Reflect on 2012

[Dirt]

Along with the thread looking forward to 2013, I thought I’d start a discussion on your favorite things of 2012.

I have to say the highlight for 2012 had to be rolling into DC with the Ride on Washington crew. Many of us had worked pretty hard to get the word out, but since I was riding for the week leading into the DC Finale, I honestly had no idea how big the group was going to be. I rode ahead of the group to help the Bikes Belong people set up for the arrival. I really didn’t even got to stop at Proteus for more than about 90 seconds before I had to hop on and lead the advanced guard to the finish. I saw 15 or 20 people there and had no idea that the inside of the store had a big crowd of people ready to ride the last 16 miles into DC. I was a bit nervous. I really wanted that to go off well.

So I was standing at a CaBi station with Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong, chatting and trying not to bite my nails when I get a text message from a friend that a pack of 130+ cyclists was rolling our way and about 5 minutes out. When y’all rolled into view along the 15th St. Cycletrack I couldn’t help but cry. My friend Stacey was making fun of me and I didn’t give a hoot. Y’all made me so happy. I still can’t thank Greenbelt and all the amazing people at Proteus for the stuff they did for that ride.

Y’all make me very happy.

Dirt

Topic

[Tim Kelley]

@Vicegrip 37705 wrote:

For 2013 I plan to mess it all up and figure out how to ride to work in Tysons corner without learing to hate everyone in a car. :rolleyes:

I used to work out there and would make the trip from Arlington. Let me know if you want some routing tips.

[KelOnWheels]

@jopamora 37666 wrote:

My highlight for the year was discovering this Forum and finally joining after lurking around for a few months.

Mine too!

Also Bike to Work Day!

And biking to work!

And meeting all of you bikey people!

And taking up running again, which is ALL YOUR FAULTS!

And thinking about bikes! A lot!

[KelOnWheels]

@Vicegrip 37705 wrote:

Getting my bike, body and kit good enough that I find myself “forgetting” that I am powering the bike. The bike is making the light oil ssssss of the chain along with the sound of wind and tires on pavement. My mind drops all else behind. Not thinking about cadence or if my heart is thumping or I am hot or cold or this or that body part is grumpy. I look down at a spinning crankset that is powered by “a” set of legs rather than my legs. I look around and soak in the world as it rolls past me. Shifts happen as needed without thought, the autopilot portion of me maintaining a cadence, power and speed that feels both fullfilling in pace and almost limitless in abundance. The steep hills are anticipated as something to attack with known reserve power rather than a task simply to make it to the top. Skills improve enough to understand and start to feel nuance in the bike, the rider and the road taken.

I am starting to get these moments occasionally and they are FREAKING AWESOME.

[Vicegrip]

@Tim Kelley 37712 wrote:

I used to work out there and would make the trip from Arlington. Let me know if you want some routing tips.

Please, would like to stand on the sholders of giants. (AKA the tall KOM king with good experence) Will open another thread to lessen the hijack of this one.

[dcv]

@Vicegrip 37705 wrote:

Getting my bike, body and kit good enough that I find myself “forgetting” that I am powering the bike. The bike is making the light oil ssssss of the chain along with the sound of wind and tires on pavement. My mind drops all else behind. Not thinking about cadence or if my heart is thumping or I am hot or cold or this or that body part is grumpy. I look down at a spinning crankset that is powered by “a” set of legs rather than my legs. I look around and soak in the world as it rolls past me. Shifts happen as needed without thought, the autopilot portion of me maintaining a cadence, power and speed that feels both fullfilling in pace and almost limitless in abundance. The steep hills are anticipated as something to attack with known reserve power rather than a task simply to make it to the top. Skills improve enough to understand and start to feel nuance in the bike, the rider and the road.

Why does this remind me of a Rush song? Red Barchetta

[Vicegrip]

@dcv 37758 wrote:

Why does this remind me of a Rush song? Red Barchetta

Have to say I am thankfull that my voice is a bit deeper. (except for a short while after I completly slipped off the pedal while messing up a stop light launch and then kinda sorta landed on the top tube)

[creadinger]

I don’t have a single ride that I feel like was my best but I can happily look back on a really fun and successful overall year of cycling. And since I didn’t push myself too hard or over train myself this year I’m hoping that this year will be a springboard for another great year in 2012.

– I did 10 rides over 100 miles and most of those were over 115 miles. While on these rides I learned how to do more sustained efforts (55 miles without stopping for example) and how to eat better on long rides. I have also become more efficient at rest stops and saw several new areas for the first time like – St. Charles and St. Mary’s counties, Mount Weather, Cape Cod, and more of Loudon County. I also met more people than ever while out on rides. I’m very much a loner out on the road, but it was nice talking to people as we rode through the countryside.

– While training for PMC I got to ride more than ever with my wife and even though the conditions were not always ideal (100F), we had fun. It was also really fun escorting her on her first ever 100 mile ride – the St. Mary’s Century. She FINALLY realized and appreciated the benefits of drafting on that ride. We could have done the Seagull Century and avoided all hills, but she wanted a little bit more of a challenge.

– It was fun developing training rides for our 2-day PMC ride. Then we all had a great time riding the actual event. Everything went very well, and it was humbling helping to raise more than $23,000 for Sarcoma research, which compared to other cancers is highly underfunded!

– Lastly I got a new bike! The new bike is great so far! It will suit me much better than the one I used for parts too, but it was definitely a little bittersweet and I did not make the decision on a whim. The old bike was my first road bike, and I took it to the UK and Canada on my first ever tours. It is time to move on though, primarily because that one never fit me that well so if anyone is looking for a used 61cm cyclocross frame/fork I have one for sale.

[PotomacCyclist]

@dcv 37758 wrote:

Why does this remind me of a Rush song? Red Barchetta

Except Red Barchetta is more like an anti-road control, pro-muscle car song.

(I’m not slamming Neil Peart. I used to listen to Rush a lot back in high school. I learned many of their songs on the guitar too. We played a few of them in our rock band. … I just remembered that we played “Red Barchetta”. Kind of strange that I forgot that.)

[consularrider]

My memorable ride for 2012 was the Total 200. Starting at 4:15 am with Dirt and encountering all the Derecho downed trees on the Custis Trail starting before the Zero milepost.

I’ve ridden slightly less than 2011 because I’ve had to travel more, but should still manage to end the year with about 12,000 outdoor miles ridden on about 340 days.

[Dirt]

@consularrider 38051 wrote:

My memorable ride for 2012 was the Total 200. Starting at 4:15 am with Dirt and encountering all the Derecho downed trees on the Custis Trail starting before the Zero milepost.

I’ve ridden slightly less than 2011 because I’ve had to travel more, but should still manage to end the year with about 12,000 outdoor miles ridden on about 340 days.

It was a great year, sir! That day for Total178 was awesome and surreal in so many ways.

[Author]

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