The past two days have been close to 50 degrees! Yesterday I jogged/hiked in the AM so that I could ride during the warmest part of the day. I felt the best riding that I have all year. I XC skied more this winter and rode less due to such good skiing conditions. XC skiing also seems harder than riding, probably cuz I use my arms alot more when I ski. Today the riding was just as good. It was warm and sunny and was completely overdressed. I am still used to dressing for winter riding - complete with the riding lobster mits and all. I road on the road both days as it is too warm to ride trails. The snow is melting fast and as long as we don't get much on the way of rain, we should be on track to ride trails by mid-to-end of April. That is pretty good for duluth.

While on my ride today I got hooted at by some guy taking note of my rear end on the bike. He must be a Fergie fan as he said something about "Bootielicious" (I don't know how to spell it obviously I don't own the CD). Not much of a compliment coming from a fat guy. (I hate getting hollared at. It is rude, disrespectful, etc.)

Scott put on the Bontragger race X lite rigid carbon fork on my Paragon along with my red foam grips. It is so nice and a bit lighter. Scott is planning on riding my Paragon in Moab while I ride his old Fuel. I need full suspension out there, while Scott can do without it.

Better get back to work and studying. Too much to do and too little time.......

The cross-country skiing has been fantastic the past few weeks! Last weekend I was in heaven as both Magney and Spirit Mtn were perfect conditions. The snow was fast and the hills felt effortless. Saturday was the best I have felt training since getting really sick in January. I love spring skiing. The temperatures are warm and the sun was so nice and warm. It was really nice not having to dress for zero degree weather. The trails were pretty busy, but not too bad.

I biked a bit last week as well, but the trails are so bumpy! The freeze/thaw combined with walkers and snowmobilers chewing up the snow make for a rough ride It's still nice to get out and spin the legs though. I love my little winter (GF Paragon)bike! Scott may take it to ride in Moab when we head out here in a few weeks. We are both very excited for our trip. We have been there so many years that we pretty much know where we want to ride the entire time. I love the variety and getting on my bike early. I also love the sun and the warmer temperatures! We usually hit Fruita and Grand Junction on the return trip home. I'm planning on riding Scott's 2006 Trek Fuel as my race bike hasn't yet arrived, although we have some time before we fuel up the VW van and head out. Scott's dad will be 69 this year and has gone every year with us for the past 8 or so years. Every year when we return from Moab he'll ask, "Same time next year?"

Otherwise, as one can tell by the frequency of my posts that life and work is really busy! I am still in grad school, working full-time, and training. If something isn't on my 'to do' list it just doesn't seem to get done. I am going to try to make more of an effort. I have less than two months left in the semester and of course my workload increases with each of the next few weeks, but maybe it'll force me to be more productive!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I just got a paper published on Fibromyalgia in the March issue of Gerinotes, a professional journal. I was really fired up when I saw it as I sent in my paper two months ago and didn't hear anything back as far as revisions. My tDPT studies require me to do literature reviews, which takes a lot of time to gather the information and write the paper. I better get to work as I have another one due here in early May.