It doesn’t get much better than grilling outdoors over charcoal. That smoky flavor is hard to beat, but it does come with its challenges. Coals can be stubborn to light, heavy to transport, and clean up is always a pain. For these reasons, charcoal is sometimes overlooked when it comes to cooking outdoors. That’s where the HERO Portable Charcoal Grill System comes in.
What It Is
If you’re a fan of charcoal grilling, this portable grill is the easiest method we’ve ever tested. It’s light, too (weighing in at less than 10 pounds), so you can take it anywhere—from beach gatherings to campsites to local parks. It’s especially useful if you live in an apartment or have a small outdoor living space that can’t accommodate a full-size grill. The system packs up in its included case with little to no hassle.
Photo: Courtesy of HERO Grill
How It Works
Similar to the concept of a Keurig coffee maker, the Hero system uses charcoal “pods.” They’re disposable and burn wonderfully hot for over an hour. Just light it up (we recommend using the HERO Butane Lighter) and let the flammable design do its thing. When you’re done, simply extinguish the coals with water and toss the pod in the compost or trash. It doesn’t get much easier than this.
Why We Like It
The pods are vacuum-sealed and waterproof for transport in any environment. Moreover, the grill itself is dishwasher-safe and the brand says it’ll never rust. The complete system is a true kit, comprising the grill, a bamboo spatula and cutting board, a silicone-wrapped meat thermometer, one charcoal pod, and a heavy-duty, waterproof carrying case. (A two-pack of replacement pods runs $24.95.)
Photo: Courtesy of HERO Grill
Nitpick
As we said, one pod will last you about an hour, so if you’re planning on cooking all day for Cinco de Mayo you’re gonna burn through quite a few of those suckers. The grill size is also conducive to cooking for 2 to 3—not an entire family or party. But because this set is all about portability, its size is certainly not a dealbreaker.
In every crisis, there are always a few businesses able to thrive. Each empty shelf and each long line is a windfall for your local grocery store. Important digital communication channels like Zoom, Skype and Words With Friends are seeing their traffic spike. Even yeast is now a growth industry… though I guess it technically already was. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that the retail bike biz is among them.
But it was kind of a surprise to me. Lately, I’ve been preoccupied with news about races being postponed, events getting cancelled and trailheads sprouting caution tape. All the while, normal people have been flocking to bike shops and, thankfully, they’ve been allowed to. Shops being deemed “essential services” has been a hot topic since the outbreak, with some brands even encouraging riders to reach out to their representatives to ensure that they have the right to stay open. Now, business is booming at those shops, and we wanted to find out exactly who and what is behind that boom.
I chose six shops, each in one of six states, half blue and half red. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Arizona and South Carolina. They’re what I’d call “normal” shops. Shops for whom mountain bikes are a significant portion, but not the entirety of their business. I called all six shops this week to find out how busy they were. Three of them had to call me back. They were too busy.
“It happened pretty much overnight,” says Cory Foster, manager of the Sunrise location of Oro Valley Bicycle in Tucson, Arizona. “It was like a switch.” That switch got flipped around early/mid-March. It was exactly the same for every shop I spoke with, and the reasons aren’t all that mysterious. As soon as the pandemic declaration resulted in the closure of gyms, malls, theaters and parks, Americans suddenly had fewer choices for recreation. Many filled the gap with riding. Plus, anyone who relied on public transportation now had a good reason to get on a bike instead. But the most significant impact came when schools began shutting down. “The first week, it was a lot of kids’ bikes,” remembers Foster. “People were realizing, ‘I’ve got kids at home, and their bikes are too small for them.’”
A couple shops noticed that spread to the parents by the second week. “The kids have bikes, the parents don’t have bikes, so they’re now coming in,” explains Brian Miller of my personal alma mater, Bicycles Etc. in Lisle, Illinois. Most of those parents, of course, are at home right now. With many outdoor gathering places either illegal or unsafe to visit, families are turning to bikes. Miller reminded me that this has happened before. “Remember when gas prices jumped and people were dragging their bikes out of the sheds?” Do I ever. I was working at a different shop in 2007 and, until the recession hit, our business was up something like 50 percent. Road trips were expensive. Going to the beach or a theme park was expensive. Riding a bike was not.
