So, it's a beautiful day-before-Thanksgiving here in Virginia, and I desperately needed to get out on my mountain bike, "Hank"*, for some pre-turkey exercise. The autumn foliage is just a bit past its prime, but it's still spectacularly beautiful. And on top of that, it was sunny all day and the temperature got up to about 24C (that's about 74F) -- just fabulous. Nice enough for riding in short pants and t-shirt, even. Perhaps global warming doesn't suck too bad (so far).

As luck would have it, our friend Lisa was here to help with some Thanksgiving prep and she wanted to borrow my camera to capture a bit of our autumnal beauty outside. She offered to get an action shot of me and "Hank", so I quickly took her up on the offer. (I don't think I have any shots of me on my bike.) Here's a couple shots from a sequence she took on one of my favorite nearby hills.

Trails are for those who follow them



It's far more gratifying to blaze your own trail

Sure, it's not exactly the Alpe d'Huez, and Lance's 7 Tour victories are still quite safe and sound, but it is a fun hill to ride. I often hit it after a 23-25km ride on really nice days. I didn't go that far today, but the weather sure was beckoning me to ride on.

* You might wonder why I call my bike "Hank". Well, it's a Canondale Jekyll 1000 that I bought off of eBay a couple years back (and then did a few modifications). I have a silly habit of naming things, so I figured Jekyll... Well, Doctor Jekyll's first name, according to the book, is Henry. So, Hank just seemed like the right name. (Aren't you glad you read this footnote now?)

Cheers,

Ken