Using the all the Rings
This may seem strange . . . But last week I did my first mountain bike ride in the middle ring! After four years of riding strictly in Granny Gear. And I never would have tried riding in a harder gear if I had known, it was a complete accident.

What riding in Granny Gear has done for me:
I can really spin. I have a high cadence of about 100 rpms on the mountain bike. I might not be the fastest up a climb, but I can sure spin up it. This has even translated over onto the road bike.

What riding in Middle Ring has done for me:
POWER! I was flying through the flats. And obstacles that I had struggled with before, I could power through like nobody's business. And as long as I was able to stay on top of my spin, I could do the climbs much faster than I was before.

It was a very empowering experience to discover I could ride in the middle ring.

Learning to go downhill. I had some guys following me at one of the races, they could have easily passed me on the flats, but they were so impressed with my downhill skills that they wanted to follow me (that, or I have a nice rear). I have much faster times just because I have learned to descend and use my brakes minimally--if at all.

Riding through the sandpits
This was one of my biggest obstacles. Sometimes I would come to a complete stop before a sandpit. And there are a ton of sandpits in Michigan. I finally figured out how to ride through them--weight on the rear wheel and power through. I don't even notice them anymore.

I'd love to hear what other people have learned or what goals they achieved this year . . .