The trend has extended to service as well. Peak Performance is a shop in Granby, Massachusetts, outside Northampton. It’s literally a one-man show, starring Mat Harris. For a few years now, he’s been almost exclusively service. Still, he’s overwhelmed. “If you looked at my shop right now, you can’t even walk. It’s jammed with bikes.” Like the other shops I spoke with, Harris has found this bump in his service clientele isn’t dominated by any one single demographic. “Really, it’s just regular people. It’s carbon, steel, gravel. Mongoose, Huffy, Nishiki. A Cannondale that a guy wants me to put super high handlebars on, you know.” Like the people Brian Miller mentioned who over a decade ago were pulling their bikes out of the attic instead of filling their tank with gas, these are customers who just don’t ride their bikes often, much less work on them.
But there are a few shops seeing an uptick in their high-end business. Universal Cycles is a small shop in Studio City north of Hollywood owned by Kevin Ramirez. In normal times, they put on regular demo events in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles. Universal does have the requisite hybrid and commuter inventory you’d expect from a big-city bike shop, but Ramirez seems most excited about the jump in high-end mountain sales. “Since the Fox 38 dropped, I haven’t been able to keep one in the store.” And it’s a much-needed shot in the arm for brick-and-mortar bike sales, which have been struggling for years. “It used to be one of those things where you’d hear ‘You own a bike shop? Oh…’ Now it’s like ‘You own a bike shop? OH! I need a bike!” Universal’s bread-and-butter bikes are also doing well, but stock is limited. As he runs out of commuter hybrids, he’s moving people onto entry-level mountain bikes, which also aren’t going to last forever.
That was another overarching narrative I found. On the other side of this demand is a supply chain that is not going to be able to keep up. And the disruption as COVID-19 spread through Asia earlier in the year has not helped. No shop reported delays in receiving small parts from distributors, but complete bikes tend to come with an extra day or two of delay as suppliers work on limited stock and delivery infrastructure is overwhelmed. But more than that, the bikes themselves are simply running low. Overwhelmingly, shops identified price points between $500 and $1,000 as the biggest growth area. That is a pretty narrow range, which means there simply aren’t that many bikes in the price point these new customers are looking for. Josh Travis is the manager at Phat Tire Bike Shop in Bentonville, Arkansas, and they saw this coming. “The only reason we’re as busy as we are is that we ordered a ton of bikes on our last order.” But that approach takes a lot of warehouse space, a lot of good credit and a lot of forethought. Not every shop has all three, so some brands have been able to pull back the curtain early on their new model-year bikes to meet demand. “Trek is starting to post 2021 models, which gives us a hint that they’re planning on bringing in their boatloads of bikes.”
Other shops have gone so far as to bring on entirely new lines when their existing ones were out of popular models. “We actually had to pick up another brand to get kids and family bikes. We picked up Jamis,” Mike McMillan tells me. McMillan owns Sunshine Cycle Shop, housed in a corrugated metal Quonset hut in Greenville, South Carolina. That location has made it hard for McMillan to balance safety and service. “This is South Carolina, and sometimes the message doesn’t come through as quickly here.” Sunshine is being exceptionally, but not unreasonably, cautious. Customers are served from outside the shop in a 10×10 pop-up tent. On rainy days, McMillan has a section of the store roped off where he can serve customers from within, but Greenville is a region where many people believe the lockdowns are unnecessary. “I think we’ve had, since this started, probably six or eight customers walk out on us.” That’s something no small business wants, boom or not. But that brings me to the other overwhelming thread among the shops I spoke with. McMillan is looking to protect his employees and his community. Most shops I spoke to are regularly cleaning surfaces, vigorously cleaning touchpoints on new and repaired bikes and, when necessary, allowing employees to work limited hours or take leave entirely until they feel it’s safe to return to work. We’ve said it before other times we’ve checked in with the retail landscape since all this started, but shops have an extremely difficult choice to make when weighing the health of their employees and the health of their business. In a time of crisis, they have the opportunity to thrive. It’s hard to say no. And more than that, the customers who are coming to their doors are coming with greater needs than you or I might. Chances are, you and I already have a working bike. Maybe two. But this new wave is populated by newcomers. People with little else to keep their family or themselves together. Providing for those customers is the definition of an essential service.
