Thanksgiving Day Road Ride

Since I bought my Superfly in October, I've been riding on the dirt non-stop. I wanted to ride the "Turkey Trot" on Thanksgiving morning, but it ended up not working with the family schedule (am I the only one with this issue?). Instead, I dusted off the skinny tire bike and left the house at 7 AM for a climb up the south side of Suncrest, with the thought of returning before the family rolled out of bed.

I'd forgotten how much I hate the pain of the first 10 minutes of the steep part of that climb. I live close to the base of the climb, so despite my efforts to try and warm up and get my blood flowing before the grade ramps up, it never seems to be adequate and I end up gasping for air. Once I was in a good groove though, I just enjoyed the rest of the climb and didn't push it too hard. I made it to the top in around 25 minutes, which is a long shot from my TT personal best back in August, but like I said, I wasn't pushing it. Actually, to be honest, I've gained a few pounds lately and it felt like I had lead in my wheels.

As I was going back down, I had to stop and take this picture of the sun rising over the mountains.
I'm thankful for many things*, but on this Thanksgiving ride, I couldn't help but to be grateful for the beautiful mountains and valleys here in Utah and of course for the bikes that I get to ride through/up/down/across them.

*At Thanksgiving dinner later that day we each had to say what we were thankful for. I really wanted to say I was grateful for bikes, especially my new Superfly, but I showed restraint and expressed my gratitude for more important things.