Doing it all the hard way...

Friday, December 31, 2010

That is it for 2010

Highlights of 2010:

Hottie relaxing between races at the USGP in Portland.
Hottie got her life back. Her surgery in January was both horrific and wonderful. The road back was long and arduous. She worked hard and her recovery is at the extreme good end of the spectrum.

Zach found Julie. Well done for both of them.

Tim sporting the "recumbent"beard.
Tim is finding peace in independence. I expect he will soon figure that his life is his alone and that only he can choose what he brings to it.

RJ is one baby step away from a whole new world.

Live it. After debating, we took a vacation to Hawaii. I had airline miles and we got a deal on a condo through a friend; so we were able to travel fairly cheap. We researched and did our snorkeling on our own instead of paying for guided trips this saving even more money. While I do love my kids, this was a trip for just the two of us, and it was a blast.

We are social people. It was a joy to meet new friends and wonderful to share experiences with old ones.

Tux came to live with us.

I hit some goals. I wanted to average ten blog entries a month and here I am. I lost the ten pounds I have been chasing for years. I had focus in my training.

Bike Stuff:
I am learning about this training thing. I won’t change much for 2011, except for adding more core work. My four keys were recovery, strength, flexibility and intervals. I’m adding a fifth for 2011; CORE. All my races had one of two outcomes, either a sore back, or a top eight finish.

For those of you keeping track I had 3,903 miles, 266 workouts, totaling nearly 300 hours of effort. Sorry, I get a little compulsive about tracking stuff. I thought about going for a long ride today so I could hit 4,000 for the year. We decided to go and watch these guys instead...

No regrets !
Carbon wheels are impressive. A feller I know manufactures Nine G carbon wheels and had me test a set for Cyclocross. I thought I would break them, but they took all I could dish out. They dampen vibration, corner like a dream, kept mud from accumulating, and kept me going straight when it got ugly. They look so freakin’ fast, there is a significant bitchin factor as well.

Glasses all the time. This year I rode all my races with eye protection. When the rain came down and the sticky mud flew up they kept the mess out of my eyes. It is easier to see out of wet lenses than trying to race with mud in your eye.

Waterproof socks don’t work for Cyclocross. The water runs down your legs and into your socks. Your feet don’t care if the water enters your socks through the sides, or in from the top. It seems a better method is to just wear a second pair of socks so there isn’t much room for water to occupy.

Cycling caps are actually functional. Historically I had always worn ear bands and let the top of my noggin breathe. I picked up a team cap and I found them to be the hot ticket for keeping spray and rain out of my eyes and it also provided some needed warmth.

It is still just fun to ride a bike. After working toward goals in Cyclocross, it was pure pleasure to get back on the road with my mates. Hottie and I have also shared some rides of late, and that is a real treat.

I have high hopes for 2011. Let’s go.

1 comment:

bikelovejones said...

Sounds like you had an excellent year! Congrats and may you have many more wonderful miles in 2011 -- (B, who is also working on CORE in the coming months -- phew!)