2014: Year in Review

2014 certainly had its ups and downs. I had high hopes and a solid January, but broke my hip on February 3rd. As a result, I had to scrap most of my goals. Here were my 2014 goals:

1. Ride a century every week. (Out the window. I've ridden 1 per week since August.)
2. Complete the California Triple Crown. (Technically possible, but DMD was too early for me, so I set new goals and moved on.)
3. Ride a century in 3 new states. (I actually accomplished this one. Check out the Century in 50 States blog for reports on KS, OK, and AR.)
4. Ride across Nevada in 30 hours. (Didn't happen. I would prefer to do this in the middle of the summer when the days are the longest. I wasn't ready yet this summer.)

1 for 4 isn't good, but after I broke my hip in February I had to set new goals. First was to simply complete the Alta Alpina Challenge double, which I was able to do. I did it slowly, but I did it. After that I shifted my focus to Everesting. I did 2 of those: Geiger Grade and Monitor Pass. I also tried to Everest 2 different shorter climbs, but I failed on those attempts.

After I was done Everesting, I shifted my focus to 10,000 miles for the year. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but I spent 2 months off the bike in February and March and had a slow April. I am happy to report that I was able to reach my 10,000-mile goal, which isn't too bad for essentially 10.5 months.

I know you're all tired of hearing about it, but 2014 was the year of the broken hip. It was a scary time for me. I wasn't sure I would ever be back to "normal" again. What would life be like if I couldn't ride my bike the way I wanted to? That's a very difficult question to think about. I was lucky. I was able to come back. Some people aren't so lucky.


I plan to make the most out of my good fortune. There's no telling how long I will be able to ride, but I am determined to make the most out of whatever time I have left. That's the lesson I took away from 2014 and the reason behind my lofty ambitions for 2015. I don't want to mention my hip too much in 2015 (I'll probably bring it up on the 1-year anniversary, but that's it). Nobody wants to hear my lame excuses. However, it's always going to be that motivating factor in the back of my mind.

2014 Numbers

10,948 total miles
728 total hours
43 centuries 
2 Doubles
2 Everests

Quick Update and a few Death Valley Photos

-I finally got around to updating the Century in 50 States list. I rode 3 new states in 2014, which brings my total up to 24. Almost halfway there.

-Century Per Week is on for 2015. I'll be posting a recap of 2014 and my goals for 2015 at some point next week. I have big plans for 2015.

-I just got back from a solid 4 days of riding in Death Valley. Here are a few pictures.

Day 1: Headead towards Badwater

Day 1: Looking behind towards Badwater

Day 1: The sun was setting and a sliver of sunshine was peeking through the clouds.

Day 2: The road (374) from Beatty to the Park entrance

Day 3: Sorry for the blurry picture, but I saw this guy on the way to Scotty's Castle. He was jogging uphill towards Scotty's Castle and I was coming from behind. He heard me coming, but didn't seem to care. He just kept jogging towards Scotty's Castle and stopped when I passed, as seen in the picture above. I kept riding along, not thinking much about it. A few seconds later I noticed that he was right behind my rear wheel, chasing me. It looked like he was just having fun, but you never really know when it comes to wild animals. I steadily increased my speed, but this guy was fast and he had a lot more endurance than the average pet dog. I was able to keep him at a comfortable distance, but I couldn't really drop him until I hit a flatter section of road.

Day 3: Ubehebe Crater