2010 off to a slow start

Hello.  My name is Lee and I haven’t ridden my bike yet this year.

Yes, 2010 is off to a very slow start but I’m ok with that.  Even though the year started off with a 3-day weekend, the planets just didn’t align for my bike and I. 

On New Year’s Day it was supposed to be storming so I slept in. Of course it wasn’t and a lot of my friends got out and rode.  By the time I decided to head out it was storming but c’est la vie.  I did try the trainer for about 30-minutes but I really don’t count that as a ride.  Plus, it was supposed to be 60 minutes on the trainer but my pre-workout consumption of hot chocolate made that quite impossible.

On Saturday we hosted a dinner party for 9, including ourselves, who would all be staying over until Sunday morning.  Between prepping the meal and getting the house ready, there was no time left for a ride.  However, the good food, outstanding wines, and great friends where worth every second I didn’t spend pedaling.  (You can head over to my other blog, C’est la belle vie if you want to read more about the dinner.)

Sunday morning was cold and foggy so I spent the morning eating freshly baked chocolate croissants and drinking mimosas with our house guests.  By around 9:30, all of our guests had headed home so we began the clean up.  To be honest, we finished around 1:00, which gave me time to sneak in a ride but at that point I was setting a record for most days in the new year without riding so I rolled with it, so to speak.

So I was thinking about what I should post and I realized that I have not shared my 2010 goals yet.  But first, how did I do in 2009?  Well, to be honest, just ok.  I did reduce my mileage by 1,000 miles but that is only a 20% reduction and not the 30% I originally planned.  I did spend much more time riding with groups but not enough time on other activities like hiking and kayaking.  I definitely slept in more days and ate plenty of Sherry’s french toast and Belgian waffles.  Most importantly in 2009, I just had fun riding my bike and was constantly reminded about why I will continue to ride.

That brings me to 2010.  What does this year have in store.  Well, I’m not sure yet.  How’s that for honesty.  I know I am doing some big rides this year.  I am already registered for Levi’s Gran Fondo in October.  I have at least 4 century rides planned and 3 of those happen before June.  I may try the Terrible Two again.  I may even try a few local road races (although probably not crits).

This means that as I say good-bye to 2009, I guess it’s also time to say good-bye to my off-season.  My first 100 miler is in March, and it includes significant climbing, so I’ve got to get down to business.  I received my training plan from Coach Tim yesterday so it’s go time.

There is one thing from 2009 I want to keep – going on great rides with great people.  I want 2010 to continue my string of big group rides.  There should be plenty of opportunities.  There’s the monthly Soup Spoons & Carbon Forks ride offered by West County Revolution Bike Shop, the NorCal Cycling Thanksgiving Day ride, Pedro’s Winter Hills training camp and Cycling with Champions to name a few.

I also want to keeping riding with friends.  Since I don’t race, compete in triathlons, or run marathons, I may be the one who needs to adjust to everyone else’s schedule.  That’s fine by me.  As long as I get to hang around afterwards at the local coffee shop all is good.

I hope everyone has a similar goal for 2010.  Plan your events, train hard, drool over new gear, and never forget that we do this because it’s fun.

Ciao!