2015: Year in Review

First, a few numbers:

15,439 miles

1,026 hours

832,562 feet

1 ride across the country

1 Everest

94 centuries

1 double century

2 centuries in new states

By far, the highlight of the year was Petoji. That was a goal that was 10 years in the making and taught me a lot about riding and life in general. 15,439 is a new PR as a yearly mileage total. That wasn't necessarily a goal, but just happened because of Petoji and the training involved beforehand. 832,652 feet is also a new record, but mainly because of the increased mileage. I did more feet/mile in both 2014 and 2013.

94 centuries is an interesting number. I didn't realize I was so close to 100 for the year. (I just counted them all up today.) 100 would have been a nice, round number and was certainly attainable. Oh well.

2015 was a great year, and in many ways was the best year I've ever had on the bike. Much of that was inspired by 2014, which was the worst year I ever had. I'm sure there's a life lesson in there somewhere. Meanwhile, I'm just happy to be healthy enough to do what I want to do. Make the most of it while you can.

Here's hoping for more in 2016.

Week 52

Date
December 29, 2015

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 52

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
It snowed a little bit overnight and Tuesday was my only day off this week, so I headed out to Yuba City for clear roads and a little extra warmth. On one hand I feel like a wimp for avoiding the weather, but on the other hand there's a reason I live in Reno, right? Might as well take advantage of being able to drive somewhere warmer.

This was the Bike Around the Buttes route, which was a pretty good one. It starts out on empty farm roads and eventually makes a big loop around the Buttes. The one negative is that it's super flat, but I don't mind that too much this time of year.

The one hill of the day

The sun was out all day and it felt warmer than the high of 50 that the weather graph shows. A lot of people out there have orange trees in their yards. It would have been so nice to just ride by and grab an orange, but I resisted the temptation.

Week 52 is in the books, which means that the mission is accomplished. I was able to ride a century every week. It feels good to be back on track and I will definitely be back in 2016 to give it another go. Later this week I'll post a recap of 2015 and a preview of 2016.

Week 51

Date
December 21, 2015

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 51

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Enough cold weather. I wimped out and flew to Orlando for a few days of riding. The weather was great and you can read more about it on the Century in 50 States blog. If you didn't know, one of my long-term goals is to ride a century in all 50 states. Florida was a new state for me (I've ridden there a little before, but never a century) and brought my total up to 26 states.

A change of scenery

This year was kind of a slow year for me with only 2 new states, but I put that project on the back burner to ride across the country. I only got one new state out of the Petoji route, believe it or not. One of my goals in 2016 will be to ride at least 5 new states. I haven't done any riding in the northeast, so in theory I could do 5 states in 1 week without much traveling.

Week 50

Date
December 15, 2015

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 50

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
We got a lot of snow on Sunday and I was worried that this ride wasn't going to happen. The roads were absolutely terrible Sunday night and there were still areas of ice on Monday morning. Ever since I crashed in February 2014 I've been a lot more hesitant to ride when there may be ice. Monday was cloudy and cold, but it was just good enough to help the roads clear up a little bit.

Tuesday was cold, but the sun was out for most of the day, so it ended up being a relatively pleasant ride. I started out doing loops in Sparks, just to be sure I was riding on clear roads. After about 50 miles of that, things seemed warm enough to venture out towards Pyramid Lake.

Clear low, snow high

The snow had melted in the valley, but there was plenty of snow left in the higher elevations. Pyramid Highway was fine, so I probably should have ridden out to Pyramid Lake from the start. No big deal, though. As long as I got a good ride in without crashing I'm willing to call it a good day.

I'm off from the 20th to the 23rd next week, and I plan on getting out of Reno for a while. I haven't decided where to go yet, but it will definitely be somewhere warm.

Week 49

Date
December 12, 2015

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 49

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
It looks like we're going to have a real winter this year. It seems like there is a storm every week now. We had snow on Thursday and Sunday is expected to be windy and snowy, so I headed out on Saturday for a ride out to Pyramid Lake. Things started out great. The sun was out and it felt warm for morning time. It looked like it was going to be a great day.

Pyramid Lake

As I got closer to Pyramid Lake the clouds came out and it started to feel cold. After I made it to Pyramid Lake it started to snow a little bit. So much for a nice, sunny day. It wasn't that bad, though. The snow didn't accumulate and I made it home with no problems.

