Bike Mechanic: Tales From the Road and the Workshop covers the history and the work for bicycle mechanics who work the professional pro peloton.

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The Tour de France begins this Saturday, July 5 in Yorkshire, England, so for today’s reading while riding the bus this morning I looked at stages past.

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I’m reading this children’s book from Velo Press…

…and now I’m done. Eric’s Big Day: A Bicycle Race Unlike Any Other follows the adventures of Eric as he bikes to meet Emily for lunch. Eric is prepared for any emergency and meets several cyclists on the day of a race as they suffer various mechanicals.

This is a book for children roughly ages 4 through 6. Buy here!

I’m reading this now. It’s as enjoyable as his first book. Click on the image to preview or buy. Watch for a full review later.

In Jewish and Christian scripture, the prophet Daniel was among the young men who were brought from Jerusalem to be servants to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. To avoid defiling himself and to show solidarity with his people, he refused to eat the “king’s meat” and subsisted on an essentially vegan, gluten-free diet.

The evangelical / Pentecostal / non-denominational Christian community has a sizable population that has embraced the message of eating “natural,” less processed foods that are lower on the food chain than feedlot beef and bacon. Some people took inspiration from Daniel’s abstinence, and now a number of churches across the United States often begin the year with a “Daniel’s Fast.”

I won’t go into the symbolic and significant spiritual components here, but the Daniel’s Fast is not sacramental so there are no hard and fast rules about the foods. The list is generally exclusionary – no meat, no dairy, no eggs. Most lists also exclude certain “processed foods” from the list – no white sugar, no white flour, no leavening, and so forth. For the past three years in which my own church has taken part in this Daniel’s Fast, you’ll have caught me eating dishes made with beans, whole grain rice and corn tortillas. Breakfast is usually oatmeal with added fruit. Smoothies made with avocados and silken tofu are also popular in the first month of the year at my church.

Still, I like a little variety in my meals, so I was delighted when this cookbook appeared at my front door the other week.

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