Northern California - 2008 Your Cycling Year In Review: Post Here

Was is it a good year on the bike for you or a so so year?
Did you meet your goals, meet new people, ride new roads?

The ups the downs, the thrills and spills, share with BikeForums how your NorCal 2008 shaped up.

I'll bite!

Highlights:

Death Ride 5 passes!
Tour of the Unknown Coast (great ride over roads with terrible pavement)
Crater Lake Century (where I finally got to meet JoBob)
Running into Pete just about everywhere I rode
110 mile day starting in Livermore, down Mines Rd, up and over Hamilton, up Sierra...you get the idea
Lighthouse Century and meeting a few of the SoCal peeps. Still wondering why we didn't see any lighthouses, though.

Lowlights -
hardly riding at all the last 3 months, due to family issues mostly.
Packing on an extra 20 for the winter.

Looking forward to next year - I'm going to do the Death Ride again, probably with TnT. I'd like to do a double next year, but it has to fit with the rest of the TnT schedule. Not loosing conditioning in Fall/Winter!

JB

Edit: and yes, it was a very good year!

share with BikeForums how your NorCal 2008 shaped up.

Okay, I'll go.

2008 was a great year on the bike for me even with the ups and downs any year throws my way.

I set a goal of 4000 miles each year. This year I really did not think I would make it. My wife had to work some mondo crazy hours in April, May and June and I had to stay home with the kids a lot. Those were prime riding months and I couldn't ride after work, even though it was light, or on weekends much either. Mrs. Oldstrong was working until 8:00 at night and on weekends too. It was nasty.

To make 4000 miles a year I have to average 330 a month. Here is my 2008 cycling year.
January 166 miles (super rainy month)
February 349 miles - back on track.
March 360 miles - looking good!
April 147 miles
May 260 miles These were the lean months.
June 171 miles
July 339 miles - better, but I never thought I would make up the lost miles.
August 417 miles
September 555 miles
October 600 miles
November 319 miles - dark again after work, bummer!
December (so far) 317 4000 miles, goal MADE!!!:thumb:

I joined BikeForums in February and met a whole new set of friends. Thanks to all of you for your company, your enthusiasm and your support.

Here are the stats.

21 rides with my wife and/or kids for 306 family miles.

9 rides with BikeForums folks for 645 BikeForums miles

6 more Centuries notched on my belt.

Funniest moment of the year: Lost in the dark on the back roads of Davis before Foxy's in a mini van with Taxi777 and BigBossMan. Laughing until tears were streaming down my cheeks. You have got to hear Taxi's Boston accent when he says he does'nt drink gatorade because it makes his bottles tast funny.
Hint: In Boston they really almost drop the "T's" when pronouning the word bottles.

Thanks for a great 2008

OK my turn,
No major injuries(yeah!). Went on 3 rides with LanceOldstrong & only almost died once. Can still do a crappy 360 on a box jump at 41, rode a few new parks & hopefully didn't regress to much. Looking forward to a new road bike & meeting fun new people and exploring Nor Cal in 09'.

Oh, fun! A painless recap!

This year I raced. My best finish was 4th in the Esparto TT, my worst was 26th in the Ronde de Brisbeen. I learned much about my character and ability to face fear and what it takes to contest a sprint to the finish. It's hard freakin' work, and I can't wait to get back at it! I'm eagerly looking forward to next season and the lessons it holds for me.

Cgallagh and I had hoped to do a century a month but his work schedule went from benign to brutal and those plans were thwarted. We still have managed over 4K tandem miles, for which we're grateful.

We did several BF rides both in our 'hood as well as different areas and really enjoyed meeting and riding with BF peeps. Those have been some of the best rides we've done, ever. I'm looking forward to many more.

My year didn't start off too well. My initial goal was to do five double centuries in 2008. I had done 3 in 2007 and 3 in 2006. But I developed a hamstring injury in September of 07 that just wasn't going away. I rested it for a while and started training again. A ride over Morgan Territory left me in tears - partly from pain, partly because I knew I wasn't going to do 5 doubles this year. I had to cut that ride short and have my husband pick me up. It was definitely a low point.

In late March I finally went to the doctor. I had x rays and an ultrasound done. They couldn't find anything really wrong, other than my right hamstring being really tight. Then I scheduled a bike fit. I went to PK Cycling in Fairfax. He found that I have more flexibility in my left hamstring than my right. The way my bike was set up, I was having to overextend my right leg slightly. I rode for years like that, but I guess in September, the hamstring had enough and became irritated. The bike fit fixed the problem.

