2013 Riding Goals

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Originally Posted by Giulianna23

1. Winter Cycling classes (About 4 months 3 times a week. Completed about 2 weeks ago). best decision ever made!.. I have improved soo much!
2. Do The Hilly Hundred and a couple more events
3. Climb in one shot Fox Hill and Centenary Hill ... Did Fox Hill on the first try!... climbed Centenary Hill all the way up yesterday on my third try and I couldnt believe it!...So excited about it!.
4. Conquer before the end of the season the Observatory Hill. (Cat5)
5. Keep attending the weekly rides with the Indiana Cure Chasers JDRF group (Tuesdays Riding Hills : get stronger and better at climbing. This ride covers Fox Hill, Centenary Hill and Observatory Hill.. about 32miles total. And Thursdays Ride of the Rollers to improve speed and fitness 25-35 Miles through Johnson and Morgan Counties).
6. Mountain Bike at least 2 times a week (weather permiting).
7. Attend the Women Mountain Bike Clinic in Brown County.(Already Registered).
8. Go to Brown County Trails once a Month.
9. Lose 25 pounds by the end of the year (hopefully) :(
10. Commute to work every day if possible. (until winter)

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1- Accomplished and getting ready to start again in November :)
2- Still thinking about the Hilly hundred and already done a few charity rides like Garys rde Hope Ride (where I did my first Century), Beer Ride (in pouring rain :( ) will be doing the BEars ride this weekend.
3- Accomplished (piece of cake now :) ..)
4- Accomplished a couple of days ago. Yay!!. can't wait to climb it again :)
5- Accomplishd - Today is the last official ride of the season. But I will continue riding until weather permits.
6- Failed
7- Accomplished. Had lots of fun :)
8- Failed
9- Failed :( Note: didnt lose that much but about 9-10# but gotten way stronger and faster. Still have 2 1/2 months to keep trying to lose the rest.
10- Failed (due to work variable schedule and locations I was forced to drive to work )
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Originally Posted by Giulianna23

1- Accomplished and getting ready to start again in November :)
2- Still thinking about the Hilly hundred and already done a few charity rides like Garys rde Hope Ride (where I did my first Century), Beer Ride (in pouring rain :( ) will be doing the BEars ride this weekend.

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Hi Giulianna -- I did the Beer Ride too (trying to decide on the Bear Ride -- I have to be somewhere at noon so I'd have to do a shorter route). I had a lot of fun and I will definitely do it next year again. I live in Columbus so it was fun doing an organized ride and trying a few new roads I'd not explored yet. I always ride around Grandview Lake counterclockwise (because the hills are easier that way) but it was empowering to do it clockwise and succeed! I didn't mind the rain that much since it was at least warm. Since I was within riding distance of home, it was a temptation not to cut the ride short and just go home, though.

I was still thinking about the Hilly Hundred -- but think I'll pass this year and make it a goal next year. I'm not a strong hill climber -- and I think if you put thousands of people walking up the hill in front of me I'm just not going to be comfortable. I'll keep working on it and hope to feel more confident next year!

Amy

Oh, the Hilly Hundred! I rode that one when I was in graduate school. Beautiful ride. :)

OK, I failed at most of them. And, I don't even care! That's a good goal for me.
I won't end up riding more than last year; in fact last year I rode 2,700+ miles and right now I'm not even at 2,000. My goal is now 2,000.
I did do more long rides, 2 metrics and a few 50 milers.
I signed up for a century and crashed out at mile 44... still might go do that one over.
I only rode with Hirakukibou twice, but we did meet for social stuff!
I went to 4 Wednesday Wheeler rides, not 5, but I expect I'll get 1-2 more in before the snow flies.
I've been going to boot camp consistently, so that's a plus. But, I need to ride more.
I also helped lead 2 more rides than the 2 we do every year. And the response to the newly designed route I did for my club's rally was overwhelmingly positive.

Well, I've managed to meet my goal about no more overuse injuries...I won't even try to guess how far I've ridden this year. No group rides. No long rides and I've barely ridden in traffic. All of that is ok as I've been dealing with a jacked shoulder and neck. I've certainly been exercising!

