DnvrFox

It's 2009 Goal Setting Time - Type of Goal?

What type of 50+ Bicycling goal do you plan on setting for 2009, if any?

Please vote for as many as you like.

If you have other types of goals, let us know.

Anyone set any specific goals for 2009?

Bud Bent

Maybe I'll come up with something fancy later, but so far, my two goals for next year are the same as they were this year:

1. Survive the year. Since the vast majority of people diagnosed with lung cancer die within a year of diagnosis, I can't take that one for granted.

2. Ride 6,000 miles. I don't know yet how much of that will be easy miles, long distance miles, racing miles, etc. This year I rode many more easy miles than the year before. But, I have to think that if I ride that many miles, in any shape or form, it has to be good. I think it was a giant part of my great recovery this year.

Non-riding goals? I'll have to think about that...

BikeWNC

2009 is going to be a funny cycling year for me. My main goal the first half of 09 is to survive and enjoy my raft trip in the Grand Canyon. Most of my training will be directed toward that. I don't want to tweak anything or get tendinitis rowing a raft for 16 days. I also want to enjoy as many side hikes as possible. So some running will be added to my workouts. Cycling will consist of slowly building a good base for the second half of the year.

After the GC trip my next major goal is a cross country bike ride from Grand Junction Colorado back home in Western N.C. in May 2010. So my riding will be geared towards long rides, working out a bike fit that is able to take me 21 consecutive days of 100 mile rides. I also want to do a few TT down at the Lowes Motor Speedway. Mostly I just want to have fun and travel as much as I can to ride in new places.

DnvrFox

OK, those of you that chose "Increased Fitness/Keep From Going Backwards "

aRoudy1, Beverly, BikeWNC, BluesDawg, DnvrFox, forresterace, jumpster, Mojo Slim, Old Fart, PAlt, robtown

How would you measure that?

Red Baron

Other - come in top 3 in a race of 70 km's (~40 miles) in my category. - 3 races planned

BikeWNC

I use a Powertap power meter and do regular testing.

DnvrFox

I thought about putting in racing as a goal about .1 seconds AFTER I had clicked the submit thread button.

There is no way to edit a poll. Sorry!

cranky old dude

The obvious goal is to see 2010 and in keeping with that theme I'll simply work
towards increased fitness measurable by weight (loss) and blood pressure (drop).

Happy Trails

BluesDawg

Specific Mileage Goal - No. A couple of my bikes have computers, but I don't reset them nor make note of the mileage at the start of the year. If I achieve my other goals, I'll be riding more miles.

Hourly/Time on Bike - No. I'll be doing more, but have no desire to measure it.

Specific Rides to Complete - BRAG (including the optional century), Six Gap Century, a yet to be chosen 50 mile MTB race. At least one other XC MTB race. Others to be added as I learn about them.

Just Have More Fun - If it ain't fun, why bother?

Meet more people/social - I like riding bikes and I like meeting people. I like many of the people I meet when I'm riding my bikes.

Increased Fitness/Keep From Going Backwards - Maintaining weight between 170 - 175 lbs., good labwork numbers for annual physical exam in July, gradual increase in length of rides I feel comfortable doing, gradual increase in avg. speed on rides I repeat frequently, increasing speed/comfort level on hard climbs, etc.

Commuting Goal - Not practical for my situation, unfortunately.

Family Activity/togetherness Goal - Continue to ride with my younger son. Try to get my older son back on a bike occasionally. Have patience and find ways to encourage my wife in her stated goal to start riding more often. Family trips to ride Silver Comet and other bike paths/trails. Participate in more non-cycling-related time and activities with my wife.

Other goals - Keep all of my bikes in good condition, functionally and aesthetically. Improve my mountain biking technical skills. Improve my safe riding and handling skills on the road. Help my cycling club in its goals to encourage more people in our county to ride bikes more often and more safely and to make our county a more bicycle friendly place.

Like Bud Bent, beat the odds by still being around to welcome in 2010.

10 Wheels

Remain Healthy, Enjoy Every Mile.
20,000 miles and be home every-night.
Practiced this week. Five rides with total 456 miles.
Posting the rides on Spinner Saturday if you want something that might make you sleepy.

forresterace

[QUOTE=cranky old dude;simply work
towards increased fitness measurable by weight (loss) and blood pressure (drop).
QUOTE]

+1 and along with these, hopefully, to be able to rely less on medications to keep my blood sugar controlled.

dendawg

I think that after hitting 3000+ miles and finding out that riding over 50 miles in one day really isn't that hard after all I'd like to try and do my first century next year.

10 Wheels

Why wait for next year?

dendawg

Cause it's cold here in the NE now. 56 miles in the mid 30's yesterday was not as much fun as I thought it would be, especially the last 6 miles into a 15-20mph head wind.

Red Rider

I voted for a number of options, because I love riding my bikes and want more fun, meet more people, spend more time with my husband, do more specific rides.

I also want to improve my technique and racing abilities. I want to overcome some of my fears and improve my strengths. Ultimately, I want to have more fun overall. Because if it isn't fun, it won't be done.

