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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.