Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness?
Didn't ride quite as much as I really wanted to. I had hoped for a 2000 mile year, but as of today I am still 267 miles short, and with the snow and the cold here in northern Illinois I'm not feeling confident that I will make it. Fitness was not ever where I wanted it to be, and lately I not been taking care of myself as much as I should. The cold and dark of winter is really quite demoralizing for me, but I'm hoping to turn that around! My last ride was only 12 miles, and I barely managed that!

Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s)?
No tours or riding vacations, but I did ride my first 200K late this summer. Planning on doing more next year!

Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes?
I've managed to keep the number fairly consistent this year.

Reductions:
One bike that I regret purchasing (Schwinn Mirada) I basically gave away to get it out of my garage
Raleigh Technium Pre
2017 GT Karakoram (upgraded to a better MTB)
1985 Schwinn Tempo (frame is cracked at the BB shell/downtube joint) I do still physically have the bike, but it doesn't get out on the road anymore.

Additions:
1981 Trek 716 (not a grail bike, but the nicest frameset I've ever had)
2010 Banshee Paradox MTB (replaced the GT above)
Velo Orange Polyvalent MKIII - My most-ridden bike since the Tempo broke. It's a bit of a truck, but with 650b x 38 tires, fenders, and a handlebar bag its just so comfortable and practical! I love being able to carry stuff with me, and the low trail front end has been a big hit with me.

As for next year, I'm hoping to hit 3000 miles total. Of those, I would like to do at least 2 or 3 200K brevets, and if those go well I would like to attempt a 300K brevet in late summer.

I would like to keep the number of bikes at the current number or less, but I don't know which ones would be on the chopping block if I wanted to bring the number down.

1) Trek 716 - this one likely isn't going anywhere. Planning on this being my brevet bike next year. Currently pricing a 650b, low trail conversion (spoiler alert, it's not going to be cheap)
2) Velo Orange Polyvalent - Just overall such a solid, practical touring bike. It's got all of the braze-ons for racks and fenders, it's comfortable, and overall I love how it's set up. It would be hard to let this one go, too.
3) 1977 Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2 - my only unmolested* vintage bike in original condition. I like to keep one bike around that has the same components it did when it rolled off the assembly line. *I have converted it to 700c with a spare wheelset, and am planning on re-building the original high flange hubs with new 700c rims and butted spokes. I like having something *original*, and it's chrome! This one would be hard to give up
4) Banshee Paradox 29er - not going anywhere unless it breaks. I love this MTB!

Honest question - what is the difference between touring and randonneuring?

(Don't mean to hijack thread)

Touring involves stopping and sightseeing, if not deliberate planning on overnight stays at your own pace.

Randonneuring is participating in organized events with a defined route and checkpoints that need to be arrived at within time limits.

Ahhh, got it. Thanks for the great answer!

Ever noticed [MENTION=136384]unterhausen[/MENTION]'s signature?

Seriously, touring implies stopping for the night, possibly camping, possibly visiting some tourist attractions like Niagara Falls, perhaps even locking up your bike at some point and poking around a town or something. Taking your time over a meal, maybe.

The ride around Lake Ontario is about 1000 km. To do that in a week, but you'd be going close to 90 miles each day; most tourists would take more like ten days or so.

Randonneuring, for a 1000 km like that, you have a 75 hour time limit. You have to ride a minimum of about 210 miles each day, and that doesn't leave much time for resting. So on that Lake Ontario ride, on my first 'day' I rode 299 miles. Assuming you'd call 26 hours a day... which kinda stretches it, right? Anyway, don't tell me it's crazy, I have had ample time to reflect on that aspect of it....

I'm 42 miles short of my 2500 mile goal for the year.....without getting rained on once. I'll finish this off sometime soon and I'm predicting an extended cocktail hour when the deed is done.

More significant to me is I set a bunch PRs on Strava segments in the month of August. Background here is four years ago I had cardiac surgery to repair a valve with a "massive leak". At 63 years of age, the procedure kicked me to the curb. I was back on a bike in short order, but never recovered my prior speed....such as it was. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the issue was I had lost my will to push myself as hard as I had before. Sooooo, in August I decided to do something about it.....AND IT FELT GREAT!