Yen

I selected several options. Mainly, I want to keep riding and continue having fun doing it while continuing to learn and improve strength and technique. I'd like to add more weekly mileage, and I'd like to complete my first century next year. And, I want to learn a tire-changing technique that is easy for my left wrist to accomplish so I can confidently change a tire any time, any place, without any help.

I'm looking forward to commuting around town, now that the LHT has a rear rack and pack.

BengeBoy 

My major goals in 2008 were to ride 5,000 miles, including at least 100 commutes...I like having goals so I don't "slip back." For me in 2008, the "100 commutes" goal was especially valuable. It really kept me focused on the fact that I needed to commute rain or shine in order to hit the goal (since I have travel, vacation, family commitments that sometime make it impossible to hit).


However, in 2009 I'm cautious about "signing up" for more miles...I ride enough as it is, but want to have more fun. In 2009 my goals will be something like:

- Ride 5,000 miles and do 100 commutes again (including at least 10 commutes/month in winter months)

- Ride RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier) and cross the North Cascades Highway. If I don't get into RAMROD (it's a lottery) I'll do something equally challenging.

- Have more fun! On centuries and other long rides, take more and better photos

- Organize a Classic & Vintage ride in the Seattle area

- 10 more pounds to lose: do it!

cyclezen

well then, Bud
my goal will be to make sure I log on to 50+, 13 months from now, whether I'm 'regular' or not. Look for and read a new post by you. everything else will be gravy

DnvrFox

Despite all the talk about mileage and goals, less than one-half of the respondents (13 of 29 as of this writing) selected a "specific mileage goal."

Interesting!

Road Fan

Overall, this year Dnver Fox is related to my goals. One of them is to ride the BF Colorado ride. Main challenge here is to be prepared for altitude and more constant climbing. Michigan has some hills, but except for a few rides Fred has found, they're pretty rolly and not steadily upward.

I also didn't meet my "ride my age" and first century goals last year, so those are goals for this year. I would like to do the century about a month before the Colorado ride, so that targets a 100 miler organized or solo sometime in July. One local candidate is the One Helluva Ride (Chelsea, Michigan to Hell, Michigan loop), which uses most of my weekend 40 mile route.

To do these I think I need to increase my training volume. The last half of this summer I was struggling to keep up a few hours a week. Now I have some rebuilding to do, but I think I can get to 5 hours a week indoor by 2nd week of December.

More if the auto industry has extended December furloughs!!!!

I also have back and shoulder pain to manage - I've found basic Yoga to help a lot with them both. Once my back starts to feel stable with cycling, I'll be able to look at adding some weights into the mix.

That's how it stacks up in my eyes!

Road Fan

Road Fan

Being a late entry to this category I'll just invite myself

I have a Ciclosport HAC-4+ to install on my main training bike - I plan to use it to capture heart rate, speed, cadence, and altitude, and it estimates power output. It also downloads date directly to my PC. Either in Cyclistats, Excel, or the HAC-4 software I can plot the data and see trends. I don't really count on the accuracy of such tools, but on their consistency, so I can see improvements over time, such as power versus heartrate over say, a few months.

In the past I've trained too hard too early, without building endurance. I've ended up not losing much weight, having some decent short-term climbing ability, but not able to sustain high efforts over say 40 miles of rolling hills with a 18 mph group of buds. I don't want to hold them back anymore. I feel lucky I haven't hurt myself, though my back pain might be realated to straining without adequate conditioning.

Road Fan

tntyz

My goals:
- Get my first-ever 100-miler in. Did my first metric century this year.
- Keep my fitness levels good - as measured by weight/fat, resting pulse, blood sugar.
- Commute to work a few time. It's 25 mile one way and the best route still takes me on some bike-unfriendly roads, but still want to do this!

tntyz

BTW, didn't know how to categorize the century goal. I put it under "specific ride to complete" rather than "mileage goal".

DnvrFox

Yes

Beverly

I recently acquired a free membership to my local Y through the Silver Sneakers program and my Medicare provider. I started this week on a 12 week program to increase my endurance, strength and general fitness. After each session I enter information into a computer tracking my time, heart rate, etc from each cardio machine. Stats from the weight training machines are entered automatically by the system.

The first session was to get a general idea of my current fitness level and determine my exercise plan. The trainer said I would be starting at the intermediate level and not the beginner level It also showed my upper body strength is my weak area (too much cycling and not enough weights).

We also discussed my goals.....increase endurance, lose a few pounds and improve my hill climbing! He also wanted to know any limitations I might have in order to exclude those types of exercises. My doctor and I had discussed these during my recent back problems. The only type of exercise I shouldn't be doing is squats or lifting weights from a floor starting position.

I want to start the spinning classes in the near future. If I can make it through one of those without falling off the bike I'll be satisfied

I'm looking forward to some nice warm laps in the pool during these cold winter months....it sure as heck beats riding the bike with ice sickles hanging off my nose