jppe

I've found it extremely helpful to have some type of goal to help with motivating me with cycling. While I truly enjoy riding having a goal or target seems to provide a little more focus and effort in getting out in less than the nicest conditions or doing a few more intervals and miles than I might have felt like doing. In the past I've set goals that might include riding so many miles in year, targeting a PR for a time trial or training for a pretty challenging Century. For some rides I've set goals for just riding out to a town or a place I had not ridden to before just to add some additional miles.

What are some goals or targets that work for you?

What are you planning for 2005?

zacster

1. Do an early century, like the Montauk century in May.
2. Do a training series with some serious riders, the "A" group.
3. Do a double century in early-mid summer, maybe Seattle to Portland.
4. Log over 3000 miles. That's hard to do when you work full time and have 3 younger kids at home. My son was born when I turned 38, and I just turned 50. I also have 8yo twins. I'm amazed I get out at all sometimes.
5. Do multiple late season centuries, such as Escape NY and the MS.
6. Have a good time doing it all.

Trekke

IPPE, this is a good "Great" post. Goals are motivators for sure. I always set goals in most areas of my life and work then work towards those through the year. One key is that goals need to be realistic and obtainable. Good luck meeting yours this season.

Mine are:
1) Two brevets. A 200k and a 300k
2) At least 4 organized centuries
3) A cycling vacation (still planning)
4) keep my weight below 190lbs. (I have lost 45 lbs in the past 4 years I have been riding)
5) Complete 6k road miles (Last Years goal was 5k and finished with 5,600)
6) Spend more time MTB with my son (he is 22 and just interested in MTB cycling)
7) Do at least one commute to work and back (30 mile round trip)

DnvrFox

My goal is to:

Breathe In

Breathe Out

Breathe In

Breathe Out

berny

I've recently started road riding and road racing after aprox. 5ys on a Cannondale MTB. I'd completed three and a half Bicycle New South Wales 'BigRides' https://www.bicyclensw.org.au/ (600k in 9 days) in '2001, '2002, 2003, 2004 (1/2) and decided to dig out my old '87 Malvern Star 6sp. It's been a wild 5yrs of setting goals and achievement.

Last year I just wanted to be able to a) ride a road bike and b) ride a road bike and keep up with a younger social/training group (i.e., the early start by 15mins, slower bunch from the group).

This year I have a brand new GT GTR1 and I want to place in the weekly racing I'm doing with the two clubs I'm now with. OH!; and be strong enough to ride with the 15mins earlier starters (the 'quicks') in training on Saturdays.

I'm hoping to accomplish this in the first 6 months all being well. I don't know if I want to set goals much beyond that, being as I'm 63 years old turning 64 in April, we'll see.
Bern

stapfam

When you've mastered it, let the rest of us in on the secret.

DnvrFox

My CPAP machine makes it sort of automatic!

Trogon

I divide the year into 13 4-week periods - makes comparisons much easier and more accurate.

I track the miles I ride in each of those periods and I set a simple goal = ride more miles in the current period than I have in the same period in all previous years.

It's taken me from 2400 miles in 1999 to over 8000 last year. This year, I'm planning on backing off to the 6500 range but with as many single period "victories" as possible (currently 1 for 2.)

Velo Dog

It started with the heartbreak of the full-length mirror. I was feeling pretty good about gaining "only" a couple of pounds a year until I saw myself getting out of the shower in a hotel bathroom a few years ago. Two pounds a year since the Carter administration is 40 pounds, and I could see all of it.
I'd been a runner, but started riding a mountain bike to save my knees. From there I got a road bike, then a better road bike, then a friend challenged me to do a century and I started real training instead of just riding around. I lost 35 pounds, my BP dropped 30 points and I felt great.
I've gained 10 pounds back this winter, but I'm on it. What works for me is to pick an event a couple of months in the future, something that's challenging but not killer, and set some interim goals along the way. I weigh about 240 now (I'm 6'4"), and I'm looking at a metric century on April 24 at 225 pounds. From there I'll probably shoot for a full century in late July (there are a couple in the neighborhood) at, say, 215. If I get down that far, it will be what I weighed in college 35 years ago. But there are M&M's on the secretary's desk this morning, so....

jppe

Thanks for sharing your ideas! I think I'll tweak my goals to adapt some of the thought's you've already shared. Trogon, I like the idea of the more frequent intervals for targets. Now that I think about it, too many of my goals have been a longer timeframe and I need to give myself credit for the steps along the way. It also helps with the concept of adding more miles each year which I also adhere to. I have the prettiest color graph just to prove it!!

Many of you mentioned rides you plan to do as well. I'll add that to my mix as well. Heck, we need to give ourselves credit and a big pat on the back for even doing a 100+ mile event.

Good to see some posts with family included-I need to incorporate that to include my wife (just getting started) and my 14 year old son who NEEDS to ride for exercise.

Hey, let's all include a target of getting through the year riding safely!!

oldspark

1 Keep my weight at 160.
2 Ride RAGBRAI.
3 Shoot for about 2000 miles.
4 Do not get run over by the fools who drive cars like they could not care less if they ran
over me.

stapfam

18months after the 2nd fairly serious operation I was almost prepared to give up cycling. I set a target of an extremely hard ride in 6 months time for which I had to get fit. It was kill or cure time, but the extra training to get fit was adhered to. How nice it was to do the ride in the best time I have ever done, and get back to enjoying cycling agaain. Did the ride again in 2004, and already in training for the same ride in June this year.

Mind you, the training is getting harder as the Age progresses.

Red Baron

Ride 2500 miles (did just short of that last year).

