Took the day off and went with Steve to Pike County. We rode a route that we did back on Labor Day weekend, riding it in reverse and changing up a few sections to explore new roads. Had a great time - some of roads were better suited to mountain bikes with huge ruts and washouts. I'm guessing those were farm roads that were maintained by farmers. We went through a tiny community called Martinsburg and saw some Amish women in a buggy, headed somewhere at a pretty fast clip. And stopped at the Fast Stop in Pleasant Hill because there was a lady cooking burgers on a big grill in the parking lot. Cheeseburgers for lunch really hit the spot.

Got back to the car just as it was starting to rain. If we'd had a flat tire or some other delays, it would have been miserable.

In the evening, my ankle swelled up but this time there was no pain. Just strange...I iced it and that brought the swelling down almost immediately.

Took the afternoon off and drove down to Lake Lou Yaeger to meet some mtb friends who showed us around the newish trail system. The mtb club down that way has done an absolutely amazing job with the forested land around the lake. Mostly intermediate level with just enough tricky stuff to keep you on your toes.

We ate outdoors at the Creek --- probably the last time this year it will be warm enough in this area for this. And we were kind of pushing it, as there was a bit of a breeze. The restaurant seemed to be doing a good curbside business so I was glad to see that.

Later in the evening I had a strange pain in the right ankle --- no swelling that I could find, but it was excruciating to the touch. It came on very suddenly and lasted for several hours. I tried heat and some Icy Hot, but ultimately the only thing that worked was to hobble around the house for about half an hour, working the joint. I'm guessing it was some kind of nerve impingement but I'm not a medical person.

Feeling much better today. Work was pretty crazy but I got done what needed to get done. our family has been going back and forth about Thanksgiving --- my brother said they are 99% sure they won't host this year but needs my SIL to confirm this. I'm fine with doing our own thing, just need to know.

Steve's sister cancelled her Thanksgiving last week (we always hit that in the evening). She and her husband are both smokers and her husband is not in good health. Her daughter came home and announced that she has lost her sense of smell and taste. Ugh...

Went in to the office today, learned that one of my coworkers tested positive for Covid and is working from home. He has very mild symptoms and thought he had a cold initially but decided to get tested on a hunch.

Spent much of the day cleaning up network drives. I had a bunch of pictures and some personal documents on my computer's C drive and moved all that to Google drive. Have been going through things updating my email wherever I used my work email. IT tells me they let retirees keep their company email for a long time and give plenty of notice before the account is closed but I'd just as soon get things cleaned up now.

There's supposed to be a gravel ride today out at Petersburg. I look forward to this every year and will have to miss it --- the wind is sustained at 27 mph for most of the day and it's been raining off and on. The ride will be a muddy, windy mess. Zwift would seem to be the logical option.
So that's a wrap for 2020 as far as organized rides and racing. It's been a strange and sometimes sad year for endurance events, with cancellations and deferrals. Two of the big gravel events --- Land Run and the Dirty Kanza --- underwent major identity transformations and changed their names to appease some "woke" special interest groups. I'm glad I rode in those events when I did.
I did see that there's a new gravel ride next year in Indiana, in the Terre Haute area. It's in covered bridge country and we've been wanting to get over there a ride for a while. That event will definitely be on my calendar.

The weather turned to crap today, with high winds and lots of rain. I even heard thunder at one point. I went to the office briefly and packed up most of my personal items from my desk. I still have to bring home my big Christmas cactus, but that can wait. How does one accumulate so many coffee mugs? There's also an abundance of tea cups with the strainers. I put it all in the dishwasher and will decide what to keep later.

Good Willed some stuff at home as well. It feels great to declutter.