By that time it was too late for 5 doubles. I had missed Solvang and would not be in shape for Devil Mountain Double. So I gave up that goal and decided to do a triathlon. I never pick the easy stuff to do, I picked a Half Iron Man as my first event. :D That's a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, 13.1 mile run. It's not as crazy as it sounds. The mile was my event on my college swim team. I was already able to ride 200 miles.... I could run... oh... 0 miles. I've never been a runner. This event was in August so I figured I had lots of time to train.

I signed up to do two shorter triathlons before this event - a sprint and an Olympic distance. And had a blast! The HIM went really well, in spite of it being 97 degrees on the run. I have full write ups and pictures about all my events on my website.

I haven't ridden my bike as much, but I think I'm in the best shape of my life.

Veronica

My goal for this year was 5000 miles, I did 6000.

I finally was able to meet some more BF people riding up Mt. Hamilton.

I finally stopped saying I want to race and bought my license, so New year's Day 2009 it begins.

I went from climbing like ivy to climbing like a very slow arthritic goat.

What a great year - my achievements are much more modest than most of you, but I did more than I thought I would. After >10yrs with no riding, this was my first full year back and it's been fantastic. Key things for me

Climbing Diablo - check. My "official" goal (did it 4 times in all)

Completing a metric - check. Tour of Napa was the first time (I think I'd only ridden 25miles max before then), then I've done a couple on my own since

Riding up Lomas Cantadas without stopping (:() - check

Riding >2000miles - check. Not a goal, but I did it anyway. Now next year, hmm I'll have to see where I ended up on the odometer - significantly north of that I hope.

Rounding out the 3 bears in 1h 5min

Solving a nagging knee problem with a better bike fit :thumb:


Honestly, BF has been a great bonus for me - I've really appreciated the advice and motivation I've got from you guys and met some great people on the 3 rides I've attended so far. Next year should see me heading on some rides out West I think...

A look back at 2008 racing season:
Hermes and I have been training with the Russians now for one year (started December 2007). We have been very dedicated, not missing a workout and following the program. I have a LONG way to go, but have made measurable progress and am pleased with my progress to date.
By far, the highlight of the year was winning the Masters Track National Championship in the 2k individual pursuit with a time of 2:59. Along with that, being named “Rider of the Month” for that feat by my Alto Velo WebCor Racing Team and my first place finish at the Esparto Time Trial (that elusive victory).
My biggest disappointment: missing the podium at the Northern California Nevada State Time Trial Championships (Sattley)

A review of the statistics with some short commentary:
# crashes: 0
# falls: 0
# cycling-related injuries: 0
# friends made through cycling: Many
# new bikes: 2 (Orbea Ordu TT bike and Cervelo P3C Track frame)
# pounds lost: 9 (117 down to 108)
% body fat change: 5 % (13.8% down to 8.8%)

# Races this year: 27
5 hill climbs
11 time trials (3 tandem TTs (one unsanctioned)), 8 ITT (5 unsanctioned)
6 road races (1 circuit race)
0 crits
5 track events (3 unsanctioned)
# DNFs: 0
# first place finishes: 7 (2 sanctioned/5 unsanctioned)

Details
Hill Climbs:
San Bruno Hill Climb - 10/20
WebCor King of the Mountain - 5/16
Mt. Diablo Hill Climb – 4/8
Mt. Tam - 10/16
Mt. Hamilton Low Key Hill Climb – 6/12 (8 minutes faster than 2007)

Time Trials:
Berkeley Hills TTT (tandem) – 4/5 – Hermes & I knocked 3:36 off our 2007 time
Bay Area Senior Games – 1/2 (non-sanctioned/on road bike)
Dunlop TT – 8/23
Northern CA/Nevada ITT State Championship – 4/4 – only 7 seconds out of second place; disappointing results because I know I am better than my results show.
Northern CA/Nevada Tandem TT State Championship – 2/2 – knocked 4:22 off our 2007 time and I had just done the 20k ITT
Esparto TT – First place (1/10) – My first victory!
Canada Beat Beat the Clock TTs
ITT 27:11 (7/19); Tandem 27:54 (2/2) (both RFA and I did ITT beforehand)
26:30 (6/11) – a Personal Best
26:51 (4/11)
26:37 (1/7)

