goals- the finishing year and the new year

[azfiddle]

Did you set goals for last year? Do you have goals for next year?

I had hoped to ride 4000 miles this year. Due to injuries, I didn't quite make it, but with one more possible ride on the 31st, I will reach between 3760 and 3780. That's still an "A" by percentage, so I'm pretty happy. My other big goal was to ride the 109 mile distance in El Tour de Tucson, but that didn't happen due to the hip issues this fall. I did log over 75,000 feet of elevation gain, including a ride up Mt. St. Helens, and 3 very cool rides in Ireland: around the Dingle Peninsula and two rides in County Clare near Doolin and Kilfenora.

New goals? Mainly, I want to keep having fun on my bike, it makes me smile and is helping me maintain my weight at a level proportionate to my height for the first time in my adult life (that would be several decades!). It also has given me and the DH a lot of wonderful time together, and has been very positive for our relationship. I would like to set my mileage goal for 4000 again for next year, but it will all depend on whether the hip, legs and back will cooperate. The actual miles aren't nearly as important as the rest of the stuff

What about you?

[Koronin]

Coming into this year not only did I have no goals, I did not have a road bike and had mountain bike that was too big for me and I was not comfortable riding. So I know have a road bike and a mountain bike that I am comfortable riding. I guess my goals for next year are a bit more arbatrary as they are to just increase stamina and speed while riding.

[Chile Pepper]

For 2010 my goal was to ride 3,000 km. I was on track to do that or more until I fell on Easter and then spent four months on the DL. My ride tomorrow should put me at 2,175.

So this year, no goals. I do not want to tempt fate again by aiming for anything. At all. Except, maybe, to be injury free for as much of the year as possible. See? Even there, I'm giving fate an out.

[nscrbug]

I had a goal of riding 7,000 miles for this year, but fell just 41 miles short of it. I may have one more shot at it, on New Year's Eve...as the forecast is calling for near 50-degree temps, but flooding rains to go with it. If there is a dry window of opportunity, I'll try my best to hit my goal.

As for next year...well, I guess I'll shoot for 7,000 again, if I don't hit it this year. And if I do hit it on Dec. 31st, then my goal for next year will be 7,001.

[Catrin]

I had a goal of 2500 miles in 2010 as my first year of cycling, but injuries stopped me cold at about 1,700 miles. Considering that I only made it out of training parking lots in March, and didn't start riding actual roads until May, I think that I still did pretty darn good! I had to back way down in mid-September so there is no double in my mind that I would have met that goal if I hadn't injured myself.

For 2011 I want to set my goal at 3,000 miles, and if my body will let me ride further than that then I will just let it happen I have already selected some events that I would like to participate in, body and finances permitting, and am looking forward to taking advantage of my new home's location and riding every opportunity that I can and just having fun with it

[maillotpois]

Congrats on those of you who set and made (or came really close to) goals for this year.

I had no goals for 2010 and I didn't even keep track of my mileage, which I have done religiously since 2005. I generally hit between 4000 - 5000 miles a year and have no reason to believe I wasn't right in there somewhere. I did some really good rides, including my longest ride in about 3 years, and had a lot of fun on my bike.

I have some ride specific goals for 2011 (I'm going to do a brevet series and some double centuries), but I probably won't track mileage overall. I'm really trying to focus on quality of rides, not so much quantity. And having fun.

[chicagogal]

2010 was my 1st season racing, so I didn't really have "goals" per se except to have fun and gain experience. I accomplished both, and even had some good results along the way! So now I have some real goals for 2011, mostly centered around races I really enjoyed last season that I am targeting for next season. As such, I don't have mileage goals. I just plan to train smart so that I show up prepared for my "A" races.

[Rebecca19804]

Perfect timing for this thread! As it happens, I sat down last night to complete my data for the year on MyCyclingLog

I didn't have any goals for 2010. Last winter was my first winter cycling. I seemed to spend most of my energy experimenting with winter gear and clothing, while trying not blow the budget on bike stuff every month! My only bike at that point was a Brompton, which was ideal for commuting to my office, but then I was sent on secondment to a client's office which was much further away. Then snow & ice & multiple punctures hit! So I didn't cycle much til my secondment ended in May. Boy, I was so happy to be able to cycle every day again that I did! I lost nearly 15 lbs in May without even trying!

I bought my first full size bike (my vintage mixte) in May and got it on the road at the end of June. Commuted all summer on it - it was true love! (Still is, but I daren't expose all those original components to winter roads, so she's tucked up hibernating right now.) We did our first century in July.

I had all sorts of problems with malfunctioning computers this year, on both the Brompton and the mixte. I know I commuted all through August but have no records of it?! Then the knee surgery at the end of October took me off the bike til just last week.