Last, in June I acquired a 1986 Tommasini Racing in Dura-Ace 7400 trim. The Tommi has become the favorite in my fleet of seven. Most of my August Strava PRs were set with this bike.

Dean

IMG_2835

I fell slightly short of my goals, but it has been a good year. Last year, I had a goal of clocking 2,500 miles, and I reached 3,000, so that was good. I also participated in the Hillier Than Thou ride, which was amazing. It was the only thing I trained for, and that paid off.

I decided not to set a higher mileage goal than last year, so I stuck with 3,000 miles as my goal. I'm on target, so that's good. I think I'm a little slower on the bike overall this year than last year, largely because I don't care as much.

I didn't take any fun trips, which is a bit sad. Gotta think ahead and plan. I had thought I wanted to participate in the Dirty Dozen ride in Pittsburgh which is even crazier than Hillier Than Thou, but I didn't get into the planning, etc, so maybe I'll do it next year.

Overally, I'm happy. The question is, do I want to set goals for 2019?

I find January 1 to be a silly time to delineate a new year. Labor Day (early September) and Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), also in September) feel like a new year time. But the calendar year starts when the weather and sunlight are worst for cycling, so it makes sense for the riding to ebb before New Year and flow after it.

Riding: Well, didn't break last years mileage, came close, but over 2K again. Improved my climbing, just lovin' hills.

Touring: Didn't make my camping trip, but took the wife on club trip to Cape Cod, to ride bike paths for few days.

Bike Collection: Picked up a barely used Jamis Quest frame(631) and carbon fork from LBS. Added some leftover parts from upgrades , mostly 7 speed and created a new bike. Now has complete Sora 9 speed and new wheel set. My lightest bike. Got a deal on my first CF bike (Raleigh Carbon Clubman). Upgraded the Ciocc to 10 speed (Tiagra). And finally, found crank set (Campy Triple)and Campy RD (Campy Racing Tri) in order to get the gearing lower. It's been my flat land bike. Next year, it will see hills, it's never seen before.KB

Riding - I'd have to say a good year. Been riding a variety of bikes this year, and feeling more flexible than ever. Before my hernia surgery three years ago, I gravitated toward upright, crank-forward, semi-recumbent, etc. AKA "geezer gliders". First couple years post-surgery were mostly commuting, but this year, I'm feeling much more fit, and amenable to more riding positions. Not a lot of miles, but a lot of great experiences on bikes I wouldn't have considered before.

Trips/vacations - mostly a bust. No bike or camp vacations this year. Flooding in our part of the city late in the summer. Nothing like what y'all had down south, but we weren't able to leave the house unattended for months. Spoiled the Labor Day weekend trip to the cabin/prairie. Our next opportunity would've been Thanksgiving, but truck issues scrubbed that. MAYBE we'll get out there at Christmas...

Collection/builds - Epic. By my meager standards, anyway. Found some smokin' deals, even a few CL freebies. Wife has been having a blast learning how to lube bearings, swap cables, etc. Got really excited the first time she cracked loose a BB adjustable cup lock ring with a Park tool.

2019 kicks off with the Madison bike swap, one of the largest in the country. Down another rabbit hole......

Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness: Last year, my riding ended on August after suffering a herniated disk that pinched my sciatic nerve. several visits to a chiropractor and months of physical therapy corrected the condition, but it was late spring before I got back on a road bike. Then, work and weather conspired to keep me from getting all the miles I had hoped for. I had wanted to ride a century before the end of the year, but I only managed to get a Metric, prior to my trip in late September.

Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s): In August, I was researching destinations for a vacation in Kentucky when I stumbled across this: https://www.bourboncountryburn.com/#new-page-1 We had been talking about riding between the bourbon distilleries, so taking a supported tour seemed like an easier way than trying to figure it all out on my own. I had a great time, although I was not prepared for the hills. If I go back, I'll definitely take a bigger cassette or a triple. I was so sore after 80 miles on the first day, that I only did 40 on the second day.

Bourbon County, Kentucky

Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes: When people find out I collect old bikes, I end up with a lot of junk. I loaded up some junk frames and steel wheels and other stuff and carted it off to the scrap yard. That netted me almost enough to fund my only acquisition for the year, a 1988 Trek 400T. It was dirty, but it shows very little wear, and the frame only has a few small nicks. I got it back together over the holiday weekend, but I may change some things before I settle on the final configuration.