Road Races/Circuit Races:
• Brisbane Circuit Race (24/40) – my first road race; happy that I didn’t crash, and made up time on the climbs and caught up with my team mate
• Wente Road Race (7/19) – in a breakaway and lead peloton until the end; dehydrated and neuroma foot pain
• Berkeley Hills Road Race (13/38) – in the lead peloton until the end
• Spring Hill Road Race – (11/16) – dropped by the lead peloton on the first climb, poor results
• Diamond Valley State Championship Road Race (4/6) – dropped by first and second place finishers on the first climb; almost dropped out due to extreme neuroma foot pain
• University Road Race (10/10) – finished last of the finishers – disappointing but acknowledged to be the hardest RR.

Track:
Beat the Clock: won the 2K, 3K and 4K pursuits on my Orbea Ordu TT road bike
Track Masters National Championship: 4/5 in the 500 meter; 1/3 in the 2K individual pursuit with a time of 2:59.

Hermes and I finished the season with a fabulous 10 day tandem tour of Mallorca – highlights were the epic Col de Soller climb and the climb out to the Formentor Lighthouse – great times shared with new and old friends.

Looking forward to 2009 – goals are set.

OMG I feel like a Slug! :(

OMG I feel like a Slug! :(

Yeah, you made like, what, barely 9000 miles?

Get to work!

Velodiva? More like Velogoddess! Wow, nice resume. I bow to you.:thumb:

A look back at 2008 racing season:

[mind blowing stats appear here]



Hey Velodiva, very impressive. I should acknowledge, I really enjoyed your write up of the 2008 San Bruno Mtn Hillclimb - it really helped me when I started riding that route this year :thumb:

This year was good for me. After breaking my leg last year, I couldn't really start riding until February, and when I got back on the bike, I was 35 lbs heavier and had almost no muscle in my right leg (below the knee, my quad was much smaller too).

I started riding modestly in February - mountain biking in Folsom on the weekends. In the beginning of April, my doctor cleared me for full activity so I was able to start riding in Auburn again, and also do a few races at Prairie city. That rocked, even though I got spanked in the sport class ;).

As we got in to summer, my main riding friends for mtb were super busy and couldn't ride much, so I took to the road. I did a ton of road riding (for me), rode to a second place finish with my team at Eppie's, did my first century (Tour of Napa Valley in 6 hours) and met a ton of great people from here.

In the middle of the summer I did start mountain biking again. The most important ride for me was on July 8. After I broke my leg I set a goal to ride the trail where I was hurt, on the one year date. I worked very hard to be in shape enough to do the ride, and went up and had a great time!

Since then, I've continued riding as much as possible, though work and classes at CSU, Sacramento have made it very difficult to find much time on the bike. Lately I've been down to one ride a week. I would like to hit 2000 road miles this year and I'm only 123 miles from that goal. A friend of mine wants to do some riding the week of the 29th, so we planned to do a couple of rides, maybe a century, and get me over that 2000 mark.

Overall, I had a great year. Got in great shape, dropped over 40 lbs and had a ton of fun on the bikes.

The most important ride for me was on July 8. After I broke my leg I set a goal to ride the trail where I was hurt, on the one year date. I worked very hard to be in shape enough to do the ride, and went up and had a great time!

Way to go. Congrats, coming back from a crash/injury is one of the biggest wins possible.

Great Job!

The first 3/4 of the year went pretty well. Got in my first few centuries. Finally (eventually) made it to the top of Diablo and climbed Hamilton. Got tired of embarrassing myself in climbs, and decided to do something about it, riding up Diablo (not always all the way) every weekend (on top of whatever other riding I did) for two months or so.

As of right now, though, I haven't ridden more than a few blocks in three months, so I guess I'm going to have to start over from scratch next year. :rolleyes:

I had a great year! Went from not riding and way overweight (205 at 5'7") to riding a lot and a loss of 57 pounds thus far (down to 148). I've ridden 3279 miles thus far in the year and have started to finally get the hang of climbing. I also rode my first century since '99, and unsupported at that (108 miles). The riding and weight loss started at the very end of April.

I met a bunch of really great people to ride with as well. :)

Next year should see more miles, but slight weight loss. I don't think I have much more weight to lose!

