Thankfullness

Thanksgiving has come and gone and as in the past, we had a house full of family. Always a great day especially with all we have to be thankful for. The holiday found it roots in giving God thanks for the past year, and thanks we shall give.

I have intentionally held off on writing on this blog. The social media world is overwhelmed right now and I have no desire to add to the noise. So without getting in to any of the nonsense, I can share a couple of ride reports and family 'goings-ons' with you all.

I haven't been getting in a lot of miles and certainly limited with respect to length of rides (only so far I can get during lunch). With a few unseasonably warm days in November, I was lucky enough to get to use some PTO for longish rides.

The first was a nice road ride starting and ending at the office (since I got pulled in to a meeting and had to come in). It wasn't all bad as it gave me a chance to ride some roads I hadn't before. The route wound its way through Athens county toward the north through Millfield, Butchel, Carbon Hill, and Nelsonville, before connecting with the Hocking bikeway and riding back to Athens.  Nearly got in a metric century.

New asphalt on Scatter Ridge.

Stopping for a coffee on the star bricks at Fullbrooks Cafe on the Nelsonville square.

The sun is low in the sky this time of year, just peaking over the rock out cropping along the bike path.

A couple weeks later, I got some more time off and after cleaning the chimney I made the trip out to Lake Hope state park for some trail riding. Another great day to be outside and on a bike. Following the single track, I rode out to the Moonville tunnel to check out the new walking bridge over Raccoon Creek.  I would be on my new geared Redline for this ride. I still really enjoy riding single speed, but wow, this bike is so fast, efficient, and comfortable. Almost all the miles on my single speed this year have been gravel roads, which I am not complaining about either.

Can you believe the trails look like this on a 60 degree day in November?

The infamous Moonville tunnel.
The old railway is now slated for a rail trail, however, when the railroad left, so did the bridges.

A beverage and a view of the lake after a great day riding.

The following day it turned cold.  Shelly was out of town and Ethan was in the woods deer hunting so Brock and I enjoyed a wood fire and made cookies.

 On to Thanksgiving. After cooking, frying, cleaning, making and drinking coffee, we typically head outside to shoot shotguns at flying clay targets. A good time was had and more coffee was drank.

Thanksgiving traditions.

Get outside and enjoy!