Thanksgiving and MTB

What a wonderful time of year! Spent this Thanksgiving mostly with the in-laws, and it was a blast. Managed to squeak out a 3rd AG in a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning (more on that below) and then stuffed my face until my stomach hurt through the evening. Friday I took out my brand spankin new mountain bike on Friday before filling myself with copious amounts of pasta and alcohol. Saturday we made it out to see my parents and grandparents, and then Sunday I relaxed (after getting in another mtb ride...). There is a lot to be thankful for.

I'll do a brief description of the turkey trot and then give some specs on my new wheels because, after all, this is a sport-centric blog.

The Nazareth Pumpkin Pie 5k was Thanksgiving morning. This is the third year we've done it, and it's a blast every time. It's a pretty hilly 5k course, all on roads, and close to Maddy's parents' house. This year we had her sister and bro-in-law (the same guy who has built 2 bikes for me now - check him and my bikes out at royalhcycles.com), Maddy, her aunt (who placed 4th AG in her first 5k ever!), and me. Top 3 finishers in each age group win a pumpkin pie and I had been second the previous two years running 17:42, and 17:39. This year I knew I was in no shape to run sub 18 since I haven't been running with my old cross country team, and I really just haven't been running... Nevertheless, I got home this year in 18:22, and managed to get 3rd and a pie. Maddy also PR'ed (!) which is even more impressive because she's been battling a fiery IT band for the past few weeks. She wasn't sure she'd even make it because of the pain she'd been having. It was a great start to the day all in all.

Now the good stuff...

Went out on Friday for an 1:15 ride through some muck and mud. The Royal H MTB delivered on all my expectations! What a ride!

Only problem is going to be finding a hose near my house! We don't have a hook up outside and I think I'll need it if riding is going to be anything like it was Friday...

More later this week. I'm getting back in the swing of things.

1500 tt in the pool some time this week as a benchmark. I'm having a competition to see who can shave the most off in the month of Dec. with 2 guys I work with.