November

I never remember November being this fun and flying by so fast. Starting off the month with the stellar marriages of four of our friends set the vibe for the month...Indulgence! Then the crazy Invitational race and party left me feeling too much like a party girl with me lamenting, "I'm ready to be an athlete again." And I am, but I still shaking off this lack of focus that has engulfed my life. But a couple of rides on the ridgetops of the beautiful mountains around here and a couple of night rides(one planned, one not planned) have me loving November.

I even was inspired to go running, but with no success because even 16 months after my broken leg after running a couple of minutes it hurts. I'm hoping that will go away and I will jog a little and then walk a lot for the up coming Nordic skiing season. I'm so psyched to ski I could scream. The almanac is calling for the first snow after Christmas, but you it seems like Jack Frost party is always good for a little bit of the white stuff.

Got to see Chipper and the White Grass crew dialing in the finishing touches for another ski season. Rolling up the driveway to White Grass just gets the good vibes pumping. I got a pair of the Tenth Mountain Skis last year and haven't even skied them yet. Mikey says they are collector items now because they will no longer be making them. Karhu was bought, I guess and things are going to be changing. I'm contemplating a plastic boot for some downhill telemarking this year. I'll be going uphill a lot, but the downhilling would help my balance and leg strength, too.

Collin, Freshman Dan and I rode up to Kennedy's Peak and had some lunch. We continued North on the ridge up to Milford Gap. It was incredible riding and tricky, too with the slippery oak leaves. I had to walk two downhills that I normally ride because the leaves threw me off. I dumped the bike a couple of times and it got beat up pretty good. I actually crashed hard in the same exact spot that I've crashed hard before. When will I learn to correct my mistakes?

We got down to Fort Valley Rd with the sun sinking down pretty quickly. We were all pretty tired, but what can you do? You just have to ride on back to the car. It was sketchy because we didn't have lights even though we could see, but cars didn't have a great view of us. Collie and I had to wait a while for Fresh D after a big hill. He said he was in Slumville. The next not so big hill we waited for him for 10 minutes and wondered how he could ride that slow. We didn't want to turn around for him, but we were picturing him in a ditch getting hypothermia. We saw his bike propped up against a mailbox. We went up to the house and knocked on the door hoping Fresh D was in there and okay. He was great...sitting in an easy chair scarfing down PB&J sammies, hot chocolate, milk and fun sized snicker bars. The very nice family said that the intersection to our car was only 2 miles away. No problem... Me and Collin wanted to get back on the road and went to leave. Fresh D says he can't make it and the family is going to give him a ride back to the car. This is a kid that rode his bike across the whole country, but couldn't make it another 2 miles after getting warm and getting his belly stuffed. Collin and I just laughed the whole two miles in the dark back to the car. Its funny!

Tim and I are heading to New Mexico for Thanksgiving to visit his family. It will be a quick trip, but we love going out and we are so Thankful to have our families. My mom has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She is out of the hospital and will do outpatient chemo. She is doing tons better with the swelling in her legs going down and the hope that the chemo will blast the tumor in her stomach. She is strong and has a great attitude and God on her side. We'll see her at Christmas.