Looking back at 2018 - Epic or Average?
 

With only a month left and an early arrival of winter in a large part of the country, 2018 is quickly coming to a close. So have you met your cycling goals which may include the following:

Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness?
Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s)?
Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes?

Below average, for many, many, many reasons. Really looking for retirement to get back on track, so to speak.

Car went into mothballs about a year ago. Bicycle instead. Needed to make motor vehicle operational for various big load tasks just recently.
Bicycle mileage already down. Tasks getting done. Hope to be almost completely parking it next week.

Lots and lots of happenings this year, but almost none of them bike related. I'm on track for my lowest mileage since 2015. Looking forward to righting the ship second half of next year.

i am close to my very modest mileage goal

but it terms of bike events epic in an odd way

• Miyata 1400 died
• replace with a nice red de rosa and put a new 105 5800 group on
• Walked over to talk to a neighbor and walked home with a team miyata....build to start soon

I got to build a frame and now have my favorite bike. That, along with a terrible local used market this year, really limited my bike buying.

My oldest daughter got a 10 year old 650c road bike abd i'm building a modern mtb for her this winter. Her now too small mtb will be painted and built back up for my younger daughter.

I did sell the first 2 good vintage road bikes I ever had- '87 Miyata 912 and '80 Schwinn Voyageur. That helped fund the additional kids bikes.

2018 was different from usual, but a lot of fun.
2019 is sure to bring something interesting and old!

Late spring I built up my Stateside Centurion Pro Tour, Stripped and painted my 78 and 73 Raleigh SuperCourses, In late July I purchased this beauty and all I had to do was get decent fender stays, a better FD and clean it.
83 Centurion Pro Tour
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4841/...94533cc0_c.jpg
IMG_20180514_165851694 by Bwilli88, on Flickr

78 SuperCourse
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1892/...4fa4af96_c.jpg
IMG_20180608_161515266_HDR by Bwilli88, on Flickr

73 SuperCourse
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4900/...f16c4344_c.jpg
IMG_20180717_114219125 by Bwilli88, on Flickr
IMG_20180519_145832267 by Bwilli88, on Flickr


80 Raleigh Record Ace, In late July I purchased this beauty and all I had to do was get decent fender stays, a better FD and clean it.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1862/...99f26274_c.jpg
IMG_20180730_150651309_LL by Bwilli88, on Flickr

Now working on a rough Zunow. just about have the stuck seat post out.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1895/...93e6b316_c.jpg
IMG_20180912_103646053_HDR by Bwilli88, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4834/...421563cd_c.jpg
IMG_20181119_090233082 by Bwilli88, on Flickr
Mileage I sucked wind this year, just about 1700km.

One highlight was attending French Fender Day at Peter Weigle's Shop in Connecticut
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1905/...1b90b3c3_c.jpg
IMG_20181006_123733561_HDR by Bwilli88, on Flickr

Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness? Fewer miles than hoped for, fitness level not where I wished it were.
Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s)? Traveled to Auburn Alabama and participated in the Bo Bikes Bama charity ride.
Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes?Added a Pinarello Stelvio and a Fuji SL to the collection.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1967/...6f17c178_b.jpg
Pinarello Stelvio by cb400bill, on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1893/...76190c4f_b.jpg
Fuji SL 2.1 by cb400bill, on Flickr

Nothing to complain about, knees still holding up able to keep working at a position I thoroughly enjoy adding to the stable and traveling..so all is good...with one exception.
Best, Ben

Not bad, all things considered. I was a lot sicker this year than I realized until it clobbered me mid-year and I had to slack off until surgery last week. I've had a wonky thyroid for almost 20 years but it suddenly worsened early this year -- which at first I mistook for the flu -- then it quit working completely around June-July. Surgery is done, I'm back on supplement meds, just waiting for final biopsy results now after three inconclusive needle biopsies. Surgeon said the extraction went well and there's no physical evidence indicating it's malignant. So far, so good... as the optimist said after falling off a high rise building.

And I was hit by a car in May, breaking and dislocating my shoulder.

So I did almost no riding from mid-May to July. Most of my riding since May has been on an indoor trainer. I don't have any way to translate trainer hours to equivalent miles for Strava. But my actual mileage per Strava is almost 2,900 so far in 2018. That's way down from my 7,000+ miles for 2017, but I'm glad to be back riding at all.

My peak was around March-early May, when I set some new personal bests on some tough local Strava segments, including one 2 mile climb where I cracked the top ten. I'm usually a mediocre climber at best, so it's kinda fun to see my name alongside some of the strongest local riders, including a few women and men pro cyclists. But that peak conditioning didn't last long. Fun while it lasted, though. Gives me a goal to motivate myself to get back into shape over the winter.