The first 3/4 of the year went pretty well. Got in my first few centuries. Finally (eventually) made it to the top of Diablo and climbed Hamilton. Got tired of embarrassing myself in climbs, and decided to do something about it, riding up Diablo (not always all the way) every weekend (on top of whatever other riding I did) for two months or so.

As of right now, though, I haven't ridden more than a few blocks in three months, so I guess I'm going to have to start over from scratch next year. :rolleyes:

Dude? Get back on that pony and ride!:mad:

I had a great year! Went from not riding and way overweight (205 at 5'7") to riding a lot and a loss of 57 pounds thus far (down to 148).

that's very impressive.

Dude? Get back on that pony and ride!:mad:

I'm sure he will when he's recovered from getting hit by a car.

Highlights for me?

Getting a folding bicycle and taking it for rides all over the world, as well as climbing Page Mill. :thumb:

Did a couple of self-supported centuries.

Climbed Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Tam, and San Bruno Mtn in a week. :D

2008 was a mixed bag - I had both my first serious injury (crash in April that broke two fingers and put me off the bike for almost 6 weeks) and my first organized race (2 low-key hillclimbs). I put 4000 miles on my della santa and 3000 on my Jamis, almost all of whch was on my 40 mile round trip commute...it stacks up fast! I climbed Hamilton 3 times and Tantalus (in Honolulu) once. Jen and I got into tandeming and have put about 150 miles on the co-motion so far.

Next years goals are to avoid injury, tandem lots, and try to get faster on the climbs. The LK series and getting the tandem made me decide not to attempt to race. To me it's just not worth the time investment away from my family, plus I apparently suck a lot more than I thought :)

It was a great year! I did more cycling this year than any other by a long shot.
I managed about 3000 road miles
1500 trainer miles
I had a horrific crash at about 30mph that really put my mortality in check.
2 courses of Bactrim for disgusting infection following steak-sized wound on my right hip.
Completed a 200k Brevet
Completed 2 organized centuries, would have done 3 but the crash was during the Sierra Century and I only finished the 1/2.
2 self-supported centuries and numerous 60-80 mile rides.
Completed 2 double centuries.
Didn't gain or lose any weight, but gained a ton of leg muscle mass (so lost weight).
Met new friends who share this passion. :thumb:
Surprised that I did all of this since at the start of 2007 I had 0 miles for the year and the same for the 10 or-so before it.

2008? Dang, I didn't set any goals for myself ... no triple crown goals, no century a month goal ... just try to have fun!

So the highlights, and low lights ...
- Crash ... yup, got one of those. I was just stupid ... going to fast down Altamont ... scared everyone I was riding with, and immensely sorry that they had to witness that
- Centuries ... I only did two organized centuries ... Wine Country and Lighthouse. Both were lots of fun
- Bought myself a folder. Used that as my commuter bike, and quickly realized how tough it is to ride that, only because it was heavier, and has smaller wheels
- Tour of California ... I followed it all the way down to the final stage in Pasadena. It was a lot of fun. This year, I'll volunteer to help out.
- Focused on climbing this year. Doing weekly climbs up Montebello, did Mt. Hamilton on back to back weeks. Also, did Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo, and Montebello in a 4 day stretch. Not as impressive as Paula's Diablo - Hamilton - San Bruno Mtn - Mt. Tam weekend, but then again, I'm not incredible. :D
- Completed Canada Beat the Clock Time Trial ... did it in under 30 minutes. :D That was my goal.

I think this year's focus was to improve my hill climbing. I've concentrated on trying to ride with the Gladiators, and hopefully, with the repeated attempts, there is a difference. But I think the key is to make sure I enjoyed my time with my bike, and I think I have done that.

I kind of got derailed with the demise of "Bike.Journal" In fact I haven't gone back to it nor will I ever...nuff said!

So I had a goal of 10,000 for the year, but my projections are 2 to 300 miles short, unless I beat the crap out of myself to attain that goal. To tell you the truth I don't give a crap anyway...I'm going to concentrate more on intensity training from now on, so miles are just relative.

Getting back on the bike last year was a plus!

Back to back weekend century's on my birthday was pretty neat.

first Time trial!

Davis double with Curtis in 600 degree heat and tripping out while being attacked by butterflies was spectacular at best!

