So this is Spring???

March 20th marked not only the first day of Spring, but Ally's 9th birthday. Hard to believe that she's been with us that long and I go back and look at the pictures of when she was a puppy and it seems like yesterday when we brought her home. We "celebrated" her birthday by going out to dinner (Ally and Ryder got to ride along) and then stopped by the grocery store on the way home and picked up some cupcakes for the "birthday cake". Yes, we even put in a candle and sang her "Happy Birthday". While I'm not so sure that she appreciated the singing, she gulped down the cupcake and talked us into a second. Of course, Ryder got to partake in the "munching" and got to share in her special day. This photo shows their typical "position" during the day, camped out on our bed taking it easy. When I come back in the next life I want to be reincarnated as a dog in a home like ours... talk about the life!

With Spring finally here, I was looking forward to getting out on the bike without having to bundle up. Well, Mother Nature certainly had different plans and we got about 10 inches of the white stuff on Friday. So, instead of a bike ride Saturday, we took off and went XC skiing behind the house. It started to warm up towards the end of the ski, so we ended up walking more than skiing close to the finish, but at the beginning the snow was in great shape. I even "got" to run the snowblower one last (hopefully) time.

Fortunately, the snow came out and the roads cleared up pretty good, at least they are clean enough for a ride this morning. Yesterday, before the plows hit the roads you would have been taking your life in your own hands riding on the roads, but today should be good (but still cold). So, I'll take along my iPod and continue listening to my audio book (Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill). Don't worry, I keep it low enough to hear the traffic and try to keep off the "well traveled" roads. It's nice to be able to "ride and learn" and appreciate the opportunity to multi-task. Of course, if anyone from the Team decides to join me the "ride and learn" will likely have to take second chair to conversing with teammates. I don't want to be rude, ya know.

Well, gotta go get the warm clothes around so I can hit the road. Knowing that I got one of the 250 spots for this year's Lumberjack 100 has got me motivated to keep the training going. A hundred miles in the woods is not something to take lightly, so with that I'm of to put in the miles. Don't forget that my Pedaling with a Purpose site just got an update and I'm ready to start collecting donations to support the Children's Neroblastoma Cancer Foundation.