This article originally appeared on Bikemag.com and was republished with permission.
Just because a meal comes together in one pot alone doesn’t mean it has to be lackluster. In fact, with nuanced flavor, decadent sauces, and more culinary elements you won’t soon forget, these recipes are anything but. Read on and get cooking for some of the best one-pot dinner recipes you can make this week and beyond.
Sharing a stay-at-home Mother’s Day gift guide with lots of ideas for the women and caretakers we love so much.
Hi friends! How’s the day treating you so far? I hope you’re having a good morning. The weather has been warming up a ton here in Tucson, so the girls have been staying cool by playing with the hose, the unicorn sprinkler, and I ordered them a little inflatable pool that should be here today. If this continues, we’ll be hopping the wall at my parents’ houses to use their pools.
I was brainstorming Mother’s Day ideas since it’s just around the corner. It’s going to be a different kind of Mother’s Day this year and some of the things I’d usually request (a great restaurant brunch, nap, get-together with our whole family, and a spa service gift card!) are pretty much off the table for now. I thought I’d share some of the ideas I’ve thought of if you’re trying to plan something special, or if you want to send it along to the hubby or your partner as a “wink-wink, here are some ideas” kinda thing. There are lots of lower-cost and free options included in this gift guide, too. I’d love any ideas you have for Mother’s Day (especially for our moms and grandmothers!) during this weirdo time.
Stay-At-Home Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
The daily uniform! Fashion is a liiiiittle different (at least for me!) these days. I’m living in loungewear and athletic clothes. Here are some of my fave picks:
Athletic clothes:
– My fave sneakers ever. I wear them for workouts and for life. The kids also have pairs and LOVE them. The kids’ ones wash extremely well – I throw them in the washer and let them air dry- and they’ll continue to be their go-to sneakers when/if we ever go back to school. *laugh emoji* *cry emoji*
– These are the best everyday tees. I have so many of them and they’re awesome for lounging/everyday. If you’re in between sizes for lululemon, definitely size down (I wear a 4 or 6 in lulu and order 4s for these).
– Athletic shorts that aren’t too short and are available in different colors and patterns. I’m wearing these in the color Cassis while I write this post. I also got paint on them during our cabinet painting, which is totally my fault, but still a bummer.
– The best leggings!! They’re not see-through, are supportive, and have a super flattering high waist.
– The best everyday summer pajamas. I have a few pairs of these and love that they feel put-together (like hey, my pajamas match! #littlewins) but are very comfortable and practical.
– Our all-new Vitamin C serum. It has two ultra-stable forms of Japanese vitamin C to help brighten skin and reduce age spots. It also contains antioxidants to help protect the skin and gives an awesome dewy glow.
– Melting body balm. This smells beautiful is a nice way to hydrate hands with the constant hand washing.
** Everything on the site is safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding. We also have a generous 60-day return policy if for some reason you don’t like your purchase! If you place an order over $50, it’s worth it to join Band of Beauty. It’s like our version of Nordstrom Rewards or Amazon Prime. It’s $29 for the year and you get free shipping on orders over $100, 10% back in product credit, and a free gift on product purchase over $50 when you join. (It’s the charcoal mask this month!) Click here to check it out.
– Static Nails liquid glass lacquer. I’ve been using this for the last couple of months and love it! Their polish is vegan, cruelty-free, nontoxic, and also has healing ingredients, like coconut oil, rosehip oil, and green tea. It doesn’t last quite as long as the advertised “Up to 10 days!” but I find I can go about a week without extremely noticeable chipping. (I CAN’T WAIT to get dip polish again!)
– Silk hair ties. These don’t damage hair or leave a giant ponytail crease.
– A Dyson airwrap. This is a huge expense but everyone I know that has one raves about it.
– A CBD gift set. CBD is saaaaaaving me right now, especially on the nights where I still feel wound up and like I won’t be able to fall asleep. The oil under my tongue instantly calms me. CBD does NOT get you high or impair you in any way, and can help to decrease inflammation in the body. It’s help a ton with my anxiety! Check it out here and enter the code FITNESSISTA for an extra 15% off. (I love the flavored oil drops!)
