// So Long, 2009
Posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!
It’s been a wild year for me–driving 2000 miles from Wisconsin to California, then flying back to Wisconsin to get Orion and driving the 2000 miles again (I should probably buy some carbon offsets for this year, huh?).
For me + cycling, it’s been a wild year, too. Some achievements:
- mastered bigger hills here in California than even exist in Wisconsin
- entered a mountain bike race–something I’d been promising myself I’d do again for the past few years
- shed a few pounds (like 20), though I put a good chunk of it back on over the holidays–less weight means faster climbing!
- started working with a personal trainer, who has made me able to endure more pain than I thought possible, which has pushed me to become a better cyclist simply because my power has increased so much.
But of course, there have been some not-so-great cycling moments this year too:
- I planned to ride my bike to BART most days, but have failed. I usually take a bus or occasionally walk, though it’s only a mile.
- I haven’t been on a road ride in over a month, I think. Fail.
- The mountain bike race was hard. Too hard. I realized my skills (and bravery) in technical situations are severely lacking.
- That weight I lost? It’s not so good that I put half of it back on.
- I haven’t increased my stamina much. I have more power, and can get up hills better, but haven’t added any distance to my rides. I’m still happy at around 25 miles–depending on the terrain, of course. 25 miles of straight up is not my cup of tea.
The time is ripe for making New Year’s Resolutions, so why not some that are cycling related? And everyone recommends making your resolutions public–it will help you follow through. So here’s my plan for 2010:
- Trainer riding in the morning! I already run with a friend in the morning a couple days a week, and I really enjoy it. But the other days I plan to do some time on the trainer. Starting with just 45 minutes or so, and working up to more. The “working up to more” part is less about stamina, and more about having to wake up that much earlier.
- I’m going to ride my bike to the very last BART stop before the hills that separate me from work. It’s only a mile to the closest BART stop to me, but it’s a couple more to the next stop. I can’t commit to riding up and over the hills every day, but I can at least ride up to the hills before I get on the train.
- Mountain biking! I desperately want to be good at this, so I need to make an effort to hit the trails. At least once every other week to start, and hopefully once a week in the summer. I want to tackle that Lake Sonoma race again next year, and do well.
- Shed more pounds. So stereotypical, right? But it will make me a better, faster cyclist. And I won’t be embarrassed to post pictures of me cycling on here once I lose my gut!
- Figure out how to make my bulleted text the same size font as the rest of my posts. This is unrelated to cycling, other than with respect to the fact that this is a cycling blog.
What are your plans for this new year of cycling? Any big changes you’d like to make?
If you need some tips on how to keep your resolutions, check out the links below. I find most of the advice given on these blogs to be good advice, and they’re full of insightful information the rest of the year, too:
The Definitive Guide to Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions
from Zen Habits, by Leo Babauta
More Tips About Making and Keeping New Year’s Resolutions Than You Could Want
from The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
**side note: Gretchen Rubin is one of my very favorite bloggers, and her new book, also called The Happiness Project, just hit stores this week.
Congratulations, Grechen!
Keep it in mind if you need some reading for the upcoming three-day weekend!