The down time gave me time to redo my Centurion Ironman road bike and Univega Via Carisma hybrid. I've mostly worked on the Univega, converting it from faux-mountain bike-lite to proper city bike. It now has new wheels (the originals were bent when the car hit me), albatross handlebar, better fitting saddle, narrower tires to fit the fenders, a wider range cassette, and is about to have all cables and housings replaced. Eventually it'll have fenders, front and rear racks and be a fine city and casual group ride bike.

The Ironman will be a little more work. I need to overhaul the bottom bracket and headset, tune the wheels, replace all cables, etc. Then I need to bet back into good enough shape over the winter to enjoy the tune up.

My miles are way down, bad weather year for riding. Added some great bikes to the fleet though. An early 80`s Chrome Ochsner, An early 70`s Roberts, 1987 Schwinn Prologue 1987 Schwinn Circuit and a 1983 Schwinn Voyageur SP. So Epic!

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My Raleigh project.

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Good times on Eroica.

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Peugeot among the cactus.

'18 has been a great, almost epic year. I completed restoration of my '73 Super Course and was able to ride it in the Eroica CA. I skipped last year's ride with health issues, but those are pretty well handled, and I'm a lot more comfortable attempting epic rides. As a tune up for Eroica, I was able to ride Sulpher Mountain above Ojai, CA. 44 miles total, 12 miles of dirt/gravel fire road. This ride was thru the Ventura county fire area aftermath. Several others were on hybrids or mtn bikes, but I was first over the top on the old Raleigh. I was also able to score a nice '78 Peugeot PR10 locally on CL. It's a home market gold like the PX10 that I have been lusting for on the Pasadena vintage rides. Great riding bike, almost no cosmetic issues, just enough wierd Frenchness to be a challenge. I'm about 1000 miles short of my 5K yearly goal, with one more month to go. Just this week, I scored a Legnano branded Campy rear hub, which will allow me to complete a proper wheelset for my '64 Legnano Roma. Not vintage, but I finally solved some self induced drivetrain issues on my 2007 Roubaix that has made it a joy to ride again. Hope y'all are as happy spinning the miles as I have been this year.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4bd03c5152.jpg
Fire ravaged road sign.

2018 was down year in nearly all bike respects. In April, I had a serious accident...complete fracture of tibia and fibula, titanium rod in my leg, screws, nerve damage, physical therapy, months off the bike, slow recovery, etc. This put a big damper on my new acquisition impulses and desire to tinker with bikes. Things are looking up now. Riding was great therapy. Started a new job a couple months ago and I've been commuting by bike almost every day. One bright spot is that I did add a lovely red De Rosa to my collection.

A good year overall. And really, a phenomenal year considering I get to have multiple nice bikes with nice parts hung on them (I mean, to have even one I like is a huge blessing). Learned a lot, mostly by listening to my body, concerning temperature tolerance and stress when 'cold' with my knees (aka knee warmers below 75° and no mega sprint efforts early in a ride) and in-ride fueling (as in, do it, RoS! Often!). The knee thing was needed and has resulted in happy knees in a very wide range of temperatures.

I sold some bikes, but gained a surprising number (feeling...a bit guilty? But it was a long year!). The Davidson Impulse (now a flagship), my Grail bike the Schwinn Prologue, and a diamond in the Guerciotti Super Record. Well, and a few other luminaries.

Did a metric century (counts for something right?) and took my Prologue to Canada and on a number of hill-heavy routes, including an accidentally long and impromptu 43 mile ride in 85° weather in the heat of the afternoon with no shade. Good times at on an sweeping S-curve descent at 40 mph with a surprise hopping over RR tracks. Had fluid and food, but ran a touch short while over-exerting. Cramps man, cramps. Took a week or so to get the hamstrings ready to want to be out of the saddle sprinting or climbing.

For 2019 I just want to not buy any bikes, frames, or components. Hard line on bikes and frames for sure. Heavy scrutiny on components purchases. I've been selling things throughout the year and though now have a number of frames and parts that are not moving fast enough/much at all. I'm at a max point physically (space) and mentally (enough is more than fine). I'd like to recoup more of the money I've spent. I'll still invariably wrench, but I truly want to turn my focus somewhere else. Where, I don't know. I'll still probably only get down to seven or eight bikes, but to clear out a bunch of room or just to clean it up would calm some parts of my mind. Focus on riding, anywhere. Less building, fun as it is. Just enjoy the creations and creation. Bike in 20° weather, bike up Hurricane Ridge again, bike a good ride in December like a number of us did last year.

