Last night, while visiting with a couple of close friends, the question was asked, "When you are feeling down, what do you do to put yourself in a better frame of mind?" The answer was easy for me. I think of all that I am grateful for. It works every time. Let me explain.

True gratefulness comes from a conscious decision to recognize your blessings, coupled with the emotional feelings that accompany a thankful heart. An ungrateful person can utter the words "thank you" even when they do not feel it. A thankful person can hold their gratitude as a guarded secret, yearning to be shared. Grateful people not only count and take joy in their blessings, but they influence others with words and deeds by deliberately displaying their pleasure and appreciation to those who should receive it. Life is full of opportunities for giving thanks. Seek them out. Show appreciation to those closest to you. If you complain, you will find yourself with plenty of others to join in. If you live a positive, grateful, successful life, you will attract other positive, grateful, and successful people. Do not stifle your future by neglecting your attitude. Begin by developing your grateful spirit today.

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and

For many reasons, Chico Corsa is very excited about the 2008 season. We have have a great group of women getting ready for an awesome year. Our CAT 3 team has a goal of being on the podium of every race- and the talent to do it, and we have a coach.

So if you are interested in racing or just increasing your speed and skills, come join Coach Mike Trowbridge at One mile at 9:30am on Sundays. Mike posts the weekly training plan on the Chico Corsa Yahoo group so look there for specifics.

Hey all, Lau here again. Sorry, no cyclo-cross wisdom this go- round. Although cyclo-cross nationals are happening in Kansas City as I type this I will leave that race report to the real scribes. My friend Karl will be racing against Ned Overend today (Saturday) in the 50+ category. I hope to see him on the podium once again! I was digging through my stash of old race numbers, maps to race locations and other detritus trying to find some now forgotten item and I came across a list of "40 reasons I like to cycle". I think I typed it up for some contest years ago that I didn't enter. I could print the list and make most of you gag while at the same time ruining my reputation as a "cool" guy so I will just pull out a couple and expand a little on them.

#16. This brought back a fond memory and an ear to ear grin. Fade to memory sequence.....

Come Join us at Mt. Mikes Pizza at 5th and Nord.
We always have fun and sometimes we even talk about the club. This month we will introduce the two newest additions to our Board of Directors. AND - we will be bringing the 2008 Team Clothing to purchase, if you haven't done so already.

For any of you who don't know, I am fairly new to cycling and very new to racing bikes. I started riding a couple years ago to rehab a knee and got hooked, actually...addicted. I eventually met up with some Corsa folks through the local scene and was convinced by Rodney to at least try racing. Initially I was hesitant because I didn't think I would be able to hang on in a race. But for me, racing is more than where you place when you are new to the sport. For me, there was a huge learning curve but every race was a new challenge and an opportunity to watch seasoned riders within the race. With so many different opportunities for racing your bike locally and in northern California, a cyclist can road race, time trail, cyclocross, and even have a chance to wow the hometown crowds in a downtown crit! And the support from my Corsa teammates has been incredible! If some of you are on the fence about racing, my hope is that you take that opportunity to challenge yourself in a new way to discover what you may be capable of as an athlete, teammate, and cyclist.

CHICO-HWY 70 TUNNELS-CHICO ~ 80 miles

Saturday, January 12th 2008 9:00 AM One Mile Recreation Area

Tunnels... straight up. Test your winter fitness with this Team Chico favorite in to the beautiful Feather River Canyon and to the Hwy 70 Tunnels. A straight out and back heading out Chico-Oro, Durham Pentz, then up Hwy 70 over Yankee Hill and down into the canyon, past Pulga and along the North Fork Feather to the SECOND set of tunnels. All riders in the lead group will tough it out for the first KOM sprint by taking the steep detour up Lunt Rd. near the end of the first climb, then connect back to Hwy 70 and continue towards the tunnels. Sprint #2 will be at the end of the last, long tunnel and the turnaround. Back out of the canyon, down to the valley and finish with a final sprint on Chico-Oro just before the bike path.

Notes: These rides are organized for fun(?) and are open to all who are willing to try. This is an out and back ride and people can ride at their own pace and regroup as the leaders are heading back. Come on out and try to make it to the tunnels!! We will try to have a support vehicle(s) but please come prepared, ride with a partner and have a plan to get home. Please dress WARM and bring plenty of food, water and supplies and take responsibility for yourselves. We will have ride cards with the route, but there will be minimal course markings, no road closures, aid stations or coffee stops, just dogs, squirrels, pickup trucks, and a bunch of bikers on a sweet ride in the cuts! For more info contact Aren at arentimmel @sbcglobal.net or (530) 892-9868.

Hi, Mike. Here's a question I've always wanted an answer to:

I've always read that one should have recovery days after hard training days, and with a HRM that means keeping the HR low. But my understanding is that the cardiovascular system doesn't need "days off"--rather the leg muscles do, to rebuild mildly torn tissue. So wouldn't HRM level be a poor monitor of "recovery rate" riding, and wouldn't perceived effort in the legs (lactic acid level, e.g.) be a better indicator? Or, since you say the heart is a muscle, does heart muscle tear under intense work like other muscles and thus the cardiovascular system would need rest days too? PS: Please don't just say that one should monitor recovery days with a power meter, since I don't have one and am not about to get one soon.

Thanks for the info--I'm liking the column.

Jay Rawlins

Hi Jay... Thanks for reading the column. That's a very interesting question. Hopefully I can shed some light on it.

Two of our friends are recovering from serious injury this month. Matt Cipes from Cyclesport broke his pelvis in a Mtn Bike race. He is staying with his parents while he recovers.

On Friday December 21, Ed McLaughlin, the GM of Chico Velo crashed and has suffered a serious injury to his spine.

Let us all pray for a quick and full recovery for then both.