The only metric I've been interested in noting is mileage. As the year progressed, I formulated an unofficial goal of not letting my weekly mileage drop off from what seemed to be a reasonable benchmark. I didn't always achieve this but sometimes it did make the difference between getting on the bike on a grey morning instead of catching the bus.

The result? For the 9 months for which I have (incomplete) data, my mileage totalled 1,147 miles in 2010.

Looking to 2011? Given my audax plans for the coming year (and beyond... the London-Edinburgh-London in 2013!!), I'm going to aim for 3,000 miles.

It's good to have goals, right?

P.S. There's a woman in my group on MyCyclingLog who is also hoping to do the LEL in 2013... her mileage this year was 20,000!

[NbyNW]

My goal is to move back to Seattle so I can ride outside for more than 4 months of the year.

ETA: I did manage to do a charity ride that I had been hoping to do, which involved two metric centuries over a weekend for the Ride to Conquer Cancer!

[Crankin]

I met my goal this year, which was to ride 3,000 miles. Since I have only done this once before, I set an intermediate goal of 2500 (which I routinely meet) and then when I saw I had hit that earlier in the year than usual, it was no sweat. My total was 3,227. I was helped by clear, warm, and dry weather. Our last snow was March 1, 2010. Except for some flooding rains in April, which did not interfere with weekend riding, I don't think I had to cancel any rides. I also rode outside regularly much longer into the year and my tolerance to cold riding increased, too. Oh, and I started riding in the dark, before work at least once a week this past fall.
As for next year, I hesitate to set any goals. I have the perpetual ones of improving my skills, which while I've kind of given up on, I might have the most realistic chance of reaching than others. I will be graduating in May; once I start working full time, I am not sure how often I will be able to ride during the week. It depends totally on how far away my job is, as well as if I can get some time off during the week (a possibility), and if I can commute. My target job is at a clinic 5 miles away. It's the perfect set up for commuting. I've never worked in the summer before, and believe me, I am worried how this will affect my cycling goals!

[limewave]

It's a tradition of mine to set goals or resolutions. I started it when I decided to stop letting life happen to me and to start living my life instead! I love it.

2010 Goals
1) Lose 40 lbs. I ended up losing 60!
2) Run a 2:30 25k. Finish time was 2:31:06
3) Run a sub 2 hr 1/2 Mary. Finish time 1:59:06
4) Finish Iceman Mntn Bike race in 2:30. Clock time 2:37 and missed podium by one stinkin place

I'm really happy with 2010. I looked at what I thought was possible, and then I set the bar just into the impossible. I achieved things I never thought I could.

2011 Goals
1) Lower body fat % to b/w 18-20% and increase muscle mass to 60+%
2) Run a 2:20 25k in May
3) Run a sub 4hr marathon in Chicago
4) Kill-it at the Du-North Duathlon in Sept (it's a new off-road event, 4 mi trail run, 19 mi mntn bike, 6 mi trail run). It just came up on the schedule so I haven't thought about a tangible goal other than I want to do well there really, really, really badly. It's my new "A" race of the year.
5) Iceman Cometh. I have to say, I'm torn between avenging myself and earning a place on the podium or doing the 8 mile race with DD on the tag-along bike. I think she'd get a kick out of doing something like that.
My biggest goal for 2011 is to continue down the healthy-lifestyle path that I started last year. I want to transform my body and see what's possible for me athletically.

[roadie gal]

I'd hoped to redo my HIM and go under 6 hours. (I did it in 6:09 the year before.) But my blood clot sidelined me. I wasn't allowed to swim at all and I could only ride my bike with other people. As I usually ride alone that left me on the trainer all fall.

I hope to be allowed to start swimming again in the spring. If I can I'll try to do some olys. I don't think my cardiologist will let me do the swimming necessary for another HIM. If I can't swim at all I'll look into duathlons. Either way, I'll keep active.

[hebe]

Wow, every post an achievement!

I only set two goals this year, to ride 50 miles in each of November and December (modest as I'm a brand new cyclist and a stay at home mum). I didn't reach either, largely due to 2 weeks of snow and ice in each month. I'm glad I tried though, and know that my real achievement was learning to ride. I'm hoping to set some fresh goals for the new year, maybe starting off with just 25 or 30 miles in January which should be more attainable.

[surgtech1956]

My 2011 goals include: continue to lose weight - my goal is 55# by April 30th(my 55th birthday) - I have 19# to go. Start riding my bike earlier this year - maybe March(I'm in Michigan). I don't have any mileage goal - just ride and ride often. I want to start jogging/running. I guess my main goal for 2011 - keep the weight off, become physically fit.

[Owlie]

No mileage goal for 2011. I'll just work on losing weight and improving overall fitness.