T-day Weekend Wrap-up

Wow - it's hard to believe we're on the backside of Thanksgiving already. I hate to say it but from here on out, the rest of the year is bound to be a blur. It was a good T-day this year, though. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - perfect for the early morning urban assault ride from Alger Schwinn. I can't think of a better way to gear up for a huge fattening dinner than with a mountain bike ride on unknown sections of urban trail with good friends. Above is a sign from a trail we had just finished riding. Below is Cathy sporting a special T-day outfit for us all to enjoy... Speaking of huge fattening dinners, I managed to pull off my first attempt at cooking a full T-day dinner. I know it definitely wasn't the full-on turkey dinner and the whole deal and I was only cooking for three people (Steve, my mom, and me) but it was still a sh** load of work and, if I do say so myself, turned out pretty durn good. A day of firsts, I roasted my first whole chicken, deglazed my first roasting pan with white wine, and made my first batch of homemade gravy. Deeelish.

Feeling a little bad about making an absolute hog of myself on T-day, I embarked on a somewhat overly ambitious journey on Friday. I got up early, packed a bag of clothes, tossed my bike on my car and drove north the town (er, village?) of Morley. From there, I got on my bike and rode 28ish miles further north on the White Pine Trail to visit with my grandparents in Reed City. As usual, I made another hog of myself eating various goodies while playing rummy in their nice warm house, which made it all the more brutal to put my sweaty bike clothes back on to ride back to my car. All in all, it was a great day and I'm happy for being able to finish the ride and even happier to have been able to spend time with my grandparents, although I could have done without the headwind on the way south or having to ride the last 5 miles in the dark!

Ooh la la! Here's the Surly in Paris (Michigan) showing off some sassy new purple wheels :)

Today brought a group ride with the MMBA folks at the Edwards Creek trail in Greenville. (And a slight hangover from a night at the bar with Jessica - although I'm sure I didn't have it so bad since I wasn't the one who had to get up early to drive to Ford Field for the Rockford game....) Anyhoo, the group ride was well attended with about 15 people. It was the warmest day yet in this nice stretch of weather and we all had a great ride. Even Molly, a relatively new rider, who managed a scary face plant off a bridge into the creek. Tough girl! This trail is one of the most technically challenging in our area and is full of bridges, berms, planks and log crossings. Here's me completing my first ever teeter-totter attempt...

Tomorrow is the last KissCross race of the season out in Holland. I will be happily spectating and giving my legs a rest. I'm almost a little sad to have to go back to work on Monday, although I'm not really sure why. Besides, what the hell am I going to do when I actually have to work full time again? Yikes!