White Elephant

The white elephant gift exchange at work was very entertaining. One gift given was a toy soldier Haloween costume. Ben, the guy who chose this gift, got to model it for everyone. Our creative director then turned his picture into a life-sized poster that is now displayed on the wall so that Ben can't ever live it down.And I ended up with a calendar.
So, if one looks at Spam every day for a year, does one then desire it at the end of the year? I've never tasted Spam. This should be an interesting experiment in brain-washing.

True Vacation

Last weekend was five, count em, five too-cold-to-ride days straight. The change in pace was welcome, however. It's pretty cool to vacation near home.
We celebrated Eric's birthday in Brazil, well, almost. Everyone here is from there and the food is authentic. Betcha it's warmer in Brazil, though.
We drove up Coal Creek Canyon and visited the house he lived in for a short time.

There was lots of hiking and snowshoeing all weekend. This is the backside of one of the Flatirons.
We rented a pretty sweet ride to kick around in for the weekend...but we returned it when it got a flat. Then we got a Jeep Liberty. Not bad, but the truck was the coolest.
I-70 was THE place to be Saturday evening. Hey, when you're renting a vehicle, might as well spend lots of time enjoying it, eh?

Playing in the Snow

It's too cold to ride, but not to hike, snowshoe and enjoy the crisp air. More posts and updates in a few days!

Velonews

Check it out, thanks Valerie! (I'm the little person 2nd to the end, basically, I can't be seen.)

http://velonews.com/galleries/contest51/image43.html

Thanksgiving

Today was a beautiful day. I had a very enjoyable ride with good people and a very nice time with family. I burned 2,300 calories (according to the heart rate monitor) and probably ate that much just on my dinner plate. Then there was the pumpkin pie, whipped cream, oh yes, the pumpkin pie and apple cobbler Cliff Bars on the ride this morning. The food at Thanksgiving was fabulous (thanks, all).

Justin and Dad made some "coffee." Or was it a science experiment? The ladies ran for their lives when the guys took over the kitchen, broke out the scale and calculator and set forth in their quest.

Arrick and I licked the beaters. Never too old.

Mom had dinner under control...Dad, however, wrestled with the bird to get it to the dinner table. Dad won, everyone was pleased. There will be 6 months of turkey sandwiches to look forward to.

This was certainly a holiday to remember always. Tomorrow is Black Friday, heading out to fight the crowds? You'll never guess where I'll be...

Home Cookin'

Cranberries turning into cranberry sauce. Entertaining to watch and quick. Look, ma, I can cook!

BLOG Slacking

Time has been scarce lately. More posts will go up for last week in a couple of days. Then there will be lots of turkey pics, too.

Let me give you a quick view of a typical (weekend) day during winter training. This is not an excuse if I have been out of touch, but it does explain the lack of "free" time.

6-7 am - Wake-up (this means no partying Friday night)
8 am - In the car, heading to somewhere to ride...
9 am - Meet up with friends to ride
2-3 pm - Finish the ride
4 pm - Drop by store for food. Eat.
5 pm - Go home, change clothes. Go to the gym.
7 pm - Clean up and put on "normal" clothes. Do laundry. Do something fun and relaxing.
10-11 pm - Read myself to sleep...wonder where the day went and why I couldn't get to sleep earlier.

Translation: This is exactly how I love to spend a Saturday or Sunday in the winter. It's great time to catch up with people, breathe fresh air, not worry about work or chores. Those couple of hours in the evening that are spent relaxing are absolutely great. If this weren't what I wanted to do for fun, I'd do something else. (hmmm...what would that be?)

The road coming and going

Not another bike

There's another bike I own, but, for some odd reason, haven't mentioned it. It probably weighs 50 lbs. However, it just thrills me to own it, as of today. The car is no longer necessary to live happily! With a (good) market within biking distance, I can stay fed and not worry that there isn't time to shop or eat.

Hallucinating?

Today was an epic Colorado-esque adventure on the bike. It started off cold, then small specks of snow turned into a full white-out, then the sun came out, white-out again, sun again...after nearly four hours out there, I'm almost home and I come across this lawn ornament. Is this some kind of strange dream?