Riding to Los Angeles for ALC7 was profoundly life changing...beyond that actually!

Riding with NorCal and all the new faces hopping on board...Way cooool! I couldn't imagine not riding with this group.

Making lot's of friends

4 Mountains in 4 days with Ramon

Tour of Cal at Stanford

4th Mountain in a week with Paula (her challenge). Alan, Henry,Tim and Alex on board for that one!

Hookie with Curtis

Hookie with Dan

Seeing Jonathan the Travelocity Gnome...like everywhere

Mt TAm race...surrounded by NorCal'rs

Thanksgiving with Ron :)

4 Mountains on my singleSpeed

Beating Marco and Ramon up one hill! Hell froze over that day!

San Mateo nite rides

Sleep over and Delta ride Curtis and Trish

Sleep over and Santa Cruz ride with Alan

Foxey Fall on a single speed

Gettin pastries with Marco and Ruth in Half moon Bay

Gettin pastries with all the new guys in Woodside

Beakers ride and the sunglass's incident...Epic

Bart ride with Dave, Lisa, Ron

Narnia...Alans HFB ride

Riding Mt. TAm with Chris (pizzaMan)

Langster run with Ramon

Pizza with Bossman

Dan, Bossman, Pete's big night out pajama party!

Mt. Diablo cheering everyone at the top!

JoBobs/Dan ride February

Lorrie Lee's Bday party

Every Tandem I drafted

Night ride after the Wall, everyone following Marco/Ruth with one light

Meeting Henry and his buddy for coffee in San Bruno

The Memorial for Kristy and Matt...

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa292/taxi777/ProTechregal.jpg

Oh I forgot one! Crossing a border on a bicycle (Singapore-Malaysia and back). I was so glad to safely make it after inadvertently breaking the law. :o

Oh I forgot one! Crossing a border on a bicycle (Singapore-Malaysia and back). I was so glad to safely make it after inadvertently breaking the law. :oDid you make it back without being fired upon this time? :P

Did you make it back without being fired upon this time? :P

Now, now, the only place I was in danger of being fired on was the DMZ in Korea. I was more worried about being locked up and flogged in Singapore. ;)

Now, now, the only place I was in danger of being fired on was the DMZ in Korea. I was more worried about being locked up and flogged in Singapore. ;)

I hereby dub your Birdy the "International Incident". :P

My 2008 goals were very modest; simply ride more than the 1,000 miles (my pb) I rode in 2007, ride a couple centuries, join some BF rides, and putting my name in the Death Ride lottery.

Well I got in the DR lottery so I better had to do something about it; i.e. increase my mileage and climb more often.

My highlights:
- Completing the 5 passes of the Death Ride. I am signed up for 2009.
- Increasing my mileage by 60% to 1,600 miles and my climbing 75% to 113,500'.
- Wine Country Century and Sequoia Century.
- Mt. Tam + Mt. Diablo. Mt. Hamilton is still missing.
- Mt. Diablo Repeat (southface to top + northface to top)
- Mt. Diablo in a cold and wet morning ending the ride in the clouds.
- 5 BF rides non including the centuries. Many new faces.
- Lost 20 pounds.

Lowlights:
- The year started great. I was on par for a 2000+ miles year but the last three months stunk with an average of 45 miles per month.
- 2 flats, each time on a BF ride.
- I got 7 pounds back.

I fell short of my goals this year.

-Ride more miles than the previous year: 2007-4564.77 2008-4275.69
With more rain in the forecast and a chronic cough I've been trying to deal with the past month, its unlikely I can make 300 miles in 10 days.
-Ride more with you BFers - fail
I only rode with you guys 3 times this year :(
-Do the 3 major climbs - fail
I only went up Hamilton this year
-Commute more - fail
I made a grave mistake of changing to clipless pedals without making fit changes on the bike. Result, I injured my lower back in February for having my seat too high. I kept adjusting up and up to relieve knee pain and I did not bother changing the fore-aft position and cleat position. :notamused:

So this year has been a year of pain for me and whenever I feel like I'm getting better the low back pain comes back to haunt me.

The good news is I finally tweaked the bikes to a point where the pain is no longer injury related, just muscle fatigue and my back no longer hurts after rides. Hopefully the healing has begun for my lower back. I'm really looking forward to a much better 2009. :thumb:

When this year started I didn't have any goals, or a bike.

