2013: Year in Review

Time to face the music. 2013 was a down year for me. Here are the goals I set at the beginning of the year:

"My bike goals for 2013 are simple. (My life goals are a little more difficult to achieve.)

• Ride a century per week.
• Complete the California Triple Crown Stage Race and finish in the top 10.
• Ride a century in 3 new states.
• Ride a century in a new country."

I was only 1 for 4. I did ride a century per week. As for the second goal, it ended in April when I didn't finish the Devil Mountain double (Week 17). I only rode a century in two new states (Montana and Idaho), so I failed on the third goal. I didn't even make it out of the country this year, so the 4th goal wasn't even close. It was just a bad year for me, plain and simple. The funny thing is that I had a better year off the bike than on the bike. Usually it's the other way around.

The Lows

The biggest disappointment for me in 2013 was the Triple Crown. I DNFed DMD and the Alta Alpina Challenge (Week 26). The DNF at the AAC was probably the low point of the year for me. The only double I completed was the Terrible Two (Week 24), but my time was very slow on that one. I did finish the AAC route solo (Week 28), but I don't really count that one.

The Highs

August was the best month for me. I took a week off and did some spectating at the Tour of Utah; did a 5-day, 500-mile ride from Bozeman to Salt Lake City; then got back to Reno just in time for the Jens & Schleck Brothers ride. I sacrificed riding in a few new states to do the BZN to SLC ride, but it was worth it. I ride a lot and I love my bike, but after averaging 100 miles per day for 5 days I felt more at one with my bike than ever. I can joke that my life revolves around cycling, but for 5 days it was actually true and I loved every minute.

The Most popular Posts of 2013

Spectator reports:

• 2013 Amgen Tour of California, Stage 4
• 2013 Amgen Tour of California, Stage 5
• 2013 Tour of Utah, Stage 1
• 2013 Tour of Utah, Stage 2

Other Posts:

• I got dropped by the Schleck brothers and Jens Voigt
• Soleus Draft GPS Cycling Computer Review

2014

2013 wasn't my best year, but 2014 has the potential to be a big year for me, both off the bike and on. I'm still trying to narrow down my goals, which I hope to have posted by this time next week at the latest.

Week 52

Date
December 28th, 2013

Distance
104 Miles

Time
6:02:22

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
That's the last century of the year. I got food poisoning two days ago (The symptoms didn't appear until the middle of a 3-hour ride, which turned into a 4-hour ride.), but I was over it today and my stomach didn't give me any issues. I didn't eat that much just to be on the safe side. I think I had a little over 500 calories for the day.

I got the Feed Zone Portables book for Christmas, so I'm going to start trying some of those recipes in 2014 and I'll see how they work out. I just made some apple cinnamon rice cakes last night and I'll try them out on next week's ride.

Meanwhile, I'm working on a recap of 2013 that I should have posted later today. I do plan on continuing doing a century per week in 2014, so I'll have a list of goals posted sometime in early January.

Happy riding and good luck to all in 2014!

Strava Link

Week 51

Date
December 21st, 2013

Distance
103 Miles

Time
6:34:24

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
The roads were icy this morning and when I started at 9:00 AM that ice was melting and the roads were a mixture of icy and wet. However, it turned out to be a great day. The sun was shining and the temperature got up to almost 50 degrees.

One week to go. Have fun out there.

Strava Link

Week 50

Date
December 15th, 2013

Distance
101 Miles

Time
6:10:22

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
I drove south to Smith Valley, NV for a loop of US 395, NV 208, NV 338, CA 132 and US 395 again. This is a perfect loop and it adds up to almost exactly 100 miles. It was sunny & warm (compared to earlier this week, at least) and the scenery offered a little bit of everything: lakes, a river, snow-covered mountains, bare mountains, and flat roads in the valley. 5,000 feet of climbing is enough to keep the ride interesting, but almost none of it is steep. It's an ideal winter ride.

I need to go back in the summer of 2014 and climb Sonora Pass. I don't know why, but I didn't make my way down there in 2013.

Strava Link

Week 49

Date
December 6th, 2013

Distance
105 Miles

Time
7:05:21

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
We had a storm roll through on Tuesday that brought an end to that warm weather I've been enjoying for the last few weeks. It dumped quite a bit of snow, which made for an interesting day of commutes where I was passing long lines of cars stuck on a hill. The rest of the week was OK- cold but not snowy. The roads were fine except that the ice and dirt ends up in the bike lanes, making them difficult to use. I've been spoiled by the bike lanes and shoulders here in Reno. I forgot how much easier they make things. I had to be very aggressive with my positioning without them.

More snow was coming Saturday, so I decided to squeeze in my ride on Friday after work (I've been working 11pm-7:30am lately.). I rode home from work, changed, ate, and hit the road again. I was a little worried that I'd feel tired and be extra slow, but none of that was an issue compared to the temperatures. However, the wind didn't kick in until late in the ride, so it could have been much worse.

