Meanwhile, somewhere in AZ...

I headed out to Tucson to do SSAZ again this year. I find that it's a good fitness and technical skills reality check. There was a change up to this year's course which included a shuttle to the start up the Mt. Lemmon Highway. The bikes followed in a Uhaul. The shuttle ride up felt a bit like this:

I even think there was a guy with a goat. I was waiting for a chicken to weave its way through the bodies. I wish I had words for the smells emitting from said bodies. By saying there was some pants shitting and that I got a contact buzz off the guy's breath next to me should give you somewhat of  an idea.

Once we were dropped off there was the waiting for the bikes to be unloaded:

After that some quick words and we were off to play on our singlespeeds for hours.

People ask me if it's a party or a race. The answer is yes.

Any course that ends with La Milagrosa is bound to be a good time.

Onward

I'm not really great at reflection. I do look back, don't get me wrong. I just don't like to stay there too long. Whether good or bad, the past can hold us captive and keep us from moving forward if we linger too long.

I like to focus on new adventures. Some may never come to fruition, but the hope and the endless possibilities keep me going every day. Resolutions aren't really for me, either. It's always something unattainable like " I will not curse so much."  That resolution is always broken by 12:02 a.m. (sometimes 7 a.m. if I couldn't stay awake).

I prefer to say to myself that I will keep moving forward. Always.

Meatloaf, Smeatloaf

I had some big plans of taking a Christmas photo of Mike and I out on the snowy and frozen trails. However, that plan never came to fruition as the only stopping was to maneuver around ice (there was a lot of that), speed pee and let the hands get warm. Digging the phone out was the last thing on my mind as it was a wee bit chilly out there. It was cold enough to start that Mike had to take extra precautionary measures so his junk didn't get cold on the road ride to and fro:

When I asked Mike what he wanted for Christmas dinner his response was "Meatloaf." Meatloaf? Really? I was thinking beef tenderloin,ham, seafood...not meatloaf. Cue A Christmas Story:

                             " Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf."

So I covered it in bacon to make it more Christmas-y.

Everything worked out.

There is always a sigh of relief as the holiday insanity comes to a close. This year it's a little different for me as I did something a tad bit on the silly side, so now it's my turn  to get a bit crazy. I made the decision to go to Utah this year and do the True Grit Epic. For those of you keeping score, that's an NUE on March 15th. I wouldn't feel so nervous about it if I had been feeling well these past few months. I'm on the up and up now and I just hope it continues so I can get what I need done so I don't embarrass myself (too much). All nervousness and fear of looking like an ass aside, I am pretty excited to go ride in St. George. I promised myself last year that I would do a new-to-me NUE venue even if  it required a plane ticket and well, I like to keep my promises.