– This sleep mask! They’re a bit pricey but I’ve had mine for a couple of years and it’s still in great shape.
Jewelry and personalized gift ideas:
– A mantraband for a boost of hope and positivity.
– Muud handmade earrings. This is my SIL’s (Meg’s!) new business and she makes the most gorgeous handmade clay earrings. She’ll be doing another drop on her IG page this Friday at 2pm PST, so be sure to snag some for yourself or for a gift! She’s doing some beautiful shimmery moons and rainbows.
Tasty treats + experience ideas:
– Write her a nice note/card/text message. My friend sent the sweetest supportive text message (short and sweet, like, “Hey, I know you have a lot going on, but you’re crushing it and I love you”) and it made me cry. Supportive words mean the world, especially right now with everything going on.
– A future date! Plan out something in the future for when things settle down again.
– Order brunch or dinner take-out from her favorite restaurant.
– Husbands/partners can offer to watch the kiddos for a couple of hours so mom can nap or take a walk/drive by herself for a bit.
– Draw a bath. Tom did this for me when we were in Valdosta and it was amaaaaazing. He knew I had a hard day, so he filled up the bathtub with a bath bomb, set out a glass of champagne, strawberries, and chocolate, and lit candles. It was such a beautiful act of care and something that didn’t cost any money.
– Leave a bouquet of flowers or succulents and some chocolates on the doorstep! (Going to do this for some friends with a mini bottle of champagne.)
– Order some tasty desserts or treats from somewhere she loves!
– Daily Harvest. These have been SO incredible over the past couple of months, especially for quick and healthy breakfast and lunch options. The smoothies are my very fave, but I also love the flatbreads, bowls, soups, and overnight oats. Check it out here and enter the code FITNESSISTA for $25 off your first box.
What are you going to do for Mother’s Day this year? Any gift ideas or something that’s on your personal wish list?
xoxo
Gina
Note: All of the above items were curated by yours truly and companies are unable to sponsor spots on my gift guides. Affiliate links are included above, which don’t impact purchase price, but enable me to earn a small kickback that I use to help keep this lil blog running. Thank you so much for supporting me and the companies who help to support our family!
Sharing 25 bodyweight workouts you can do at home! All you need is a pair of comfortable sneakers, some space on a yoga mat or rug, and a bottle of water.
Hi friends! I’m writing this blog post to you with paint-crusted fingers (attractive). We’re almost finished painting the cabinets and should have everything put together by tomorrow. I’m so excited! It’s going to feel so much brighter in the kitchen and when we finish, it will give me a chance to catch up on everything else I’ve neglected during this epic painting party. (The laundry situation is getting rough.) Even though we’ve been alternating helping out the kids and painting, I’ve still been able to catch some solid workouts. It’s been fun to break out some barre workouts with our Barre Bootcamp group and also hop on the Peloton or enjoy a yoga flow (I filmed one to share with you guys!)
For today’s post, I wanted to re-share 25 of my favorite bodyweight workouts you can do anywhere. I know many of us are stuck at home right now and it can be tricky to sort through all of the options that are available. I wanted to have a handy list in case you were looking to try something new and shake up your routine. It’s nice to press play on an awesome playlist and go for it!
Hi friends! Happy Monday! I think it’s Monday? It’s so weird how the days seem to all blend together. I hope your weekend brought you some peace and relaxation. Ours was packed with projects but we made time for ice cream, tent night in the living room, and some family walks.
Friday afternoon, I finished putting together a gallery wall in the living room and was like, “Let’s get the paint for the cabinets!”
Before you could say, “Lowes is the equivalent of Black Friday madness” we were covered in paint splatters: deglossing, priming, and painting. (In all seriousness though, Lowe’s was BANANAS. The Pilot wore a mask and was the only one who went inside, while the girls and I waited in the car, but I couldn’t believe the parking lot. I guess a lot of people are tackling home improvement projects while we’re stuck at home.)