1988 Trek 400T

Miraculous year for me. 45 years of back pain...gone. Just about a year ago I was wondering how I could continue working. I was in constant pain. Working was very difficult. Very poor sleep. Then while trying to relieve some pain by stretching I was able to crack something in my lower back, pelvic region. It was an area that no chiropractor had ever cracked. In time I got both sides to crack and hold in place. Really its a miracle. I can sleep, I can work all day pain free, and cycling?....amazing new strength back in my legs. 45 years, incredible.

Excellent year so far (knock on wood).

Some wonderful riding ...



... lovely new bikes to try out ...



... and The Year of the Tandem, of course.

The Classic Rendezvous Weekend! Grand Finale' event of the 20 year series of Cirque du Cyclismes.

Also getting back into MTB, new modern carbon, hyd disc, 1x the whole enchiladas.

New lighting and rode LOT'so middle of night gorgeous rides -on and off road. Some of the best rides of the year.

Appreciate tech stuff but never personally getting into it. But did upgrade my bike related gizmos, plus extras for other bikes, played with it yet not fully hooked.

Another one who likes 'sticking' with tubulars for classic lightweights, I'm late to the party but this year I finally found an acceptable clincher.. Veloflex Master's.

Riding - was better the first half of the year (well it had to be better than the car-wrecked 2017), but since end of July I've ridden almost none due to home improvement projects. Been putting those off way too long, partially because officiating bike races was getting in the way. So I dropped officiating, and am knocking out projects so I can ride more frequently going forward.

Touring/Vacations: well, not exactly. I did attend speedevils inaugural KY ride. Missed the CR finale. But I did ride my longest single-day ever @ 150miles. Wouldn't think a rail/trail would be so taxing. But constant start/stop, sketchy trail conditions in places, rode some in the rain. All totaled up to kick my butt.

Collection: not a lot of change yet, but I'm determined to downsize before I acquire anymore frames/complete bikes. It's started, still has room to go. My intent is to consolidate/move upmarket. So the PX10 is gone. If I get another Peugeot, it will be a PY. I sold a Raleigh Pro. If I buy another Raleigh, it'll be a Team Pro. Realizing that going forward, I'll have to sell 2 or more to fund the purchase of 1. I like the idea.

2018 was a good year for riding for me. It started off with vigor, including a couple of metric century New England Randonneur rides plus one in which I added 20 or so miles on each end to make it a 100+ mile ride, Eroice CA with [MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION], [MENTION=226673]spa[/MENTION]ghetti_legs, [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION] and hundreds of others, the Lackawana 200k (including [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION]) and a 360k fleche (including [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] and [MENTION=384048]greg3rd48[/MENTION]) with with the PA Rando group. I actually didn't do any other really long rides after that other than a century in the middle of summer, kitting together my favorite local routes. I did lots of 50-75-mile rides, many of which were on weekends with neighborhood riding buddies, and those are always lots of fun.

In terms of touring, it was another epic French Fender Day/Tour-de-Gugie with [MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION], [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION], and others. That was four days from Boston, down to Lyme, CT, and back in early October. Epic!

Bike-wise, my main new acquisition was a Black Mountain Road, which I absolutely love and put most of my miles on. I think riding Eroica on my '73 Condor might have cured me of the vintage bike bug!

Riding – I (mostly) put down the torch over the prime riding months and rode a bit more than last year. Separating my shoulder put me out of action for a month and a half of those prime months.
Touring/Vacations – Eroica California, The Palouse ride, and French Fender Day were highlights. The biggest highlights of those rides were meeting up with my Bike Forum friends, both old and new. The PNW crew was ridden with, beer was shared, and any day just hanging out at l'Atelier with friends was a good one. The Ride, Wrench and Grill was pulled off again.

Eroica California:


[MENTION=135635]scozim[/MENTION] put on The Palouse Ride


FFD



Ride, Wrench and Grill




Bike Collection – Somehow I started the year with only one Gran(d) Sport(s), and ended up with four in my size. The frame hooks hold two (or is it three?) more for future Gugificazione.



