2020: A Year that Included Bikes

So how was everyone’s year? Had a normal one?

good:
-my kid learned to ride on her own, we ride a lot now
-I realized that I’d been slacking a lot on riding pace, and got way faster without really trying that hard
-really like having a cycletruck for getting around town
-winter kit keeps getting better and better

bad:
-covid life management had me riding shorter routes (no more than 100 miles at a time this year) and valuing quiet time where I’m not managing work and homeschooling without being exhausted, so I didn’t do the big schedule of longer rides that I’d planned
-horribly designed and managed roads are hard on tires. Booooo this country.

???
-a few of the bikes I ride most are getting to the point where I need to either spend a lot of money on legacy components or buy a new bike.

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Good:
-New mountain bike pre-pandemic
-Rode mountain bike a lot to justify new bike purchase, and because I had more time with less commute
-Finally got up to Kingdom Trails this year
-Finally got into dynamo life, and getting out at night on the gravel bike for exercise during the time I would be watching TV

Bad:
-Rode with kids less. They just weren’t super gung-ho about it. Still trying not to push too hard, so they’ll choose bikes, not be forced to ride. The middle one got a lot faster on a 24", and the little one really drags on a 20" now. They can do 15 miles of rail trail tho if you give them enough Pop Tarts, so I guess I can’t complain.
-Weird toe numbness is getting worse. I think it’s Morton’s Neuroma, and I need to experiment with wider toe box shoes maybe?

???
-Spent a lot on bikes this year. I love bikes but there is a certain guilt associated with excess consumerism, recognizing the desire for more stuff, and how it never really fully goes away.

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Good:

  • got back on the bike in earnest for the first time in ~ 7 years
  • dithered together a new road bike that’s awesome
  • 2500 miles

Bad:

  • Still slow
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Good:

  • Rode maybe 10x the miles of any other year since I got into riding, was averaging 20-30 miles a day from mid April to September
  • Just did the math 2900 non commute miles.
  • Split my time pretty evenly between 4 of my 5 bikes (cargo didnt get much use)
  • Built two new to me bikes, both of which are about as dialed as my finances allow
  • Explored more and more of the greater Boston area out into farm land, hills, woods, on road and off, connected areas I didn’t think connected, and discovered so many offroad paths.

Bad:

  • Got more flats August-November than any other time in my life
  • Broke my arm at the end of September and immediately lost all the fitness, regularity, and confidence in cycling I had built up over the previous 8 months
  • Working retail at holidays means I won’t be able to get back into the swing until January at the earliest, aka a bad time to try and get a good routine going again.
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GOOD:

  • combo of getting a studio & covid solitude got me to ride almost every day
  • starting putting in regular 40-70 mile rides for the first time since like 2011?
  • lost a bunch of weight
  • feel set up for accomplishing 2021 bike goals
  • got sup liking riding

BAD:

  • had to ride alone all year
  • spent too much money on bikes
  • i live somewhere that gets really cold
  • ready for a modern bike
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Good -

  • Built up the Fargo to be a great everything bike
  • Sold unnecessary bikes for more than I paid for them
  • General elimination of hoarding stuff and only keeping what I actually use regularly
  • 6-year-old got really good at pump track stuff and I have fun doing little 3-8 mile rides with him

Bad -

  • Only focusing on what I really use and enjoy has shown me that I have very limited interest in doing bike stuff independently anymore
  • I think getting rid of “fun stuff” (read as stuff that I don’t really use) has lead to this limited interest
  • Wife feels unincluded on bike stuff because she isn’t comfortable doing mountain bike rides and pump track stuff
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Good

  • Built an ebike and it’s pretty great
  • Figured out the guilt over building up an unnecessary electric cycle truck for local errands was dumb when I didn’t feel guilty driving a bad mileage turbo CUV to those same places

Bad

  • Bad mental health from covid/WFH led to lots fewer rides and lots less miles
  • Lots of money and time consumed by unnecessary dithering
  • I miss commuting to work more than other riding
  • Local bike locking facilities are really bad or non-existant and makes it more difficult to use the ebike more often
  • Only 90 miles on the ebike so far

???

  • Current bike collection feels like an embrasement of riches, sometimes it feels okay having so much nice stuff, sometimes it doesn’t
  • Mentally dithering a Jones LWB together right now
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means you got your money’s worth!

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The good:

Made more money being unemployed ten months this year than I’ve ever made working. Also saved a lot since bars are closed.

Bought a carpet fiber cross bike that I love. Also a shitty 26er that is fun and an old Nishiki frame that I like a lot.

