after a nice half day at work, I got out on the cross bike for a spin around town. as I was pedaling around town, I wasn't sure where to ride. but it sure felt great to get outside since it was about 50 degrees and sunny. As I crossed Main St to hop on the bike path, I saw many skiers walking around in the free-for-now parking lots. Since we haven't had snow in about 2 weeks, I thought to myself how much more enjoyable the bike ride was than to be on the mountain fighting the crowds for some turns. Heck, today was a powder day for a cyclist. How can you beat dry roads, 50 degrees, and sunshine in late November? I rode north on Airport Rd. til I got to County Rd 3, then I veered uphill and decided to ride the Imperial bike course, all the way up Pk7 and around by the new gondola til I got to the base of Pk8. My biggest concern was whether or not I was going to get my nice perty bicycle all muddy. Well of course it got muddy, but it's a cross bike. The lower sunny portions of Cty Rd 3 were a bit muddy, but as I headed higher up they were soon snow-packed and perfect firm traction for my cross tires. It was a refreshing change to climb a good long hill, and my 42x29 was a great gear for it. I doubt I will race the Imperial this year, as I am usually getting shelled at the Roubaix or some other early season road event like the Koppenburg. I haven't raced the Imperial since 1999, but I need to give it another try one year. If I do, the cross bike might be perfect, much lighter than the mountain bike.
After a great Thanksgiving over at Doug & Susan's, Helen and I watched a History channel show about the history (duh) of Thanksgiving. Pretty basic stuff. But I did learn something interesting. In 1939, FDR decided to try and kickstart the depression economy by extending the traditional Holiday shopping season. He did this by moving Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the 3rd Thursday in November. It became a mess, as 23 Democratic states honored FDR's switch to Nov 23, but 23 Republican states decided to keep Thanksgiving on Nov 30, the last Thursday. In 1941, feeling the pressure from this unpopular move, Congress voted to permanently switch Thanksgiving back to the last Thursday in November. Colorado was the only state in 1939 to actually celebrate Thanksgiving on both days, 11/23 and 11/30. This obviously troubled some families, because not everyone had the same day off work.
No comments:
Post a Comment