Make it and keep it simple. :)

Ho-hum in terms of mileage, that for sure. I think I might be passing 2,000, but won't be passing it by much :(

Didn't fall off my bike a single time this year: hopefully a new trend for me! Picked up a couple of really cool bikes, sold a few that I didn't love/fit,

Epic ride of the year for me (and probably several other PNWers) was Tour de Palouse; I damn near died. Epic.

2018, an EPIC year for me!https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...98885e5dd7.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4643a2c686.jpghttps://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8436609470.jpg
Three really fun builds completed!:D
Three great riding bikes added to the stable!:D

Riding – distance, hours, frequency, fitness? Average or less. A job change, life change, and geography change combined to have me drift away from my normally fit lifestyle.

Touring/Vacations – any memorable tours, charitable events, vacation(s)? A good Thunder Ridge, crappy Dairyland Dare had the year going downhill, but the Misaligned Minds, steelbikeguy's ride in Illinois, and the Hilly Hundred in Indiana brought it back to above average.

Bike Collection – additions, reductions, grail bikes? I'm going to go with nearly epic. Severe downsizing for the move, and then significant acquisitions, probably the best year I've had in a while. I am pretty much kaput, and settling in with the bunch.
Acquired:
1-Chris Fiorini
2-Wraith Hustle
3-Cinelli Supercorsa
4-Trek Y-Foil

Tweaked/improved/resurrected:
1-Klein Performance tourer
2-Not Your Daddy's Ironman
3-Centurion Carbon-R
4-Raleigh Competition

2019 will have me improving in the first two categories. I'm absolutely not that interested in changing the collection, but in a tie-in with the first category, I may well pick up a mountain bike to ride this winter in normal clothes and get sweaty and tired and back into shape for spring jaunts.

Good thread.

Wow Chombi, 3 beautiful bikes to add to your already beautiful collection!

My season was average, which I consider a good thing. No accidents, no breakdowns, one flat. My conditioning is really good. Retired now, so the gym is a regular part of my life again. My mileage is embarrassingly low compared to some of you guys. One poster said he normally averages 7000 miles a year?! Good grief, I don't even drive my car that much in a year! God Bless you!

This is my off-season work-in-progress, a 91 Pogliaghi. Should be a real looker when she is done.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dc0f43d87b.jpg

I had a good year of cycling, concentrating on randonneuring rather than touring; highlights included riding all the way around Lake Ontario (this took three days) and halfway around Lake Michigan (this took four days). Pretty sure this was my highest mileage year ever.

I don't think I bought any vintage bikes this year, but I did restore a bunch of old saddles.

The bikes I rode all had a certain vintage look, and at least some vintage components, but I don't consider them to be vintage bikes and in general I did not ride vintage bicycles as much as I'd like. With the classic bikes I hesitate to make the modifications that make long distance riding easy.

Riding wise, the year has been disappointing. I did get a handful of memorable rides in, but had wanted to do so much more. A bit of disappointment at having to miss the final Cirque du Cyclism, but such is life.

Acquisitions and progress... it was epic, and may well have cured me of N+1 temptations.

Got my Competizione back from gugie, painted it and built it up. I also acquired not one, but two Raleigh Internationals (in copper no less). One from eBay in my wife's size. The other from SLOAR in my ideal size. I got the Argos up and running after a false start. Also picked up a great local deal on a single speed wheelset to replace the one that's presently on the Viking Trackmaster. Thanks so much gugie and SLOAR. Additionally, I had more than my share of help sourcing parts from the trade and WTB areas here. This is the greatest community I know of (CR is a close 2nd)

All I have to do now is wrap up remaining projects, and get out to ride more... (hopefully after a move to a much more riding conducive area).

Epic. I scored my first Trek, and then rode it almost exclusively the rest of the year. I found a way to ride, daily, through the hot months, and thus my mileage and fitness are both up, In September, I bought my second Trek, with the help of a facilitator in Youngstown Ohio. I plan to pick it up in early May and ride my first tour, across the state, to Athens. I then bought a Centurion Ironman frameset, from the IM preacher, and will bring the Trek and IM frameset back with me in June. And then I will buy no more bikes forever. I also finally became comfortable on my 92 Paramount, which has always been too stiff and unforgiving. Open Pave tires solved that problem, and as the season has progressed, I find myself riding it and the Trek almost equally. What will I do with two more high quality rides? I'll find a way, I guess. Oh, and I'm down ten pounds, with more to come. The plethora of hills in the coming season prompted that last one.