Then the odometer rolled over to zero last night and we all started fresh on day one 2014. How did you spend it? Hungover on the couch watching TV? I certainly hope not. We braved the cool temperatures and wind and managed a stellar Bikeway Source/Bell Lap Racing team road ride.
What a year it has been. For me, it was an incredible year that saw successes far beyond my own expectation in some arenas yet a year that was also tempered by some shortfalls where self expectations were not met. I guess that just means that there is always room for improvement.
The year saw a ton of personal and life events and changes but that is for another day, or rather, I've already talked of those details. All have been for the better and all are good, as is life. Really, it is quite excellent. No complaints here. This however is simply the statistical recap, the nutshell, Cliff Notes view of how I spent my year, at least when it comes to the bike.
Overall, the year started with a huge load of intensity which after the bid at cyclocross worlds at the beginning of February, migrated directly to loads of volume. That volume gained intensity quickly and stayed steady right through most of the summer. It looked like I was on track to break my yearly mileage record when bang, cross season hit. We raced a ton and rode less than in some time. Probably less than in a long time in fact, despite managing to pedal a bicycle every day of the year again this year in addition to last year. Two days of racing and one day of hard training mid week meant lots of recovery rides. Seemingly endless numbers of short, easy recovery rides in fact. This seemed to work out OK for me though.
2013 Statistics
Ride Breakdown
- Days Ridden: 365
- Consecutive Days Ridden: 734
- Miles Ridden: 9,137
- 71,793 miles (logged since 04/2005)
- Road Hours: 262 (SS, geared, tandem)
- TT Hours: 0 (no road TT this year all)
- MTB Hours: 195 (SS and geared)
- Cyclocross Hours: 146 (SS and geared)
- Trainer Hours: 17 (rollers)
- Total Pedaling Hours: 621
- 4,903 hours (logged since 04/2005)
Race Breakdown
- Road Races: 4
- MTB Races: 13
- Cyclocross Races: 33
- Victories: 23
- Podiums: 33
- Top-Tens: 47
So what do the numbers really say? They still say that I'm riding quite a bit I think. I have friends and teammates that regularly break, or shatter, the 10k mile mark yearly. Again this year I fell short of it, in fact ever shorter than last year as this was only my second greatest mileage season ever, last year being the greatest. That 10k mile mark really is a goal of mine but I think to get there, I really need to pack some serious training into the first half of the year and particularly the first quarter. That's because if I'm racing CX, the miles tail off hard in the fall. I really want to split the time in the winter though and ski, and snowshoe, and do other things. What that means is that I probably won't make the mark until we either get a really low snow winter or I stop racing CX or bikes in general. The good thing about the goal is that I have many years to continue to pursue it.The other thing the statistics show is that as good as 2012 was; pretty much incredible in fact, for me anyhow, I managed to narrowly improve on it. Any time you can get older and improve upon anything physically related it is a win in my book. That stuff only happens for just so long, regardless of who you are, unless of course you have some extra help. There comes a day when we all start getting slower. Thank goodness that I seem to have dodged that bullet for at least one more year. I also continue to cherry pick, focusing on those disciplines and races that best suit my skills.
That's it. Another great year and a new one just getting underway. I'm so grateful to have my health pretty well under control, to have a great team to help motivate, great supporters who help me in so many ways, good friends and an incredible wife, for whom I owe so much. Oh, and our kittens because they keep everything in perspective and keep me sane.
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