I started riding in May. At first it was just commuting the 7 miles each way, then some longer (20-30 mile) rides on my own each weekend. My first real ride was (had to check messages) only 2 months ago on 10/17. Jack Tripper totally kicked my ass up and down OLH and Kings for 55 miles and about 5000'.

That ride totally opened my eyes. Since then I've done a bunch (6, maybe 7?) BF rides and the Montebello Sunday rides with Ron just about each week. All of that culminated with my first century yesterday. When I look back to where I was when I first rode in May, man I was a wimp back then. ;)

I still have a long way to go. I need to get my diet back in check and drop about 20lbs. I am good with the effort on the bike, but too often it's wasted on an extra slice of pizza.

Since starting from scratch in May I've put about 2200 miles on the road bike, probably another 200 or so around campus at work. At least a thousand of those miles have been in the past 8 weeks, and that puts me on pace for my goal next year: 5000 miles.

It's been great meeting all of you. All of you are inspirational! I'm 28, and most of you seniors kick my ass up and down the hills. Here's to next year!

Goal: Increase mileage from '07.
Result: '08: 6,000+ vs '07 @ 5,400+.

Goal: Faster time on DeathRide.
Result: Did DR 45 minutes faster this year than in '07

Goal: Workout w/ Local Cycling Team.
Result: Spent last 6 weeks of the summer riding their Tuesday night ride. Big mistake, should have started early. These guys kicked my arse every night. Too much fun.

Goal: Ride w/ more people.
Result: Thanks BF for making this possible.

Goal: Faster Time on Diablo Challenge
Result: Fail.

Goal: No injuries.
Result: Success.

For 2008:
1.) Complete at least one double. Maybe two or three.
2.) More BF rides.
3.) Enter at least one road race.
4.) Faster time on Diablo Challenge.
5.) No injuries.
6.) Continue learning how to wrench my bike competently.
7.) Build up my old original Stumpjumper and start doing my errands on it.
8.) Invest in a cyclocross bike, learn how to ride it and enter a race.

Happy holidays!

BR

I overhauled Pete once going down Diablo. I feel pretty good about that. :D

It's been a great year for me. Being as I'm not athletic, and doing anything is amazing, I don't know how I can top this year.

Rode to work almost every day, maybe missing 2 or 3 due to carrying lots of big stuff.



Oregon Coast tour -- Many fun days
Giro di Peninsula -- with a wrong turn for a bonus 20 miles
Sequoia Century
Waves to Wine -- 2 days of hills
Tierrabella Century
Wildflower Century
Wine Country Century -- with Taxi777 special weird routes
Davis Double-- with Taxi777 the amazingly impossible done!
Seattle to Portland 200 fun miles
Foxy's Fall Century (100K due to Tricia bike problems)


Plus my first and only timed event, the Los Vaqueros Hill Climb Time Trial where I actuall ygot a medal (in a very small field)

Plus some BF fun stuff like Diablo and the great ride and dinner Alan hosted in Half Moon Bay.

Plus the
Curtis Sawyer/Huckleberry Pete Hookey ride with Taxi777, and a few other Marin rides guided by Pete.

And most of it with my sweet MyLilPony, making it double cool.

I should weight in at well over 7000 miles buy year end.

First Double Century - Solvang Spring Double
First Furnace Creek 508 (2X Relay)
First season over 3000 miles

Damn, I wish I kept track of my miles for the three-quarter year. I'd guess around 2,500 miles, since my daily commute alone comes out to about 1,500 miles. Add in some centuries, a bunch of other 50-75 mile BF rides, and some solo riding, and it's probably somewhere around there. Might have hit 3,000 miles, had I a full year of riding.

Not much compared to some of you, pretty good for me. I think I was at about 2,000 miles last year.

My turn to recap four months into this adventure:

* Hung up the running shoes and started focusing on riding as my main form of exercise
* First time up OLH was a killer and taught me how to control my heart rate
* Had my first crash one block from home complete with road rash; hurt my pride more than anything
* Did my first BF ride and was introduced to a world of hurt @ Tunitas Creek
* Started riding weekday mornings @ dark o'clock because I could never use a trainer, or rollers
* Had my first flat on a weekday morning @ dark o'clock...in the rain
* Learned the difference between "junk" mileage and "quality" mileage
* Found an activity where I could spend quality time with my father - he's a serious roadie

So 4 BF rides, and 676 miles later, I'm still having a good time. I'm not one for targets otherwise I can totally see myself getting obsessive compulsive over these types of details...as long as I'm having fun I'll keep it up.