Drop weight to 185 (was 192 end of last season, now 204)

Ride the Katy Trail from St Charles to Jefferson City - Visit aging mother, & return same route. figure 3-4 days

Have the strength to go slower and maintain health, & Do complimentary exercises (increase strength)

Let my lovely wife know that I love her more and more each year and appreciate the 'quality time apart'

Buy my dream bike, a paramount of the era I raced in (1970-72).

Give away 3 bikes to deserving people. (garage sale fixer-uppers, usually given to College kids, 'challenge' kids, etc.) - Did 2 last year.


AND ride 58 miles on Jun 4th.

pauncho

To get back into shape to ride 75 miles south on May 7 and back May 8, the way I have each of the last two years (that's TOSRV to & from a hotel room in Waverly)
(a real challenge, given that I have ridden less than 150 miles since I broke my wrist in July).
If that works, to ride my own Pampered 100 in June: flat bike trail all the way.

Sigurdd50

My gal and I are getting back into it to celebrate the big 5-0 this year. She sprang for a Trek 1500WSD(closeout priced... very nice!) and then she put the bug in my ear, so I scored a Felt F-65 (closeut priced, veryvery nice)
It's still Winter in Wisconsin
We will get down and do our yoga 4-5 AM's a week, start some road work ASAP, and then in late June do the 6 day, 360 mile BikeNorthwoods tour up to Lake Superior with about 400 other riders.
HOpefullly, by the time that happens, we'll be so hooked that it will be a LIFESTYLE.

oldspark

Any info online about this BikeNorthwoods ride-sounds like a great place to ride.

DnvrFox

Okay, although it is hard for me, I will be serious for a moment!

My, goals, a la David Letterman, are a bit different:

10. Lose the returning symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia that seem to be showing up now and then.

9. Get so I can do at least 10 pullups in a row.

8. Ride the 66 mile length of the Highline Canal here in Denver.

7. Continue (actually increase) my weight lifting. Lost some power there due to illnesses, etc., but am back up to 208 lbs bench press as of this week. Also, doing 25 full body dips in a row x's 3. Keep that up.

6. Continue losing weight to below 200 pounds - I am at 210 this am.

5. Lose the CPAP machine for the Sleep Apnea because of additional weight loss, or, if not, do the "Pillar Procedure" to keep the soft palate open and still lose the CPAP.

4. Ride with wife in Santa Fe Century. We won't do the 100 (she can't) but will do 25-50 miles.

3. I rode 4,000 miles last year - want to do that again, Atrial fibrillation or not.

2. Get an ablation to see if I can cure this atrial fibrillation.

1. And number 1 - David Letterman, eat your heart out - Make it to 66 yo!


Oh, and I woould also like to keep the BP down.

Current "Good News" - blood pressure has come WAY down last 3 weeks. Like

119 92
124 88
116 84
124 85
124 91
111 78
123 81

which are averages of 3 readings taken in the am.

Not perfect, but a LOT better - it was running at 150-160 over 100 there for awhile.

oldspark

You are the fittest sick person I have ever heard of (sorry if this seems rude-cheap shot at trying to be funny). Good luck with your health.

DnvrFox

I am really not "sick.' I just have "conditions!"

Blackberry

Thanks for the inspiration, guys.

Ya know how they say, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans?" Well, my goal for 2005 was to ride every day, either outdoors or on a trainer. I had read that former Bicycling editor Jim Langely hadn't missed a day in 11 years. I figured, if he can do it for more than a decade, I should be able to ride every day for a year. No problem.

Then a couple of days before the New Year, my back siezed up. It was so painful I could barely do anything other than lie on the floor. My poor wife had to help me stand up and sit down. My first goal went out the window. My new goal became to be able to tie my shoes or get out of the car without serious pain.

I asked for advice on this forum and got some good ideas. But the biggest help came from a source I would not have particularly trusted before my back went out--a chiropractor. I think he acted more like a physical therapist--giving me a variety of stretching and strengthening exercises to do.

Bottom line: I did the stretches, slowly healed and now I'm riding again. Yeah, it was only 17 miles yesterday. And I stopped for a stretching break halfway through. But everything is going in the right direction.

Today, the chiropractor told me I could SLOWLY begin to train for a century, that I didn't need to see him anymore, and that I just had to make sure to continue my stretching and strenghening exercises.

So my new goals:
1)Take good care of my back.
2) Slowly add miles
3)Ride a century (maybe in August or September. I'm willing to take it slow).
4)Take a bicycling vacation.
5) Above all--have fun!

jppe

Hey DnvrFox, a lot of us probably know about conditions at our age:

High Cholestrol
High Blood Pressure
Rieters Disease
Kidney Stones-3 currently
Acid Reflux

Seems like a miracle I can even ride. However, cycling for 3 years and 10,000 miles+ has greatly reduced BP (120/70), cholestrol (<170) and 50 lbs! Not to mention the heart rate reduction....

Cycle Nut

I like goals.
I turned 50 and bought a decent bike the Giant TCR Composite 2. Had the shop make it women specific.
I have Rheumatoid arthritis, and plan to stay as fit as humanly possible because I don't know about down the road. I guess none of us do. But I am coming back from a big attack last fall and I want to stay off a cane and stay in the saddle. So far it is full steam ahead.
Last cycling goal for this year anyway, is to do a charity ride for arthritis research. I am still searching the web for something.
Cheers to all of you with a dream!
Sharon

DnvrFox

Good for you. You set a fine example.

berts

1. participate in 4-5 races
2. place among first 3 in Israel championship
3. 3 centuries and 1 double century
4. keep healthy and happy

dthoman

Yes, I’m the type that is very goal oriented and would probably never get anything done without them. Sort of like a reward. Yea, I did what I set out to do.

I have three goals for this year.

1. Ride a century
2. Ride the Natchez Trace (445 miles)
3. Ride over 2000 miles. I hit over 1500 last year.