Missing Goals (But Maybe It Is Better That Way)

At the beginning of the year, I laid out two new goals for myself.  In my first year of riding (2010), I rode 4,000 miles and did 4 century rides.  This year, I simply wanted to ride 6,000 miles and do 6 centuries.  To date, I have only 4,100 miles and it looks like the best I will do will be somewhere around 5,000. Besides that, I have only completed 2 of my 6 planned centuries. 

When I started to reflect on what has caused me to miss my goals, I soon began to realize that missing them has brought me to a closer realization of what is important in life and has helped foster stronger relationships with those I care about.  Some of my fonder memories that resulted from chasing and missing my goals include:

Helping bring a new cyclist into the sport and riding his first century with him on a cool Summer morning.  One week later, my friend and I rode alongside each other with tears in our eyes as he had just discovered the day before that he had cancer.  Continue reading →

Like a Kid Again…

It is Fall Break in our little town, this means the kiddos in our neighborhood are out and about on their bikes. I see them riding in one’s, and three’s, and five’s. What are they talking about… Where are they going…

I sit on the back porch and hear them ride through our “natural area,” a little woods beside our home. I made a path so they can ride through here without disturbing my native plants and other plants I’ve planted for my enjoyment. But I have to say, I made them a path so I could enjoy seeing and hearing these children at play too. As they talk, and laugh, as they travel through, it reminds me of simpler times when you just road your bike for the fun of it.

Twice last week, I did just that — I road by bike (mountain bike) through a few fields, just for the fun of it. I rode it off the road and off the side walk and up and over the hills and dales where I usually don’t go. It was a blast. I loved seeing all the pretty little plants and dodging the ruts and roots that nature provides. I also loved the freedom…the wind whipping about…holding on for dear life…and me and my bike just having a grand ole time.

I challenge you… This fall, ride your bike and feel like a kid again. I think you’ll like it!

Sequachie Valley Century, Hammer Time

Hey guys!
Well I’ve finally thawed out from Saturday’s ride! We started things off by having a in-depth conversation on attire selections and proper application of embrocation. Having solved those issues, we queued up for the start near the front half and waited for the start. Everyone starts slowly rolling and clipping in, and to my left I notice a rider who has missed his pedal and is leaning hard to my side, hopping on one foot, and is going down… he falls on me on the way down but I give him a little elbow shiver to keep myself from getting involved and keep rolling. Little did I know the boys got caught up in the mayhem behind me… it took a few moments for us to regroup during which the lead group was trying to make the split. We got together and started to put the hammer down to catch up… I felt like I didn’t have much pep in my step but we were rolling about 28-30mph ripping by people left and right… We finally gave up the ghost after ten miles or so of just us five guys killing it and decided we would stick together and ride it out.
We got to rolling along and feeling pretty good (except when Bob killed us on the hills:) and picked up a group of lead stragglers out there somewhere around mile thirty or so… We were happy to stick together but someone (DAVE 🙂 decided nobody is gonna get a free ride on our backs! So we picked up the pace and cut thru them like a hot knife :). The long run NE thru the valley had a tough headwind and we pushed on and finished in just over 5 hours… tough wind, rollers, and hard riders made for a memorable ride. I think I had four bags of beans and four bottles of gatorade endurance and no cramps, but I was tired at the finish! good ride and great company made it a very fun day!