Next year my goal is 1, 500 miles, considering my other activities and the glacial speed of my neck recovery that seems a reasonable goal. I want to continue my gym activities and also run a half marathon but on the trails. That last one is optional depending on how well my body adapts.

I think of goals as dreams. I also know that sometimes the procrastinator in me can affect those dreams if I get away from an ‘I know I can’ mentality and thinking my abilities will outweigh my doubts……but then sometimes it’s just unavoidable that a part of a dream disappears. That doesn’t mean I don’t continue being a goal junkie though :)

My goals this year were riding a few double centuries and my last one is this Saturday, the Solvang Autumn double. I enjoyed most of the training routes I found to do especially the Santa Ynez valley ones. The Santa Monica Mountains were like a weekend home to me. Training was actually just finding 80+ to 150+ routes with some harder climbs and then also going to visually interesting area’s like Josuha Tree national park, Big Sur/Carmel, the Oregon coast and the San Juan Islands to relax and do less strenuous rides. Although the training goal was building my endurance up it was also just a great series of weekend rides in some beautiful rural areas. Besides the strength/endurance I gained I think more importantly I found some great routes that I now know well enough to ride during a weekend whenever I feel the urge. I’ve been thinking about the Furance Creek 508 for next year. Even though I balanced work and training this year I have to really think through the training needs for the 508 though.

Well, here I thought my goal was good. 500 miles for the 2013 riding season. I guess I better up that pretty high next year if I want to be in the "club"
Still, I can't find anyone who will ride long distances with me. Riding between 12-15 mph is just too slow for them. I don't care for big group rides.

Recap:
Ride off-road? Did a little bit, between just tootling around/taking shortcuts and taking the Charge on the mountain bike trails. Not as much as I would have liked, but work, moving and a wet summer sort of killed it.
Rode to school? Once. Realized I hated riding with a backpack.
Riding more with people from work? Yes! We started doing "shop rides" every Sunday before work.
Century? Yes! With people from work. And it was probably one of the more awesome things I've ever done. It wasn't the whole length of the trail, but I've done the whole thing (south of Xenia, anyway) in bits and pieces, and I'll take it.
Ride to work? I could never find a route that I was comfortable with, so no.
Explore more trails: Yes, and no. I rode on one a little to finish off that century, but it was pitch black and right before I left. The other trail that I'd wanted to try this year was closed due to construction.

I was hoping to be able to get 2000 miles in this year, but I don't think that's going to happen unless I somehow manage to do another 1000 between now and the end of the year. :/

I'm happy with 2013 so far. It's not over by any means, but I've met my goals and exceeded them. Learned a lot and broadened my horizons. Met some goals I didn't even think I was capable of. :) Rode some challenging rides, will have close to 6,000 miles depending on the weather, and used my car less. Also got to ride with some really special people this year and enjoyed that immensely, as I ride 95% of the time alone on the road. It's been a good year.

Well, I don't recall what my goals are and I'm sure not going to go looking through this thread for them. But I spent two months cycling through Europe and I finally rode my first century. I say that's a pretty good year, and there's still lots of local riding to do.

I got better at the hill!!!! :) Turns out that a positive attitude goes a long way! I started looking for ways to add hills to our rides instead of avoiding them. And with lots of practice and a "Yes I Can" attitude, I really improved.


I was really happy with my riding on our two-day, somewhat hilly ride, the RSVP from Seattle to Vancouver BC. I had two great compliments while climbing a very long hill, one from my adult son: "Mom, you've really gotten better at hills", the other from a gentleman about my age that said "and now I'm being passed by a midget!!!!" (I'm 5'1").

I think I really need to have a "Big" ride planned each year to get me in shape for the season. I've discovered its not so much about the ride, as have a motivator for all the fun training rides! So, we'll see what we come up with for next summer.

And now I have to figure out how to get the rest of the house painted!!! Played too hard all spring and summer and now the rain has arrived! Guess I totally forgot to add homeowner responsibilities to my goal list!

