2 quick things

First up, I spent most of my week berating Canon for having crappy communication and customer service. The issue? They notified me there was a known issue with my camera, sent me a shipping label, I shipped off the camera and couldn't get any info about the status. In the mail last night I got a letter saying they had received the camera (weird, since Wednesday I couldn't get a status update, and the letter came from OH, so they would've had to have known?). Then I checked the door and had a FedEx missed you notice.

Justin headed down to the FedEx location down the street, and came back with my camera! What the?? Oh well, STOKED. I felt like half a person without my 950IS. My dad's camera was a cool substitute, but it just wasn't the same! I feel complete again, and hope to have some good shots from Sunday if it dries out.

Second of all, in case you don't read Fat Cyclist, today Twin Six is ponying up HALF THEIR GROSS/TOTAL SALES today to the Fat Cyclist LiveStrong page today. So, any sales that go through today, $0.50 for every dollar you spend will go to a good cause. I always feel like helping out, but I don't have a few hundred dollars to donate. Buying a Twin Six shirt and getting to contribute a bit to a good cause works for me.

So, check out their goods, order a shirt, a jersey, a pair of socks or something and feel good about donating to a good cause!

Somewhat Weekend Update

I woke up to great news this morning: A chance to ride and race for Ergon USA for 2009! Stoked. I've been digging their grips/barend combo for awhile now. Padded gloves help hand pain a little, but when I'm doing long days in the saddle I really like the multiple hand positions offered by the Ergon grips. Very excited about continuing to sport (and support) them and also to rockin' the GREEN.

We went out for a pretty good ride today on the mountain bikes. 3 hours of solid endurance training (with some added higher intensity climbing). Wound up with around 4k climbing in 25 miles. Trails were pretty full, but conditions were good. Some standing water from all the rain, but pretty dry otherwise. No real photos to speak of today.

Got home and checked my email and I wound up with an email from SRAM Grassroots as well! Stoked. I love SRAM! Great forks, brakes, drivetrain. Looking forward to continuing to ride and race on Juicy brakes with SRAM shifting bits next year as well. In addition to the off-road stuff, I'm a big fan of SRAM's road gruppo as well. When I got my road bike in 07 I tried a bike with like 105/Ultegra stuff on there and never really "got" the shifting. Hopped on a bike that was fairly out of my price range, but just fell in love with the Rival. Have yet to try Force or Red, but I'm guessing they are killer as well.

Should be a good year!

Now let's put this thing in reverse...

Christmas dinner

The oven

The wine

Got out on Friday to enjoy my new jersey!

Was really nice to get out and enjoy a day without rain! I'd spent Mon-Wed on the trainer, and with the rain Thursday, it was great to get out and enjoy some fresh air and clear skies. The smog layer is always dampened by the rain, so it was really clear out.

Until next time...

Photo updates (with text)

First things first, happy holidays! I've been enjoying my time off work. Not enough time on the bike right now, but all good things come in time.

Justin and I set up our "dueling" trainers the other day. It's nice to not always have to work around both of us needing one trainer to do an hour long workout. Usually means I'm up at 5 am! We got in an easy Christmas Eve spin yesterday morning.

Got home Monday night from a Costco run for Christmas dinner and I realized I have a pretty small fridge... there was just no room left.

Found a good use for those snowboarding socks that haven't been used in 2 years...

They keep my feet really warm while sitting around the house!

Carmichael says in his book to mix up your food intake and not eat the same foods everyday. Oops! We almost always eat the same thing day in and day out. Dinner changes (salads, veggies, salmon, chicken, turkey chili, turkey tacos, etc), but breakfast, snacks, and lunch never change. So, I've been changing it up the past few days.

Whole grain bagel and pomegranate arils.

Homemade breakfast burrito (whole grain tortilla, potatoes, low-fat cheese, salsa, bell pepper, onion, and egg beaters).

My transformation as a human being must be nearly complete. I never used to eat eggs, wheat bread, fish, vegetables... now I don't want much to do with red meat (oops, eating prime rib, filet, and brisket in the next 5 days), fried food, fast food... What has happened to me?!

I've finally joined the brigade! The fit is just weird, but I'm super excited to sport this jersey at some point in the next 2-3 days.

We also finally got a somewhat real coffee pot. Switching over from one-cup pods to Seattle's Best. No grinder or anything (it's only a tiny 4-cupper). The funny thing is that we can only 2/3 fill two coffee mugs with 4 cups. How small are these "cups"??