Today I passed 15,000 miles for the year, which is a new high for me. I usually do between 10,000-12,000 miles per year. It's been a good year, but it's not over yet. There are still 3 weeks to go, and the way the weather has been so far I can tell they won't be easy.

Week 48

Date
December 5, 2015

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 48

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I did a simple out-and-back, mostly on 395. It wasn't as cold as last week, so things didn't feel too bad. I've been able to keep my hands and feet warm, which is the big key to happiness.

Week 47

Date
November 29, 2015

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 47

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
It was a cold day out there. I considered driving to Sacramento for a little extra warmth but decided against it. I haven't done a real winter ride in a while, so I haven't really earned the right to wimp out just yet. Instead, I drove down to Genoa to do 6 loops of about 17 miles each. This meant I was always close to the car in case I needed more clothes.

The cold wasn't actually bothering me that much, probably because there wasn't any wind. The bigger problem was that I felt very, very slow. I felt like I was riding under water or something. I was pushing hard, but not getting anywhere. That's winter for you. The air is more dense, the clothes are less aerodynamic, and the body is in worse shape.

After the ride I saw a few deer at the park in Genoa.

Week 46

Date
November 21, 2015

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 46

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Happy Thanksgiving. I know I wish I was faster, could travel more, and had a nicer bike, but I do have a lot to be thankful for. I'm healthy enough to be out there riding, and that's more than a lot of people can say. Let's make the most out of it.

Moon

Week 45

Date
November 14, 2015

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 45

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
This was probably my last trip out to Tahoe for the year. The weather was nice, so I did the climb up 50 and went back home through Virginia City.

There was a little bit of snow in the mountains, but nothing like what was coming just a few weeks later.

Week 44

Date
November 7, 2015

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 44

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Winter weather hit and there were a few wet days where the high was only in the mid 40s. Saturday was a nice day in comparison, with a high in the mid 50s and no wind. It was even warm enough to squeeze in a climb up Six Mile Canyon.

Snow in the mountains

The wet weather during the week brought snow to the mountains, which is great news and made for a nice change in scenery. Snow in the mountains and dry roads down below- that's the ideal scenario and it played out perfectly on Saturday.

The ride itself was nothing spectacular. I definitely feel slower out there. The air is more dense, my clothing is less aerodynamic, and all the other winter riding excuses. I'm slow enough as it is. Winter just adds insult to injury.

Week 43

Date
October 31, 2015

Distance
102 miles

Strava Link
Week 43

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Today was one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong. It all started with my schedule. It was a busy week and my only chance to squeeze in my long ride was after I got off of work at 12:30. That meant I'd be doing a portion of the ride in the dark. Not such a big deal, but it was my first minor annoyance of the day.

As it turned out, there was a problem at work and I had to stay until 1:30. I didn't get out on the road until a little after 2:00, and by that time the wind had picked up and was blowing pretty hard. I had a big loop planned and theoretically should have had a tailwind on the final section. Unfortunately, I timed the wind about as poorly as possible. I thought maybe it was all it my head, but if you look at the weather graph above it's actually true- I was riding into the wind during it's strongest point in the afternoon and by the time I made it to the final stretch the wind had died down. I fought the headwind all that time without a proper reward at the end.

The good news is that I was treated with a beautiful sunset. I didn't know it at the time, but the wind that was coming Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning and all day Sunday was blowing in a storm that put an end to all of the unseasonably warm weather we've been having. Essentially the sun is setting on warm weather for the year.

The loop was somewhere between 75-80 miles, so I had to ride a little extra towards the end. I simply retraced the first 10 miles or so on 49 to Loyalton. I had been struggling for the whole ride and couldn't really find a rhythm, but as I got close to Loyalton I finally started feeling good. Right after I made my turnaround I got a flat tire and the rhythm was gone. I got a huge staple stuck in my front tire. I'm not sure what the staple was used for, but it was thick and super sharp. I don't think any tire would have stood a chance against it. I had a hell of a time prying it out of my tire, actually.

It seemed like a fitting way to end the day. I halfway expected my spare to be flat or my pump to malfunction or something just to continue the theme of things going wrong. Fortunately, everything was fine. My rhythm was gone and it felt like a long 10 miles to the finish, but the good news is that I did finish and at the end of the year that's all that will matter.

Week 42

Date
October 23, 2015

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 42

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The weather was pretty good, so I did two trips up the Truck Route and one up Six Mile Canyon. My legs and my mind are in off-season mode, so it was a slow ride.

