Frozen Toes and Thankful

It's nice to have the day after Thanksgiving off to recover from it. I did enjoy spending time with family and am glad to say that I only gained 1 pound since my last weigh in on Monday for the fatcyclist "get a grip" one week weight loss challege. I am glad to say that I lost enough to make it into the top and am going to be the proud owner of some new ergon grips. I have been riding with the ergon e-1's but it will be nice to have an upgrade. I must say that I am proud of myself for finishing so strong and am now really trying to make an effort to deep it up and eat better for my winter training.

I was able to get out today for a loop through wilderness and get some snowy singletrack goodness in. This is the first time I have ridden with snow on the ground (first year serious rider) and I must say it was fun and felt great. The park looked competely different with a light dusting of snow on it and I wish I had brought my camera cause I missed some great pics. The biggest problem with riding today was that my toes got very cold. The rest of me was great but he toes where pretty much frozen by the time I got home. With some advice that I got off a comment on jeff kerkove's blog I have started to get some stuff that I need to keep my feet warmer. I got on to the twin six site for their black friday sale and oredered a pair of wool socks. They should help. I also hope to be getting some of these soon too.

After reading fatty's blog I started to think about some of the things that I have to be thankful for. Here it is in no particular order:

>My job. It is nice to have a job that is fun to do most of the time and gives me the time to spend with my family and to be a cyclist.

>My coworkers. They are great and good about putting up with all of the crazy ideas that I have.

>I am thankful that I can provide for my family.

>Cycling. I am thankful to have found a sport and hobby that I enjoy to do so much.

>My family. I am lucky to have wonderful parents, grandparents and inlaws that are good people.

>My wife. What can I say she's great. She puts up with all of my bull shit and keeps me in check when I get off path. We have been together for along time and I am blessed to have found someone so special

> Lastly my 2 kids. Braeden and Alexis. No father is as fortunate as I am to have 2 kids that are so fun and smart( good and bad). I am the proudest father around.

Alright I am done. Hopefully this hasn't been to cheesy but I do feel very lucky for all that I have and I tend to look at what I don't have sometimes and it serves as a good reminder to type all this down to see what I do have and what to be truly thankful for.

Later

Harp