Gorgeous View

A little bit of inspiration for our ride. How high up are we going to go???

not dead, just a little tired

We just had our first official team ride today. I was a little nervous because my fitness is most definitely not what it should be.

About 20 of us got together to meet quickly then take a spin around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was 11 degrees at 9 am! By the time we actually got on the course, 2 1/2 hours later it was in the low 20's. That's a tolerable level of cold. Tolerable if you're dressed for it, that is! It's a beautiful, clear, sunny day and you really have to take advantage of that.

Like I said, it was a quick ride, 10 1/2 miles. Really short but still enough time for two stops. One for a photo op and to remove the chemical "toe warmers" from my shoes. The other to help a teamate who's chain had popped off her chain ring.

The hill that has always been my nemesis was actually fine. It's never been "fine" this early in the season. Since that's the case, I have very, very good things to look forward to this season.

Here's a list of the gear I was wearing. No frost bite for me today!

• wool socks plus neoprene toe covers over my cycling shoes



• thermal full length cycling pants



• long sleeve base layer, long sleeve fleece top, wind shell



• neck gaitor thing



• glove liners, cycling gloves, fleece gloves



• helmet and sunglasses

I was completely warm so I probably could have ridden more. My hands and neck felt a little like what I imagine Gumby feels like. Kind of wide and only a little bit flexible. All very serviceable though, so this is good! I'm so super glad I've gotten my cold weather ensemble down to a science so early in the year.

For anyone that's new to this site, DD and I are training to complete America's Most Beatiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe, NV on June 1st. We're raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's our third event and promises to be exciting and quite scenic. Our goal is to raise $10,000 this year! To help the cause, you can donate securely at our website. You can also go there to see our thoroughly photoshopped photo of El Tour de Tucson.

I am thankful....

It's easy to get wrapped up in the day to day to do lists, isn't it? It happens to me almost every day. I try to remind myself, at least once a day, all that I am thankful for. I'm really a lucky person.

Here's a quick list:
I'm thankful for my sweet, fantastic husband. We're really lucky to have found each other.

I'm thankful for my nice little life, my old house and my silly, fuzzy kitty.

I'm thankful for the car I have to drive. It's got a ton of miles on it, it's taken me lots of great, fun and interesting places.

I adore my friends. I've known some of you since I was a kid. That's huge. Others have come along in the last 5 years or so. All fabulous.

I love my family. We've been through a lot together and I know I can really rely on them.

I really like my job. It's flexible enough to let me occasionally blog during the daytime! I meet cool people, when I "knock it out of the park" it's ridiculously satisfying.

I love my house. Have I mentioned that? It's a great house. I live in a great cozy neighborhood. It's actually a neighborhood because I know my neighbors and we tend to look out for each other.

DD and I took a fantastic vacation last year at the beach. I am so grateful to get to know DD's fraternity brothers and their families. They are fabulous. We had such a great time. And lucky still, we have another one planned for next August!!

That's my list for today. Things just off the top of my head.

What are you thankful for on this blustery February day??

I'll autograph this if you'd like

Here's an amusing meme from Uncle Crappy. DrunkDude did it too. I'm a visual junkie so I love this stuff.

Here's how it works:

1. Pick your band name by going here. You may have to refresh a couple of times to get something appropriate. (CEMA was a kinda weird one I got)
   
   
2. Now you can pick your album title by going here. Pick the last quote entry on the page and use the last four words as your album title. My title is a quote from Florida Scott-Maxwell, O Magazine October 2003.
   
   
3. Choose your album art...Go to this fun spot on Flickr and choose the third image. You may need to refresh a few times to get an image that can be used under a creative commons license. (Don't use any copyrighted materials or the blog police may nab you!)
   

You can paste the whole thing together to make the album art for your new band. Have fun! I may do one every day.