American Cyclist Wins Gold: 43 Years Old; Female; Beats Russian, Dutch Competitors -- August 10, 2016

From Yahoo:

On the eve of her 43rd birthday, American cyclist Kristin Armstrong captured her third straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s individual time trial on Wednesday morning.

Armstrong covered the 29.8-kilometer (about 18 miles) course in 44 minutes and 26.42 seconds, defeating Russia’s Olga Zabelinskaya (44:31.97) and Dutch competitor Anna van der Breggen (44:37.80). She also won the event at the Summer Olympics in 2008 and 2012 in Beijing and London, respectively.

Pretty cool. She beat her nearest competitor by almost six seconds, it appears.

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Great News For Wafflers

This is certainly coincidental. I've been having some fun with the "genuine" Mickey Mouse waffle maker my granddaughters got me for Father's Day earlier this year. I'm pretty much stuck in the same syrup rut I've been in since growing up in Williston: Aunt Jemima. I occasionally buy "genuine" maple syrup but it's always too expensive. I thought there was a "genuine" supply issue with regard to maple syrup. The "shortage" in maple syrup is a "manufactured" shortage also.

Bloomberg is reporting:

The cartel that produces 72 percent of the world’s maple syrup is starting to crack.

After eight years of tightly limiting output to keep prices high, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers next year will boost its quota by 12 percent for 13,500 sap farmers who operate in the Canadian province. The goal is twofold: Reclaim the 10 percent of market share lost to the U.S. over the last decade, and quell a rebellion by producers increasingly turning to black market sales for growth.

Boosting the quota now is “almost perfect timing” as farmers are seeing record output, according to Alan Bryson, 41, who drains sap from 45,000 taps on trees in Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, Quebec. The prospect of more sales “outweighs the frustration” felt by farmers in the past, he said.

Bryson wants to add as many as 15,000 taps this year and seeks to expand to 75,000 eventually, he said. Overall, Quebec produced about 148.2 million pounds of maple syrup this year. Under the new quotas, output could grow by 15 million pounds, according to the federation.

Much more at the link.

By the way, the Mickey Mouse waffles are incredibly good. I mentioned that to my wife, wondering if it was a new recipe, or maybe it was simply because it's been a long time since I've had waffles. She says it has to do with the size of these waffles. They are very small, making the crispy surface / doughy inside ratio quite different, and for those who like "crunchiness", these waffles would taste better, all else being equal.