I'll never be the fastest, or the strongest, rider but you'll be sure to find me somewhere in the back of the pack smiling. :D

I'm pretty new to serious cycling. I started commuting to work November 13th (2008).
So far I have done 485 km in a little over a month.
I replaced my (10+ year) old beater Target bike with a nice used Specialized Sirrus Comp (2001) and I've learned to change the tires, adjust the seat, and fix a flat.
With my new bike I can ride up all the so-called hills we have here in Sac. and my commute time dropped from 63 minutes riding time to 43 minutes.
And I've lost at least 5 pounds! (During the holidays at that).

And most importantly, it's been a lot of fun.

And most importantly, it's been a lot of fun.

That's what it's all about!:thumb: congratulations

Nice thread. Great to read about everyone's accomplishments. What really comes out in these posts is the passion for cycling that we share.

I ride for fun and exercise. I didn't set any specific goals for my self this year - just to have fun and stay in shape (for general living as a father of a toddler, not racing bikes). I think I did both very well. So, I'm happy. I did have a setback in the fall when my wife got sick, so I ended up with more spinning class time than road time, but, I still still maintained my exercise regimen. I ended up with around 2500 miles this year, a little less than my average of 3000. C'est la vie!

I had a lot of fun memories on the bike, particularly with my BF friends:

- Tierra Bella Century with Pete. I remember following a tandem couple who were just insanely fast - 26, 27 mph for about 10 miles. It was a blast, but I paid for it around mile 85. Cramped up and had to limp home.

- Hosting the Half Moon Bay TandemFest and Wheelsucker ride. Great ride down the coast with about 35 BF'ers. We had 8 tandems on this ride!!! Riding my hybrid recumbent/upright tandem with MsIncredible as stoker. Best of all, having the gang over for dinner and music. That was truly memorable for me.

- The many hill climbs up Diablo, Tam and Hamilton. I have a love/hate relationship with them hills. II love them for the workout and sense of achievement. I hate them because of all the gladiators and cheetahs who pass me on the way up :o.

- Restoring a vintage 1970 Moulton MK3 small wheeled bike. This is my good karma bike because most of the parts came from the parts bin, or were donated, or even from the dumpster.

- Flying up London for a weekend just to pick up a unique Moulton TSR30 small wheeled, fully suspended road bike. Heh, heh, eat your heart out!

- Riding the Pizza Century from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz with a bunch of ultra-endurance riders (RAAM, Paris-Brest-Paris, Furnace Creek 508, 24 hours of Sebring, etc.). I have a spinning instructor who competed in the 2007 RAAM (Race Across America) and came in second place. He hosts a pizza party every year for his crazy ultra-distance friends every year. Only catch is you have to ride to Santa Cruz for the pizza. So, it's a century ride. I invited Pete to join me this year. Just hanging out with those guys/gals is soooo much fun. They talk about riding 500 miles in the same way I talk about riding down to the corner grocery. This year, I did the century in 5:50. The fastest guy came in under 4:30. Best time ever was by a guy in a fully faired recumbent in 3:40 for the 100 miles (that's 27mph average, folks).

Yup, it was a great year!

Never really set any goals other than to just keep riding and enjoy being on the bike. I figured all the other health benefits, both physical and mental, would follow.

Highlights:
- Completed an unsupported century early in the year
- Got my son to start riding longer distances and higher elevations with me. Thus far he has summitted Mt. Diablo 6-7 times and has done Mt. Hamilton twice with me. I'm so impressed with his accomplishments :D.
- Built up a bike and doing my own wrenching.
- Met several new BF'ers as well as old ones.
- Got in ~3850 miles (as of today). With 9 days left and with the current weather forecast, 4000 seems out of reach, but maybe that can be a goal for 2009 :thumb:.

- Got my son to start riding longer distances and higher elevations with me. Thus far he has summited Mt. Diablo 6-7 times and has done Mt. Hamilton twice with me. I'm so impressed with his accomplishments :D.


