmets can be uncomfortable, and they can be hot. But, in the rare circumstance that you find yourself in an accident, they may just help you walk away from it. If you aren’t going to do it for yourself, at least do it for your kids.

Happy 4th of July

Food Friday: A Week's Worth of Vegan "Street Food"

Every so often, I have to subject you to a post that absolutely nothing to do with cycling, running, triathlons, or the like. Just because.

Today’s post is one of those. It’s also geographically specific, so apologies to those not in Salt Lake City.

I’ve posted in the past about City Dogs, the vegan street cart around the corner from my office, and their great selection of vegetarian and vegan fare. Well, they are no longer alone. In fact, over the past year, several vegan or vegetarian options have surfaced in downtown Salt Lake City. So many, in fact, you can eat at a different location each workday. Best thing is that it will only set you back around $5 for lunch. So, let’s eat our way through the work week…

Monday:

Might as well start off the week at City Dogs – who recently had their signature dog named one of the top 5 veggie dogs in the nation (yes, the nation) by PETA a City Dog will set you back $4, my favorite, the Beer Brat is $5, which includes all the fixins, such as sauerkraut, relish, onions.

Tuesday:

Not officially “street food” The Pie Hole offers pizza by the slice, and are open late (after the bars close) every day. They have several pies available each day, and every Tuesday they have a vegan pie. Two slices will cost you $5.50

Wesnesday:

More pizza, this time from Este Pizza. Traditional New York style pizza. There are several vegan items on the menu, and they are clearly marked. Wednesday is the day that they offer a vegan pizza by-the-slice as an option. Another $5.50 for two slices. *Bonus, Este’s downtown location is located in Guthrie Bicycle’s old downtown store. Guthrie’s is Salt Lake’s oldest bicycle shop, and one of the oldest – if not the oldest bicycle shops in the nation. (there, this post is not entirely devoid of bicycles).

Thursday:

Let’s curry! The Curryer is a recent addition to the SLC street food scene. A converted hot-dog cart now serves up a couple of Indian food options and naan in a traditional clay tandoor oven (the naan is unfortunately not vegan I have been told by the owners that their naan is now vegan!). A small box (not that small!) is $4. At least one vegetarian curry is served daily, and most of their vegetarian curries are vegan. They are working on having a vegan option daily!

Friday:

Welcome to the end of the week! The selection for today is the newest – in fact they opened on Wednesday this week – street food cart in SLC. I haven’t had a chance to eat here yet, but a friend did, and says that the food is to die for. Union Street Eats is a vegan Mexican food cart. I was surprised at the size of the menu, and everything sounds great! I need to go try it, soon. The prices range from $3 to $6.

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photo by Amanda

There you go, a culinary tour of Salt Lake City’s vegan “street food” scene. Bon Appétit!