After long thought, I've come up with some goals for 2009. Not all of them are cycling related, but all of them have some connection to extreme weight loss.
1. Get the weight loss moving again. I've been at 275 or above for a few months now. I don't like it. I'm sluggish, tired, my clothes don't fit right, and when I do exercise I don't perform up to my potential. Summer of 2007 I hit 242, and while I still looked fat, I was in the best shape of my life.
2. Get riding again. I have some big rides planned for 2009, and I need to get back in the saddle for them:
April - Girls With Gears - 40 hilly miles. (It's a ride sponsored by a woman's health charity and my bike shop. It's not just a chick ride, although there are a LOT of women in lycra riding.)
Late April-early May - weekend tours
May - Clyde ride from my home to Philadelphia and back - 72 miles on the Great Cheesesteak Hunt
June 13 to 20 - Bike Forums ride from Pittsburgh to DC.
July - September - weekend tours.
October - MS City to Shore
3. Resume a regular lifting routine. Aside from making me stronger and looking better, it helps with my scoliosis.
4. Simplify my life. I've got too much junk, too many commitments, too much debt.... my Amazon store is helping me get rid of stuff and address my debt problem. Listing stuff on Ebay will help as well. Goodwill should be the beneficiary of stuff I can't or won't sell.
5. Remind myself I am a writer. I've been slacking on doing the one thing I enjoy most. I have a book I need to finish for a publisher, another manuscript I've been asked to submit to another house, and various essays and articles that would make a nice collection. Also, there's a book on the Perkiomen Trail I've wanted to write. This will probably mean less time on Bike Forums, but so be it.
6. Resolve my various biomechanical problems on bikes. If this means getting a 'bent, or never riding clipless, so be it. I'm tired of dealing with it, and you folks are probably tired of listening to be complain.
And finally...
7. Return to school and get a degree. I want to see myself as a full-time student in January 2010. That gives me a year to work on the other areas listed above. It also gives me the chance to move to a warmer climate. I love PA but I can't take the winters any more.