I’ve had some requests to do a full post on the process, so I’ll definitely post the details when everything is finished. I will say that it takes 1400 years but the results are SO worth it. It’s already brightened up the kitchen and I can’t wait to see the final product!
I took a break from painting to drop off a baby gift to a friend, and wore real clothes for 3 whole hours.
Cool sock tan, bro.
(Dress is here! It’s $40 and such an awesome summer staple. I have a striped one and black one, too)
I came back home, we put the girls to bed, and it was back to painting until midnight. A LOT of the weekend was spent painting and priming. We’re so thankful for the girls’ ability to entertain themselves because it’s a huge project and surprisingly, it hasn’t been total anarchy around here. They’ve really learned how to just be kids and play since we’re not racing around from activity to event from morning until bedtime. Liv reads books to P, they play toys and board games together, run around in the backyard, and get drenched in the unicorn sprinkler. I joke that they’re having a jolly fine time throughout this whole thing (and I still think it’s going to be a huge struggle to get P to ever go back to preschool.)
Saturday night dinner was a Harney Cobb, which is one of our go-to dinners. We set out a bunch of salad toppings and everyone can make their own Cobb salad. (The girls’ are usually deconstructed and they crush it!) It’s grilled chicken, romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, hard boiled eggs, avocado, turkey bacon, and feta, topped with Ranch dressing.
Here’s what mine looked like:
(the Primal Kitchen vegan Ranch is amaaaazing)
We popped some wine and continued painting throughout the night and rest of the weekend. While I’ve been painting, I’ve been listening to the Jessica Simpson audiobook on one headphone and am really enjoying it. It makes the time go by so quickly! If you have any other audiobooks you love, please send them my way! (The author/narrator makes all the difference in the world.)
I just wanted to pop in and say hi! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today. Have a wonderful morning and I’ll see ya soon.
Tell me, friends: any highlights or fun stories from the weekend?
Funny how quickly the novelty of life under quarantine wears off. It was a little easier to look on the bright side for the first week. Or even the second. Maybe you read a book or painted a wall. But now, maybe your area is experiencing some trail closures, so you’re stuck looking for more books to read or more walls to paint.
For many of us, at least some of the light at the end of this tunnel is shining directly from the bike hanging in the garage. And working on that bike is the perfect way to daydream about those first rides when the trails reopen or when the band gets back together. Here are five more bike hacks to help you along.
This article originally appeared on Bikemag.com and was republished with permission.
Rum-finished whiskey lovers are going to want to make it a priority to get their hands on the latest release from the Glenlivet: Caribbean Reserve.
The affordable new bottle, which is out today, is a non-age statement bottling of Glenlivet single malt, finished selectively in former Caribbean rum casks before bottling. The whisky is, according to Glenlivet, “sweet and smooth… with hints of tropical fruits, honey and cinnamon.”
Rum cask finishes are becoming a standard among the biggest names in Scotch whisky. While Balvenie, for instance, has long had the 14-year-old expression of Caribbean Cask in its core line, other brands have since joined, including last year’s release of Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth, which was also released as an affordable scotch whisky aimed at the cocktail market.
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Just a handful of new Glenlivet’s products have hit shelves in the last decade. The strategy for the last few years has, for the most part, tended toward impactful, but limited releases, including the cryptically designed Alpha and Cipher bottles, which were intentionally mysterious in their makeup.
So a permanent, affordable addition to the core line is a welcome treat for the brand’s fans. “At The Glenlivet we are always looking at new ways to explore different flavours to break old whisky conventions,” said Glenlivet Master Distiller Alan Winchester in a statement shared with Men’s Journal. “After experimenting with Cognac casks in the past, it seemed only natural that we would set our sights on other cask experiments and rum barrels were next. By bringing rum barrels and Scotch together for the first time in our history, we have brought some bold and tropical Caribbean flavours to our traditional Speyside style.”
There’s some uncertainty about whether this will find its home mostly as a neat pour or a cocktail ingredient, but as Glenlivet is sharing its own cocktail recipes, we’re open to both. One you get your hands on a bottle, here’s the first drink to try, below.
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Caribbean Mai Tai
Ingredients:
1 ½ parts The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
¾ part lime juice
½ part orange syrup
½ part Triple Sec
Directions:
Combine The Glenlivet Reserve Caribbean Reserve, lime juice, orange syrup and Triple Sec in a cocktail shaker.