I love hearing about your rides with your son. I teach 5th grade and about half my students are total couch potatoes. Only their fingers ever get a workout as they surf the Internet or play video games. So I think it's way cool that your boy is climbing mountains on his bike. :D


Veronica

I love hearing about your rides with your son. I teach 5th grade and about half my students are total couch potatoes. Only their fingers ever get a workout as they surf the Internet or play video games. So I think it's way cool that your boy is climbing mountains on his bike. :D
Veronica

You must be REALLY patient :). Don't get me wrong, he still loves the video games (almost as much as his dad :D). Guess it's all about balance.

I really enjoy reading about everyone's goals and accomplishments for the year.

I met many new friends and rode to many new places.

Highlights include:

A 3 day ride from San Jose to Solvang in January.

Eating flatbread pizza with the team.

Completing 41 races without a crash.

Finishing 2nd 10 times (at least one of them was to a teammate :D)

Winning a few.

All of the beautiful miles ridden with friends in Marin, Napa, the Peninsula, & the East Bay.
I am so thankful that I live in Nor Cal!

And even the Psycho Patrol San Mateo night ride that took a little longet than I expected. :D


I hope to meet and ride with more of you in 2009.

- Hosting the Half Moon Bay TandemFest and Wheelsucker ride. Great ride down the coast with about 35 BF'ers. We had 8 tandems on this ride!!! Riding my hybrid recumbent/upright tandem with MsIncredible as stoker. Best of all, having the gang over for dinner and music. That was truly memorable for me.

Alan, that was a highlight for me too. :)

And even the Psycho Patrol San Mateo night ride that took a little longet than I expected. :D



:lol: We should rename the Night Ride thread the Psycho Patrol thread.

Very inspirational accomplishments here. What a diverse group of folks! :thumb:

I only had a few specific goals:

Climb all of the big three Bay Area mountains - still have Mt. Diablo to do.
Ride more miles than last year (which wasn't hard since the car hit me last year) - 3250+ so far not including most of the 1.5 miles commute trips I made.
Complete the Pilarcitos Cyclocross series (and do better and previous years) - did OK, 15th overall for the series.


The Tandem Rally and Wheelsucker ride was also highly memorable. :love:

I hope to try some criteriums and road races in the coming year but with family schedules the way they are I'm not sure which races I'll be able to do beyond the Eary Bird races. A friend of mine that moved to Pennsylvania is trying to get me to do the California Coast Classic (http://www.californiacoastclassic.org/) next October so that may be in the cards as well.

There's also a whole gaggle of new BF cyclists I've yet to meet so I hope to make it to many more BF rides in 2009 as well.

I didn't have any specific goals for this year and I don't have any idea how many miles I rode. That said, here are some of my firsts/accomplishments for the year:

* Did more organized centuries than last year (4 vs 3) including the excellent Tour of the Unknown Coast
* Brought my bike on a road trip to Canada and did two rides in the Banff/Jasper area
* Rode in one of the Low Key Hill Climbs (on a unicycle)
* Did a lot more BF rides with cool BF folks :thumb:
* First time up Hamilton, Diablo, and Umunhum

The only real down side this year was that there was about a 2 month stretch in the prime of summer where I was traveling out of state so much I only got in a couple rides. Thankfully the California riding season lasts all year long :)

Like Pizza Man I feel incredibly lucky to have the Bay Area as my personal biking playground. I will probably be moving out of the area within 6-18 months (depending on when my girlfriend finds out where her doctoral internship site is). Until then I'm trying to wring the most out of my time here!

Commuted by bike more days than I drove. Beat that easily!

775 miles in May, the only month I actually kept track of miles (I’m lazy). I’m guessing about 6000-6500 miles for the year (road + mtb).

I won the sport class in my age group at Prairie City Race Series (mountain biking).

Centuries
-Chico Wildflower
-Monticello
-Death Ride
-Auburn (placed 13th out of 53 in the Iowa Hill TT - 17’ 24” to the top)
-Foxy’s

Next year’s goals…. Some doubles. Particularly the tough ones... Devil Mountain, Terrible Two, etc. Death Ride '09 is paid for already. Can’t wait to do that again. I also want to jump in on some of the race rides held weekly by the Davis Bike Club. I may try a road race or two. I’ll keep racing at Prairie City but this time in the expert category. A 'dirty' century would be fun. I also want to get in on some of the BF rides. I always have a conflict…. And most of the ‘big’ rides are in the south/east bay.

Maybe a Sierra foothills BF ride in ‘09?