i'm not convinced that it's december

I feel like I have put myself back together again, just like humpty dumpty, and I didn't even know I had fallen apart! After this summer the "Elise that loves to bike" died slightly and the "Elise that loves any form of transportation that doesn't involve exercise" came to be. It was a good few months being that Elise, and as you know the whole no transportation as exercise also evolved into just no exercise period. BUT, that has all changed. The feeble attempt to shame myself back to the gym actually worked, that and not really fitting comfortably into my clothes anymore helped too! I've been dutifully going to the gym and doing pilates at home, but today was SIXTY-TWO DEGREES and while we were driving around finishing up our christmas shopping I saw so many people in their attractive spandex and I just could not resist the temptation to jump right back into my own outfit that is a constant hug. And seriously I haven't been on a "real" ride since crossing the Golden Gate bridge back in August. It was so, so great. I am finally re-embracing the bike and I can not tell you how much I missed it and didn't even know it! I dug out my gear and pumped up my tires with the stupid little hard to actually fill my tires with pump. I tucked a clif bar into my jersey pocket, a water bottle in my holster and didn't even glance twice at the camelbak in the front closet. Another joy of riding now is that I don't have to carry squat on my back. NADA. That one factor makes such a huge difference. I took streets for about 5 miles until I hit my old training path and turned on towards the reservoir. It was so weird being back on the old bike path, I knew it so well from riding all spring on it and remembered places I stopped to picnic and how excited I was with San Francisco in my minds eye. I think back then it was a kind of unbelievable thing that I was training for, and to be honest the routes I trained on are pretty laughable when I compare them to the Appalachians and the Rockies, and Nevada... but you know what? It was the perfect route for today and a great one for me to get back on the (literal) saddle. Speaking of saddles, can someone please explain to me why I didn't invest in a decent saddle?! Ever at all during the trip?! I know I had my excuses and I know people thought I was crazy and should have spared no expense for the limited padding my bum would be perched upon, but I was nervous to get one because of the expense and the fact that they are so different on different people. I wasn't confident that I would pick the right one and as a result I just resorted to tilting the stock seat at an absolutely ridiculous angle and literally perch perching on the rear seam of the seat in order to assure that the least amount of contact between my rear and the seat could be achieved. Incidentally I kept it that way during a recent ride to school and for the next two days could feel my bones ever single time I sat down. In any case, the reason for all this explanation and rumination is because I recently came across this beauty for only $2.99 at Goodwill:

Handmade in Italy, this saddle usually costs over $100! It was pretty much a steal, but for some reason (probably similar to the reasons that I didn't ever buy a saddle the whole 4,200 miles across the US) after I bought it almost two months ago I didn't put it on my bike until today! Luckily I did because it is worlds more comfortable than my old saddle. WORLDS I say. But(t) in addition to my now comfortable derriere, my body felt pretty good too. It was just a perfect ride, I stopped when I wanted to take pictures because I didn't have to worry about cramming in some training miles, and even chatted with a guy about routes around Denver while dodging wayward pedestrians and their un-leashed dogs. Pretty fun, and picturesque, especially when you consider that it's the last week of December and it looks like this:

In addition to finding a new trail that runs really close to our house, I found our old, dear friend Dry Creek (pictured above, and no that's not the actual name). I don't know if I ever mentioned that old, dear friend, but Dry Creek was a constant companion on the trip this summer. I think we found a version of it in almost every state, some of them were even literally named Dry Creek, so I had to include this picture for Robby. Now I have to go to work, and in just a few more days it will be my birthday and a few days after that I will be home! I can't wait! I have some posts lined up from the crafting I have been doing for presents, but I can't post them until after Christmas. I've been busy though and am particularly proud of one project that I sewed with only a pattern that I made in my head with a few tips for attaching the final piece found on the internet. Hope you are enjoying the season, and getting more snow than us!