Fill with ice.
Shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.
Garnish with mint and an orange slice and enjoy.
The new Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve is available nationwide today $35. You can purchase it on Drizly, as well as via ReserveBar for easy delivery. Glenlivet has included an offer code courtesy of ReserveBar for you to also raise a glass: (OFFER CODE: SCOTCH $5 – for $5 off).
Since our immediate futures are one big question mark with the COVID-19 pandemic right now, many of us are clinging onto small moments of joy. The meticulous, meditative quality of chopping vegetables. The oddly scientific methodology of making pour-over coffee and sourdough starter. And for the active set: running.
That sense of community has been thwarted, no doubt, but we urge you to embrace the oddities of running in the age of COVID-19. Charge through the streets at night. Make the once-crowded hot spots your playground. Take advantage of the downpours and eerily quiet dawn hours to minimize contact with people. Getting out once a day doesn’t just ease the doldrums of self-isolation, it’s a godsend for your mental and physical health—the salve for an ever-growing itch you can’t seem to scratch. If you’re someone who likes to get miles on your legs, a personal best on your watch, and could use a new pair of kicks on your feet, we’ve got a strong recommendation from Hoka One One: the Carbon X.
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What It Is
The Hoka One One Carbon X sits pretty squarely between a racing shoe and trainer. The aggressive, springy carbon plate extends through the length of the shoe, wrapping under the outermost toes to make your gait feel more fluid and effortless. That’s the whole appeal of carbon-plated running shoes: They make running feel less taxing by reducing energy lost during toe-off—or so the theory goes. Coupled with the fluid nature of the Meta-Rocker, a rounded sole shape with a low heel-to-toe drop, this shoe is seriously fun to run in.
Unlike the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT% and New Balance FuelCell 5280, which require lightning-fast mile times to reap the benefits, the Carbon X is a more forgiving option. The forefoot platform is wider and more merciful because it lends greater stability—a major plus if your running mechanics aren’t elite-level perfect and you get a little sloppy at the end.
At just 8.8 ounces (lighter than Nike’s comparable 9.6-ounce Zoom X), it strikes that perfect balance between light and supportive. The upper is an airy engineered mesh, not a knit, so it won’t get soaked or bogged down in rainy conditions. While there’s a medley of foams running along the mid and forefoot, there’s not a substantial amount in the heel to dampen and smooth out the rocker’s rolling momentum. Because of this, the Carbon X is best suited to midfoot strikers than heel strikers, who might find the experience a little jarring.
Why We Like It
I have sprinter tendencies from my track & field days, so I’m afflicted by what I like to call dog-off-leash syndrome—a feeling of unbridled joy when I start a run accompanied by an inability to pace or taper speed. And the Carbon X really lets me fly. The feel underfoot is bouncy and propulsive, with an exaggerated rocking sensation. I’m not a fan of minimalist running shoes, because my body takes a beating with endurance work, but these feel well-cushioned and don’t leave my legs feeling trashed after a hard effort. It’s not an everyday trainer, but it’s absolutely the shoe I gravitate toward when I want to do speed work or bump up the intensity and do some threshold training.
Nitpick
I have narrow feet and don’t often have an issue with irritation, but do experience rubbing along my pinky toes after a couple of miles. If you have wide feet, beware; there’s no wide option available… yet. The laces are also particularly slippery and tend to come undone mid-run. I’d suggest swapping them out, because once you take off, there’s nothing more soul-sucking than stopping your joyride to re-tie your shoes.
Here at Men’s Journal, we constantly test the latest gear to find the best new products you should know about to take your next adventure, workout, wardrobe, and every other part of your life to the next level. That includes everything from the best new adventure gear like a kayak that can double as a fishing boat to the absolute coolest gadgets and innovative tech you should own like a must-have soundbar to upgrade your home theater setup or a pair of bookshelf speakers. Here, check out our editors’ favorite picks for Gear of the Week.
[Editor’s Note: Check back each week to see an updated list of our favorite new products, along with all the previous weeks’ gear picks.]
