Lisa, you are one tough cookie! 23F finds me in front of the fire with a steaming mug of coffee or hot chocolate. No chance of riding in that for this wimpy gal!

We had a beautiful, warm day here in NC -- highs in the upper 60s with sunshine! DH is out of town, so I pulled out my mountain bike and rode on the single track trails on our property. Only 40 minutes, but it's very aerobic, and I could tell I hadn't done it for awhile from the burning in my quads and lower back! It was so much fun, though, and I conquered the one climb that always freaks me since there's a rocky, steeper section with a little ledge that I have to get a good bit of momentum to make up without falling. It's always scary, but I made it! I posted some photos of the gorgeous trees/leaves in our woods on my blog tonight (see link below). Such a beautiful time of year to ride in the woods!

After the ride, I put the bike up on the work stand outside (too pretty to be indoors!) and gave it a good cleaning. I'd been riding on very park dusty trails earlier this fall and never bothered to clean it b/c my chain seemed to stay fine, and the bike would just get coated in grit again on the next ride. After all, it's a mountain bike, it's supposed to be dirty, right!? Couldn't get the grit out of my chain with it on the bike, so I decided to attempt removing it. It has a master link, but I have never done this, only watched my DH do it.

Getting it off and cleaning it was a breeze, but getting it back on...!!! I had to go look at one of our other bikes to even figure out how to thread it through the rear derailleur, and then after managing to wrestle the master link back on (not easy for me!), I realized I'd routed it wrong through the pulleys in back. So, had to take it off and try again, and this time I really had to fight to get the master link back on because in the interim, I'd lubed the chain with Prolink, and that puppy was slippery. In a moment of triumph, I finally got it and cheered out loud. I am woman, hear me roar!

Emily

P.S. When I talked to DH tonight on the phone, he was very proud!