Rode my first 200k since I moved from NC. Also just rode more in general than I have in the last couple years. And I started liking road bikes again.

Built three new trails in the woods behind town with a couple friends. Actually a pretty good way to see friends and stay socially distanced.

I got health and dental insurance. I have a dentist appointment coming up for the first time since I was like 19.

Spent good quarantine time with my partner and our pup. Ate some good drugs. Did some good house projects together. Cooked a lot of new things.

The bad:

My partner and I both missed our grandmas’ funerals because of covid.

Got laid off from a cafe I really liked working at and it’s iffy if it’s going to survive through the winter.

No job prospects. I’ll probably be stocking at a grocery store by spring. But hopefully there will be more jobs available by next summer.

@scott_dourque didn’t come visit me.

My partner and I have been planning (really just talking about) a Europe 2020 vacation for years. Obviously didn’t happen but at least we can blame it on Covid.

I miss friends and strangers. I really miss going to the fuckin bar.

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Good:
-Got a couple new really cool bikes, thanks @igor and Shimano
-Went on a bunch of bikepacking trips.
-Having a film made about me and my journey with bicycles - it’s been a weird, emotionally draining process but I’m really excited to see the finished product. Film should be released in early Spring 2021.
-Got a lot of free gear from a bunch of sponsors.
-No major crashes!
-More miles than most other years - working more hours means I don’t feel bad taking off in the middle of the day for a spin while its sunny.

Bad:
-So many flats. Really need to go tubeless on my Surly.
-I wear way more lycra now that brands are starting to make my size. (is this a bad thing tho?)
-Way too much time on the trainer because I have nothing better to do.
-Ex sup kept the basket bike I bought and let him long term borrow, but I didn’t want to fight him for it.

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Yeah but maybe now you can afford to take a European vacation with all that gubmint money you freeloaded

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Good:

  • On pace for 7000 mi riding, which is a record for me. Did 70+ mile rides pretty much every weekend.
  • Other weird metrics: got my lifetime Eddington number up to 82 mi and VeloViewer explorer square to 21x21.
  • Finally feeling competent maintaining hydraulic disc brakes.
  • Rode a bunch of new-to-me roads, both long rides from home, and driving to different parts of the state for “fancy rides”
  • Saw a bear

Bad:

  • Rode lots of the same roads over and over. The “first 10 miles” routes from my place are really quite good, but they’re still getting old.
  • Have ridden maybe 20 miles on my touring bike since March.
  • No bike tour vacation. (HY: oodles of vacation time for a tour in 2021)
  • Running has basically been in maintenance mode since March, with no races on the horizon and my legs pretty tired from all this riding. I’ll just crack 1500 miles. Fortunately I raced a lot in late 2019 and early 2020, so a break is okay.
  • Made a couple new friends who I want to ride with, but not til post-pandemic.
  • I need to get better about going to bed/wake up early, especially for the sake of avoiding the heat on summer long rides.
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especially if I start selling my food stamps

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I’m really grateful and lucky to have had a mostly nice year with little work and lots o biking. I was a bit down on turndown for a “dream job” today, but looking at this list I realize I am, as ever, free to design and build what I want to.

Good

  • Left a stressful job in time to ski the last few days before New Mexico shut down
  • Completed a fellowship program and love the people I met
  • Sup & I moved in with my brother and lived rent free, got closer with them, my yiung nephew, and focused on bikes
  • More long rides than ever, more overnighters, comfy turn-of-the-90s 26ers
  • Went for a 200km ride. More than twice as far as our previous longest
  • Explored the province I was in, mostly by bike, and it was glorious.
  • Let go of most of my possessions and moved to Germany, feels good seeing normally quiet sup blossoming in her native language
  • started a company to make the stuff I want

Bad

  • Ended a good paying remote job weeks before pandemic took off
  • Spent most of the year unemployed or not getting freelance work
  • Here without sewing machines or ski gear, things that are a big part of me
  • still unemployed
  • Haven’t made much of what I like since moving. Didn’t make as much before move ng either. Too much thinking, listing ideas, for 2021 I need to follow through.
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Do any of those weird weed spots in Astoria take food stamps?

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I’ve ridden the same route probably 150+ times this year. At this point it’s more interesting to watch the seasons wheel through than anything else.

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I went to college with that guy’s son.

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It’d be worth a shot.

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I worked myself to the bone at the shop and picked up a side job, barely rode, went camping once and got sick from stress every other week.

But also got a mountain bike that I’ve wanted for 10 years and feel financially ok for the first time in my adult life.

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