I was reluctant to squeeze in the ride on Friday, but it turned out to be the right decision. Saturday's snow was heavier (at least in my part of town) and it's been sticking on the roads longer. It's also been colder, with the overnight lows getting close to 0°F. I thought Friday's ride was tough, but a Saturday or Sunday ride would have been worse.

Strava Links: 1 2 3

Week 48

Date
November 29th, 2013

Distance
101 Miles

Time
6:18:16

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
It's the day after Thanksgiving, which means I really needed a long ride today to make up for eating too much pie yesterday. It also means that it's time to be thankful, so here goes.

I am thankful for my health. I live to ride and I don't know what I'd do with myself if I weren't healthy enough to ride.

I am thankful that I have a job. I recently switched jobs and the new job has its pros and cons, but at least I can afford food and a place to live. My bike is getting old and it isn't the greatest, but at least I can afford to keep it going with new tires, chains, cables, etc. I'm not to the point where I love my job yet, but I'm on the right path and hopefully 3 years from now I'll be there.

I am thankful to live in Reno. There's so much great riding here. I have two great climbs (Mt. Rose, Geiger Grade) within 10 minutes of my house. Lake Tahoe is only a 30-mile ride away. There are a ton of other great times that I can drive to in an hour or less. The Bay Area is about 4 hours away and I can go ride great events like the Devil Mountain Double, Terrible Two, etc. Summers are beautiful- sunny and not too hot. Winters aren't really that bad. Most of the snow stays in the mountains.

Stay thankful out there, everybody. We're lucky to have found the most beautiful sport in the world and we're lucky to be healthy enough to enjoy it.

Strava Link

Week 47

Date
November 23rd, 2013

Distance
103 Miles

Time
6:44:39

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
I haven't been out on Red Rock Road for a while, and today was the perfect day for it. The sun was shining all day long and there wasn't any wind. It was super cold in the morning, but that's to be expected this time of year. Things warmed up nicely after an hour or two.

Believe it or not, there are only 5 weeks of the year left. It's a difficult time of year with the holidays and the possibility of bad weather, but this is when the century-a-week goal really pays off. The last thing you want to do is come up short after 47 weeks of riding. The end is so close, making it a little bit easier to push through a difficult day or two. I'm a real wimp when it comes to the cold and I lose my motivation a little bit this time of year, but riding a century per week keeps me on track and stops me from getting too far out of shape.

Strava Link

Week 46

Date
November 16th, 2013

Distance
106 Miles

Time
6:29:34

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Pinenut Rd

Ride Report
I did a Fish Springs Rd/Pinenut Rd loop in Gardnerville that I've never done before. I'm not sure why I've never ridden it before. It's a nice little loop and I've been through Gardnerville many times. It makes me wonder what other roads there are in the area that I've been missing.

Strava Link

Week 45

Date
November 9th, 2013

Distance
108 Miles

Time
6:32:16

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

50

Ride Report
It was warm, sunny, and there was no wind. You couldn't ask for better Reno weather in November. I did an out-and-back route, mostly on US 50. It's a flat stretch of road that seems to take forever when it's windy, but I haven't been out that way in a while and there wasn't any wind, so today it make for an enjoyable ride.

I have a list of rides in my head that I'd like to do some day, and riding across Nevada on US 50 is one of those rides. It's about 410 miles and I'm not fast enough to do it in one day, but it would make a fun 2-day ride. I've done most of it (Reno to Ely) by car and the scenery is great. However, the list of rides that I'd like to do some day is pretty long and this one isn't a super high priority. On the other hand, it is very close to home and the cost of doing it would be pretty low, so maybe I should try to get it done next year. This year is almost over and it won't be long until I'll start putting together my list of goals for next year.

Strava Link

Week 44

Date
November 3rd, 2013

Distance
102 Miles

Time
6:25:55

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Deer

Ride Report
It was a cold day and I'm not in good shape right now anyway, so I stuck with a flat ride. The good news is that the wind wasn't very strong, which made it a fun ride.

Even better news: my schedule is finally freeing up, which will give me more time to (a) sleep and (b) ride. I've been short on both lately and it's hard to decide which deficit has made me more cranky.

Strava Link

Week 43

Date
October 27th, 2013

Distance
110 Miles

Time
6:48:24

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
The weather was nice enough for one more ride out to Lake Tahoe. I know I said it last time, but this one probably is my last ride by the lake until spring.

Off-bike things have been a little crazy lately, so I really enjoyed my time out there. The next two weeks will probably be the same, but things should settle down after that.

