I've been in a funk lately. And by lately, I mean for well over a month. I've been grumpy and mopey and bitter and probably quite unpleasant to be around. I'm normally a pretty happy-go-lucky, roll-with-it sort of person. Maybe its the self-induced stress of finishing my thesis, the end of a hard fought cyclocross season, the looming solo move to Lousy-ana, I don't know. But I have to admit, when you have over a week's worth of bright, sunny, 70-degree days in the middle of January, you can't complain. You embrace those bright blue skies and warm breezes. You get out and do what you do...so Monday I rode. I didn't train, I just rode. Pedaled along, me and my managerie of geek tools...cameras and iPhone and heart rate monitor...I played with stuff, I took pictures, I did some thinking. I made a goal for this year. Its to early to announce what my goal is, but its something. A focal point in the chaotic cloud of moving and being apart and new jobs and finishing school and finding new friends and new trails to ride. A channel, an outlet, a something to get me through the crap sandwich I'm about to choke down come April. And having a meaning to what I'm doing makes it so much easier. Today I convinced a friend to go ride with me. He's a great riding buddy...goes only as fast as I want to go, always lets me lead the way, doesn't care what trails I take, doesn't mind the inevitable bushwacking wrong turn or miscalculation of where a trail ends up (my legs are all scratched up tonight)...he just rides along with me, chitchatting and making sure we aren't taking ourselves to seriously about school. We rode Ft Ord. It was perfect. The normal sandpits were a little more packed. The downhills were swoopy and speedy. The climbs were comfortable. The skies were bright. I loved it.

Its days like today this that make piling on the jerseys and vests and arm warmers and leg warmers and toe warmers to go out in the damp, bone-chilling coastal winds and foggy soup to suffer up another never-ending climb, snot streaming, hands numb, legs screaming not to do another stupid interval--these days make it all worth it. Because when days likes this week come along, you'll want to enjoy it.

And now I'm home with Terry and we're geeking out with our nerdy homework and our iPhones and dreaming about the photography business we'd love to have some day and everything is just fine. A big ol' smile all over my face. I guess a few days of riding without a care in the world while you're in the saddle makes everything okay. Besides, how can I possibly take myself so seriously when I wear something like this...

Why isn't it this easy to write my thesis?