Well, the calendar year is not over yet, so to me, cycling is not over. I realize snow will fly soon in our neck of the woods since the temp. have dropped to freezing. But it has been pretty dry this year... I've been cycling daily for the past 5 weeks. Now, don't tell that's not enough cycling...

Sheesh, one thing for certain I didn't know that a local major river flood this summer was going to disrupt a lot of local cyclists' cycling routes/travel patterns. It has been one heck of year with such a major disaster.

But hey, it included cycling from Washington into Vancouver ...which to me is great when I could been housebound in Alberta with floodwaters.

I guess I might have cycled around 3,000 km. so far. I'm not even sure. But have discovered some longer local routes this summer and fall with dearie. I still don't even know my own city very well and I've been here for 3 yrs.

One thing for certain, my body has become acclimatized a bit more to cool dry temp. since I moved to present city. This means I sweat more with same layers of clothing that I normally wear in Vancouver or Ontario.

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Originally Posted by Aromig

Hi Giulianna -- I did the Beer Ride too (trying to decide on the Bear Ride -- I have to be somewhere at noon so I'd have to do a shorter route). I had a lot of fun and I will definitely do it next year again. I live in Columbus so it was fun doing an organized ride and trying a few new roads I'd not explored yet. I always ride around Grandview Lake counterclockwise (because the hills are easier that way) but it was empowering to do it clockwise and succeed! I didn't mind the rain that much since it was at least warm. Since I was within riding distance of home, it was a temptation not to cut the ride short and just go home, though.

I was still thinking about the Hilly Hundred -- but think I'll pass this year and make it a goal next year. I'm not a strong hill climber -- and I think if you put thousands of people walking up the hill in front of me I'm just not going to be comfortable. I'll keep working on it and hope to feel more confident next year!

Amy

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Hi Amy,


At the Beer ride on one of the hills we approached it pretty fast coming from another hill... I thought I was going to fly like a sky rocket from my bike, because once we got to the top it went straight down just like a roller coaster, was hell of a fun segment but pretty scary at the same time, my heart came up to my throat and the vertigos Big Time.
After it rained one of my females friends crashed on a downhill pretty bad, she cracked her helmet broke the derraileur of her bike but fortunately just had a few scratches.
I already decided to do the Hilly Hundred. I am volunteering on Friday and planning on riding both days of course thats if I survive the first. I know and I am prepared to walk some of the hills if I need too. This will be my first time doing this ride and even though I rode a lot this year and trained on some pretty challenging hills on the southside of Indianapolis, I know I am still not a good climber. lol

Wish you where closer so we could ride together, but next year if you let me know ahead of time and would like too...I might be able to meet you down in Columbus with a few of my cycling friends an ride with you. Maybe that same route of the Beer Ride... I liked it a lot...the scenery was beautiful.

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Originally Posted by Giulianna23

Wish you where closer so we could ride together, but next year if you let me know ahead of time and would like too...I might be able to meet you down in Columbus with a few of my cycling friends an ride with you. Maybe that same route of the Beer Ride... I liked it a lot...the scenery was beautiful.

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I work in Indy, so its not impossible to bring my bike and ride after work! I'm just not very fast, and I'm always working on hill climbing.

I think I know what hill you are talking about -- I hit it early when it was raining hard and it was about the only time I was scared -- I was scrubbing off speed the whole time and hoping that my brakes would just keep working through the wet!

How did the Hilly go? I had several friends ride it, but I just wasn't up for it. Last Wednesday I was in French Lick for a work event and took my bike -- WOW! I thought we had some hills around Columbus and Bloomington! I found one behind the resort that I could barely make it half way up. I later drove it and that thing was steep and went forever and ever and ever. It's my new goal -- maybe I'll be able to get up it by the next time I go there!

I didn't really have a goal this year, but I am now at 3,860 km for the year to date, so I have decided 4,000 km is my goal for this year, which means 140km to ride between now and the end of the year. It will be challenging though. The days are shorter, and I'm not too keen on the idea of riding more than 20km at a time if the temperature is heading down toward freezing.

But there's another couple of months to go. All I need is a warm spell, and a few good days.