Personally, I'll add a 4th category
Torchwork - Made and shipped out 27 custom decaleurs, two full Gugificazione 650b reconstructs, a couple partials, 5 custom racks, and a couple of repairs. In addition a few people came by for frame and/opr fork straightening (which I do for beer, in case anyone wants to know).

Holy crap! good for you. My wife has a similar malady, hers comes and goes, sometimes by itself, sometimes not. When it gets bound up it can be impossible to unhitch, massage, chiro, hit and miss, mostly miss. She always wanted me to perform the lifting bearhug which worked sometimes until we cracked a rib that made it worse, no more bearhugs.

Back to the regular scheduled programming.

Epic bike year for me, 1958 Paramount to commemorate my 60th bday, two very large bikes that fit and ride better than my other bikes. 25in. 75 Paramount and 26in. 78 Merz.

[MENTION=305894]oddjob2[/MENTION], THANK YOU for starting this thread. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's stories and I hope there will be many more to come!

Dean

Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness? closing in on 5000 miles, my goal was an average of 10 miles a day, so way over. I started riding with a club for the first time in over 40 years, and found i wanted to go faster, always chasing the best guys. I ride (usually) 4 days a week. For my birthday, i was going to upgrade my "good" bike with the latest and greatest, but instead, i decided to upgrade me. I haired a cycling coach and started doing structured training, but now with any real defined goals.

Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s)? I did a bunch of organised rides this year. 2 centuries, and a few metrics. the Cool Breezes, hilly century was 112 miles, and I rode 116 for the day, a new PR for distance, along with 6200 ft of vertical.

Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes? I ride most miles on my 2013 Pinarello. but I re-acquired a 1993 Specialized Allez that i had sold to an old co-worker, since he wasn't riding it anymore, and then i bought a mid 80s Ciocc when i started talking to a guy on some club rides that started showing up with a GORGEOUS Eddy Merckx. he told me about this Ciocc, and now ! am buying parts to get it ready for L'Erocia.

Planning two bike trips next year, so i have been saving all of my epic for then!

Where to start. This year was better than last year as my summer coaching duties diminished a little. In the end, though, most of my riding was during the week as weekends were pretty full until the middle of July. Spinal issues have sidelined me for the most part since September. But, I'm still upright and walking and that's all that matters.

Riding – rode more than the past two years but still not where I normally like to be. That will pretty much be the case until these last two, active girls finish high school in 2022. The highlight was the Tour de Palouse. As others state, just getting together with fellow BF members is a reward in itself. And then to have them travel to ride is even better. Kudos to [MENTION=170517]rccardr[/MENTION] for making the loooong trek for a great weekend.



And thanks to [MENTION=168558]Drillium Dude[/MENTION] for most of the photos:



Touring/Vacations – the next tour will have to wait. My wife and I celebrated our 30th anniversary in August by taking our two youngest and our oldest daughter to London for 8 days. It was an absolute blast and hopefully memorable for the girls.

Bike Collection – I had no intention of making any changes to the bike collection other than maybe stripping one or two low end ones and getting rid of the frames. Then October rolled around and I pulled a smoke and soot damaged Cannondale from a guys truck at the dump, overhauled and cleaned it up, traded it to my brother to get my 1984 Peugeot PSV back. The following day another brother calls and offers another 1984 Peugeot (PH10L). So, of course, I couldn't say no. 9.5 months of N=0 and then in 9 days it goes to N+2

I'm too old and decrepit (relatively so) to have epic years anymore, but I had an exceptional 2018 anyway. I got the most mileage in the 4 years I've been retired, partly as a result of modifying my position and partly by riding through some issues. I did build a bike:



Even so, I did very little spending on bike-stuff this year. I did sell one - well, the frame and fork, plus a couple components, to [MENTION=426321]Chombi1[/MENTION], so this has now gone from my collection:



Oh, and I crashed again, too

But I didn't hit my head



Last but not least, I enjoyed my opportunity to ride a (albeit modern) bicycle around an FIA-approved racetrack in July. It just so happened that my favorite F1 team, Ferrari, won the Grand Prix held on it only 3 months later:



DD

WOW. That is great to hear - and it gives me hope that maybe one day I'll find the same miracle-stretch

DD