Strava Link

Week 42

Date
October 18th, 2013

Distance
105 Miles

Time
6:56:33

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Fresh oil on 6 Mile Canyon

Ride Report
It was a beautiful day out there, so I went out to Spooner Summit and added in 6 Mile Canyon and Gold Hill. I didn't feel like riding hard today, so I took it easy. You know, there are times in cycling and in life when you don't feel like pushing all that hard. I love cycling because it gives me the opportunity to face those times and to overcome the desire to be lazy or to take it easy. There have been a lot of days when I didn't feel like going hard, but I pushed through it and was glad I did. Today wasn't one of those days.

I'd love to make excuses for it, but the truth is that I simply wasn't mentally strong enough today. My body was capable of going harder than my mind was willing to push it. It's a real shame to waste potential like that. There might be a life lesson in all of this. Truth be told, I am much more willing to push myself past my comfort zone on a bike than in life in general.

Strava Link

Week 41

Date
October 13th, 2013

Distance
103 Miles

Time
6:44:16
Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

6 Mile Canyon

Ride Report
Today started out with a flat ride to Carson City, then out to 6 Mile Canyon. I did 6 Mile Canyon, then Gold Hill, then another 6 Mile Canyon loop. 6 Mile Canyon is beautiful in the fall when the leaves are yellow and the sun is shining through just right. I'm not a good photographer, so I've never been able to truly capture it in a picture. That can be a good thing, though. It encourages me to enjoy the moment and soak it in instead of worrying about taking the perfect picture. Besides, it's a lot more fun to replay the moment in your mind than to look at photos.


Strava Link

Week 40

Date
October 6th, 2013

Distance
109 Miles

Time
7:07:47

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Fall on Mt. Rose

Ride Report
The weather was fantastic today, so I took advantage by climbing up the east side of Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe. This is probably my last ride out by Lake Tahoe for the year and it might also be my last time climbing Mt. Rose for the year.

I finished off the ride with 2 trips up Gold Hill. I wanted to do Gold Hill and 6 Mile Canyon, but there were outhouse races going on in Virginia City and C Street was closed. It was easier to avoid the crowd by doubling up on Gold Hill, so that's what I did.

It was a great day out there. It was nice to get in one last summer-type ride in 2013. Summer may be over but the year itself is far from over. I'm looking forward to the rides to come.

Strava Link

Week 39

Date
September 29th, 2013

Distance
104 Miles

Time
6:44:38

Route Map/Profile

4 laps around Washoe Lake

Weather

Windy

Picture

Deer

Ride Report
The wind was blowing hard today and I was not looking forward to this ride. I'm not usually a fan of doing laps, but I decided to do 4 laps around Washoe Lake so I didn't have to spend too much time at once riding into the headwind. I added Combs Canyon to one of the laps to break up the monotony a little bit.

The ride turned out to be better than I expected. Total time was about 7 hours, and I was planning on 8. I split the ride into laps to help mentally, but I think it helped physically, as well. I was able to ride hard into the headwind for a little while, then recover and save some energy for the next lap. That kept me fresh for all of the headwind sections, which probably saved me a lot of time as opposed to riding 50 straight miles into the headwind.

Strava Link

Week 38

Date
September 21st, 2013

Distance
107 Miles

Time
6:47:23

Route Map/Profile

Out and back

Weather

Cold and windy

Picture

Mountains in the morning

Ride Report
It was a busy week and I had to wake up early on Saturday to squeeze in a ride. The weather was not cooperating. It was cold and windy and I got rained on for the last 10 miles or so. I had to beat 7 hours, so I didn't do any climbing. Nevertheless, it was good to be out there. Aside from commuting I haven't been able to ride much lately.

Later that night there was snow on Mt. Rose from the storm. Snow in September. How about that? It's all gone now, but it was fun to look at while it lasted.

Strava Link

Week 37

Date
September 15th, 2013

Distance
108 Miles

Time
6:27:19

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Ride Report
This is a route I've done before. It starts off with Mt. Rose, travels along the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe to the easy side of Kingsbury Grade, then is mostly flat and easy for the second half of the ride. It's good for a windy day like today because the wind is at your back for most of the second half.

The route is an indication of how I feel right now. Summer is over, the days are getting shorter, and things are winding down a little bit. I still want to get some climbing in before winter, but I don't really feel up for huge climbing days right now.

Strava Link

Week 36

Date
September 4th, 2013

Distance
108 Miles

Time
6:48:36

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Donner Lake

Ride Report
There is still smoke out there, but today was much better than last week. I headed out to Donner Summit for the first time in a while. Now that it's past Labor Day, Tahoe is less crowded. The weather is still great, so it's the perfect time for a visit if you've never been out here before.

There was hardly any wind at all on the first climb of the day (US 50), so I was able to put in a good time there. The plan was to take it somewhat easy until Donner, but by the time I made it to Donner there was a pretty good headwind, so I wasn't able to put in a good time there. Oh well. It was a fun ride and I should probably ride Donner more often than I do.

Strava Link