2013 Cycling Goals

[luvmyguys]

Bike Writer, I love some of your goals - especially the one about riding with a kid under the age of 10!

I haven't been riding long, so mine are modest, but here they are:

• Conquer the clipless pedals
• Train for and ride a Team in Training century
• Get better on hills (I live in Flatsville too)
• Get dh a bike and ride a lot with him!
• Up my average speed to over 20 mph, so I can ride with the faster pace groups (and in some cases, ride with a group period)

I've started to tackle the first, and I think I'm going to plan on the Cross Timbers Classic Bike Rally in May for the second. The fourth will be money dependent, and I'll hopefully make good progress on the third and fifth just training for the century.

[shootingstar]

I've been always a bit of a sloth in setting in advance, cycling goals at the beginning of each year. I make it simple for myself:

*Continue to bike as frequently as I have in other years in whatever city I am living in.
*Encourage myself to cycle several times per week during winter. More often, if not also, daily, for other seasons.
*2-3 multi-day long touring bike rides with my packed panniers.
*Continue to make cycling my main mode of transportation. (I guess I have to if I'm car-free...)
*Do at least 2-4 100 km. day rides.
*Eat mindfully.
*Learn some new bike routes.
*Support my city in new cycling infrastructure initiatives by participating in discussions and riding /using such infrastructure, tell other people about it too.
*Share cycling love and make it integrated into daily experiences....through my personal blog.

Dumb as this maybe I don't set overly high expectations and keep goals vague....it allows me to exceed them. Crazy psychology, but it works for me. After all, cycing is meant to be fun for me.

[girlontheroad]

Ok here is the start of this list with several ideas lifted from those here.

1. Ride my age (46 miles) at least once if not more. Currently I can do 21 miles
2. Increase my average speed to 18 mph or more
3. Ride a trail
4 use mt hybrid for errands regularly
5 try to ride 3 to 4 times per week wheneveR I am not traveling.

Learning new routes is there too but I tend to do that anyway

Happy new year and good riding.

[Swan]

Here are just a few!

1. Get back ON the bike...
2. Continue to build up endurance
3 Invest in bike shorts
4. Do small camping trips with bike
5. Work on speed
6. Log at least 4k mi!

[Crankin]

I don't know what my goals are. The only one I am sure of is to ride more than I did in 2012. In 2010 and 2011 I rode 3,300 and 3,100 miles. In 2012 I made my "minimum" of 2,500 miles, but my total was around 2,700 (not sure of exact amount, as both of my bike computers got messed up near the end). Most of this was due to my work schedule, but some was due to laziness. On the other hand, I am consistently going to boot camp 2X a week and I lost 5-6 lbs. and I am much stronger.
I probably will have more riding time next fall, as I plan to quit my job and find something with less hours, closer to home once I get my licensing requirements finished up. Hopefully, that will make the difference.
I really don't know what else to add. It seems if I make goals, it's a sure way for me to start having a bad attitude and hating riding. If I have more free time, I'd like to add in more of the utility rides I used to do. And, find a job where I can ride to work at least some of the time.
Every year I say I am going to improve my skills on the bike, but so far, that hasn't happened. As far as speed goes, I reached my peak in 2006. Then I went backwards when I got sick in 2007. 2008 and 2009 were building back up years, which I did, but now I need more recovery time and I tend to have some rides that are OK/average for me, some that are slow because I am riding with slower riders, and a few that are fast for me. I know I should ride with faster riders, but I haven't made too many of the group rides I used to do (only one this year, in addition to the 2 I led).
I think I've learned enough about myself from riding the last 12 years to say that a goal of riding more is enough for me, and I will see what happens.

[Becky]

I've tracked mileage for the past 3 years and am disappointed in myself every year. (My low mileages may have something to do with the amount of mountain biking I do.) This year, I'm not tracking mileage. Instead, I'm going to:

1. Focus on tracking time (days per week, and hours on any bike).
2. Complete my first XC race season (probably 3-4 races, and maybe a relay or enduro race), with absolutely no pressure to win anything.
3. Focus on the social side of riding more than the quantitative side, and do more road and mountain group rides.
4. Finish building my new mountain bike and sell my old one to defray the cost.

[Catrin]

Still thinking about my 2013 goals - but they will include the following:

Ride more than in 2012 (and avoid injury) - at least 4,000 miles
At least one charity ride, possibly 2 (at least the Hope ride)
Shoot for at least one group ride a month - I tend to ride solo most of the time
Death March (gravel event) in March IF I can get enough gravel time in between now and then...
Gravel Grovel (gravel race) on Thanksgiving weekend
get better at hill climbing
Learn how to do unassisted pull-ups
Continue to learn basics of Olympic lifting
Continue with my group training 2-3 times a week

I can be overly goal-driven, which is why my list isn't as detailed as in past years. As odd as this might sound, I've found that I seem to enjoy "training for an event" better than participating in the actual event. That is probably weird but that is me. I've also found that I enjoy lifting heavy things and doing wild metabolic conditioning things far better than I would have ever dreamed. Would love to do a little trail running, but I don't know if that will ever be an option for me, we shall see.