I love Six Mile Canyon in the Fall.

Week 41

Date
October 16, 2015

Distance
102 miles

Strava Link
Week 41

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I took 4 days off this week, really for no other reason than laziness. My only real goal left for the year is to hit 15,000 miles and I'm very confident that I'll reach that goal, so why not? I spent a little extra time lifting and stretching instead. After Petoji was over I decided that I want to make progress in my overall strength and flexibility this winter. I'm off to a decent start. I'm not much stronger or more flexible yet, but the first step in the process is to make it a habit to actually work on it. For the last month of so I've been doing a good job of lifting 3 days per week and stretching, even if only a little bit, every day. I call it stretching because my flexibility is so bad that I don't think anyone would recognize what I do as yoga. My hips and hamstrings are my biggest problem areas. I'm making a little progress. It's very slow progress, but I'll take it.

Anyway, today's ride was a flat one out to Red Rock and back. The whole weekend was cloudy with a chance of rain, but I was able to avoid the rain for most of this ride. I was actually expecting wind out of the north, but that didn't end up happening. Oh well.

Taking a little break on Red Rock Rd.

Fall is here. It's starting to get cold out there. A high of 75 sounds nice, but with the clouds out there is sure didn't feel like 75. The early part of October was warmer than usual, so it's been a shock to the system. I'm sure in about 3 months I would kill for a day like this.

Week 40

Date
October 11, 2015

Distance
115 miles

Strava Link
Week 40

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I did two centuries this week for the first time in about two months. This was the second of the two, which was a loop on 50 and 722 out near Austin. I've done this loop before, but last time I did it clockwise and this time I went the opposite direction. It doesn't sound like much, but reversing the direction really does change the character of the ride. I'm still not sure which direction I prefer. The climb on 722 is more fun going counterclockwise, but there's also something nice about going clockwise and finishing with 16 miles of downhill.

The weather was perfect. It was warm but not hot, so I was fine carrying just 3 bottles. Best of all, there was no wind. It was a great fall day in the desert.

Week 39

Date
October 3, 2015

Distance
103 miles

Strava Link
Week 39

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I was expecting a windy day, so I kept the ride flat and did a simple route down to the CA border and back. This is the standard route I do when it's windy and/or cold, so you might see this a few more times before the end of the year.

It's starting to feel like fall out there. The mornings are cold and the days are getting shorter. It's a great time of year to ride, but in the back of my mind I'm always dreading the fact that winter is coming. It's been a great year of riding and I don't want it to end.

Week 38

Date
September 19, 2015

Distance
110 miles

Strava Link
Week 38

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The weather was great again this week, so back to Tahoe I went. I felt a little bit better this week. Not quite back to normal, but better. I'll take any progress I can get.

I finally finished the Petoji ride reports. You can find them on Petoji.net or http://petoji.blogspot.com/.

Week 37

Date
September 12, 2015

Distance
110 miles

Strava Link
Week 37

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The weather was great, so I had to take advantage and head up Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe. When you add up the 3 weeks of riding across the country plus two weeks of being lazy, it's been a while since I've been out there.

This ride marks 3 weeks since the end of Petoji, and I'm finally starting to regain my urge to ride again. I feel like I'm pretty close to being mentally recovered. Physically, I feel a long way off. This was the most climbing I've done in a while (since Day 2 on August 1st), and it showed. Mt. Rose hit me with the jabs and Gold Hill delivered the knockout punch.

Smoke in the air on Kingsbury Grade

I felt completely out of shape out there, almost like it was my first big climbing ride of the spring after not climbing much during the winter. I suppose it should have been expected. Petoji was a tough ride, but there wasn't a whole lot of climbing involved. My legs were dead after the ride. However, I was able to recover quickly. I rode 3 flat hours the next day and felt pretty good. I may have lost my climbing form, but I still have that ability to recover and be ready for the next day.

I'm going to try to make the most out of the rest of the year. I'm over 12,000 miles so far and want to hit 15,000 by the end of the year. Fall is coming soon, so there isn't a whole lot of time left. After I hit 15,000 miles I want to use this winter to do more off-bike things than normal. I want to get in a little more weight training and a lot more stretching. I've been doing a little bit of stretching over the past few weeks and my flexibility is garbage. I'd like to do a little experimenting and see if improved flexibility can make a difference on the bike.