Week 4

Date
January 22nd, 2013

Distance
100 Miles

Time
6:34:00

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Geiger Grade with a snowy Mt. Rose in the distance

Ride Report
The weather was about the same as the last ride. 40 degrees actually feels warm right now compared to the early part of the month. This was my first time seeing the Geiger Summit in 2013, though I cheated and took the easy way up from Dayton via the 341 truck route. The descent wasn't super cold and there wasn't much sand, rock, or water on the road, which means I'll be riding it more often in the weeks to come.

Here's a video of the Geiger Grade descent sped up 8x. 

Week 3

Date
January 20th, 2013

Distance
100 Miles

Time
6:42:16

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Picture

Foothill Rd near Gardnerville, NV

Ride Report
We've had a nasty inversion here in Reno that just won't seem to go away. Temperatures are below normal and there's a nasty layer of smog stuck in the valley. The good news is that today actually made it to the 40s and there was plenty of sunshine. There should be wind coming in by Wednesday. It's strange that I'm actually looking forward to wind. I doubt that will happen any other time this year.

Meanwhile, the California Triple Crown announced which doubles are part of the stage race this year: Devil Mountain Double, Terrible Two, and the Alta Alpina Challenge. I'm excited about the lineup. If there wasn't a stage race and I was picking 3 doubles to do, those are the 3 I would pick.

First up is DMD on April 27th. I did DMD in 2011 and while I really enjoyed the ride, I felt like I could have performed better. I remember taking a long break at the Crothers rest stop and in general not riding well from probably the 90-150 mile range. I finished that ride in 14:53. I'll hope to get closer to the 14:00 mark this year. The ride is a little over 3 months away and I have a lot of work to do between now and then if I want to reach that goal.

Week 2

Date
January 7th, 2013

Distance
103 Miles

Time
7:02:33

Route Map/Profile

Willows, CA

Weather

Picture

Great scenery on a smooth dirt road.

Ride Report
This was the second half of back-to-back centuries. Here is the route I found on Ride With GPS. It was a nice, scenic route with low traffic, but the road conditions killed it for me. I read reviews about the ride that mentioned dirt sections and bad pavement. The dirt sections weren't a problem. It was the pavement on the climb that turned what could have been a great ride into an average one. At one point I found myself riding on the dirt shoulder instead of the road itself.

Physically, I seemed to be in worse conditions than the roads. It's funny- yesterday, on a mainly climbing route, I felt strong on the flats and weak on the climbs. Today, on a mostly flat route, I felt strong on the climb and weak on the flats. My body seems a little confused. I know I shouldn't be in great shape in January, but today's ride was worse than expected. Let's look on the bright side. At least I wasn't freezing my tail off out there.

Week 1

Date
January 6th, 2013

Distance
104 Miles

Time
6:58:56

Route Map/Profile

Redding, CA

Weather

Picture

Black Butte Rd

Ride Report
I couldn't help myself. I had to get out of Reno for a while. The lows have been in the 10-15 degree range for the past week and the highest high has been 33 degrees. More bad weather is coming next week, so I needed a mental break more than anything else.

I decided to head to Redding, CA to gain over 20 degrees of temperature. I found a good-looking route on Ride With GPS here. It turned out to be a great route that I would highly recommend. Traffic was light, the scenery was great, and there were some good climbs along the way. The only bad news is that I am not in good climbing shape right now, so it was a long day out there.

2013: The Preview

When I set a goal of riding one century per week in 2012, I did so under the assumption that it would be a once in a lifetime thing that I would scratch off of the goal sheet in my mind, never to worry about again. I was wrong. I had so much fun that I'm back again in 2013 for another run.

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. 

So, once again you'll see me posting a little bit about each week's ride. Along the way you'll see me working towards, and hopefully accomplishing, the above goals. It should be a fun year. 2012 will be hard to top, but I'll try!

2012: Year in Review

Now that 2012 is in the books, it's time to take a look back at the year that was before focusing on 2013. 2012 was my first year of riding a century every week. I finished the year with 58 total centuries and 12,0003 total miles. About half of my miles came from the weekly century, with most of the other mileage coming from commuting to work.

Doubles

My main goal for the year was the California Triple Crown Stage Race. Here are the posts from those rides.

• Mulholland Double
• Central Coast Double
• Borrego Double

I also did a solo double later in the year.

• Solo Double

I really enjoy double centuries. They are the sweet spot in long-distance riding for me- long enough to feel like an accomplishment, but not so long that the rides stop being fun. They give me something to train for and have been the highlight of my last two years of riding. Rest assured that the California Triple Crown will be one of my main goals for 2013.

New States

One of my long term goals is to ride a Century in 50 States. I moved a little bit closer to that goal by completing centuries in North Dakota, Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia. I hope to add at least 3 new states to the list in 2013.

Race Viewing

I love pro cycling, warts and all, so I particularly enjoyed seeing quite a few big names race on American soil. Here are the posts from the two races I was able to see in person.

• 2012 Amgen Tour of California
• 2012 USA Pro Challenge

2013 is going to be a busier year for me off of the bike, but I'll try my best to make it to these races again if I don't have any schedule conflicts.


All in all, it was a good 2012. I enjoyed riding a century per week so much that I plan on giving it a try again in 2013. The CPW blog will live on, so keep your eyes peeled for more in 2013.