New Year's Resolution

Mine is:

2004 in 2004!

That's 2004 miles in 2004! I was a slacker in 2003, and only totalled a pitiful 706.39 miles for the
year. I know - I suck!

To my defense . . . aaahhh, who am I kidding! There is no excuse!

But, 2004 will be better! I promise myself!

What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?

--
Smile!!

__O _-\ <,_ Eric Babula (_) / (_) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

"Eric Babula" <ebabula@care2.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94615675868FBebabulacare2com@207.250.5.35...
> Mine is:
>
> 2004 in 2004!

My neighbor, when Lance won the Tour de France in 2000, rode 100 miles every day for 20 days until he did 2000,
in Lance's honor.

As for me, I plan to ride this year:

Chilly Hilly At least one organized spring time ride with each of my girls Flying Wheels Century
STP (Seattle-to-Portland), again, maybe Already have reservations for RSVP (Ride Seattle -
Vancouver and Party!)

Start up a young teen/pre-teen(middle school ages) riding club in the fall.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com

Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky
My bookshelf: http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Cpetersky

"To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner
was you."

Eric Babula wrote:

> What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?

Well, I'd like to do a few organized rides next year:

- Devil Mountain Double
- Everest Challenge
- Climb to Kaiser
- Grizzly Century

In addition, I want to do my own Sierra weekend rides:

- Sonora Pass/Tioga Pass
- Ebbetts Pass/Monitor Pass/Sonora Pass
- Carson Pass/Ebbetts Pass

Friends (and I use that term loosely) are trying to talk me into a few doubles, but most doubles are
flat-flat-flat. And I *hate* long, flat rides.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/

"Eric Babula" wrote:
> What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?

To ride lots, have fun, and stay safe.

Art Harris

In article <jBiIb.37978$wz4.8807865@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>, "Arthur
Harris" <n2ah@hotmail.com> wrote:

> "Eric Babula" wrote:
> > What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?
>
> To ride lots, have fun, and stay safe.
>
> Art Harris

More long rides. Last year I just didn't do enough. It was a bad summer for me, for a lot of reasons
and I lost motivation.

ANd to improve my mechanical knowledge and skills.

In article <aEhIb.172859$8y1.520677@attbi_s52>,
"Claire Petersky" <cpetersky@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

> "Eric Babula" <ebabula@care2.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns94615675868FBebabulacare2com@207.250.5.35...
> > Mine is:
> >
> > 2004 in 2004!
>
> My neighbor, when Lance won the Tour de France in 2000, rode 100 miles every day for 20 days until he did
> 2000, in Lance's honor.
>
> As for me, I plan to ride this year:
>
> Chilly Hilly At least one organized spring time ride with each of my girls Flying Wheels Century
> STP (Seattle-to-Portland), again, maybe Already have reservations for RSVP (Ride Seattle -
> Vancouver and Party!)

Which Vancouver?

A review of last year's resolutions and "best ofs". Thanks, google! http://tinyurl.com/ys4fx

Accessory: blue lunch box on top of bike rack Component: Shimano HG 6-speed freewheel. Made my
friction shifting $10 bike feel like it had indexing Deal: (tie) Raceface Aquanot gloves, $10. VP
SPD MTB pedals, $5, 20-year old Mikado tourer in need of a new chain, $10. All prices Canadian
dollars. It's been a good year for deals Discovery: clipless pedals Purchase: Selle Italia Nitrox
saddle, $15. Made my bits stop going numb on the $10 bike. Quote: "I have no technique!" - me,
describing my performance in the Twoonie Races Ride: going up on the boards at the Burnaby Velodrome
Surprise: hearing from my insurance adjuster that I was 50% at fault after getting right-hooked by a
car. No wait, that was the worst surprise of the year Victory: climbing past that angry-looking guy
with the camo pants on Snake Hill

A bit of follow-up: I have seen camo-pants guy again this year, It's still notably close. the gloves
are great. The pedals, bike, and freewheel went to my father, who is using them to commute regularly
and loves them. I like the saddle so much I bought a bunch more of them on Boxing day. All my bikes
now have clipless pedals. ICBC gave me $1400 as an accident settlement. The blue lunch box has been
on three different bikes. It continues to impress me. And I still have very little technique.

This year, same categories:

Accessory: Sugoi arm warmers. The Hind jersey came in a close second, but I got the warmers as a
prize for "most blood" at a Twoonie race, and they make a huge difference in how cold it can be when
you ride Component: Sora STI right shifter. Perfect for sprints Deal: Axo Vertigo DH shoes, MSRP
$240, marked down to $90, bought for $20 at Sports Junkies Boxing Day sale. The sale was awesome: I
got two pairs of shoes, $20 each, and spent a total of $180 there. Discovery: The Tour de Forest
riding buddies. Purchase: Japanese-made Bianchi, at a garage sale, for $10. Quote: "We can solve
your fitness problems with more technology." -me, to Peter, as we plotted a bike upgrade with Dave.
Ride: tie between the Pacific Populaire and the Master's TTT Surprise: wife has not divorced me now
that I have four bikes and several more frames kicking around. Victory: winning the citizen's race
at the UBC Stadium Criterium. Got a cool "CHAMPION" t-shirt.

Okay, last' years goals, with follow-up:

-buy a track bike, ride lots of track I have a track bike now, but rode no track. It fell by the
wayside as a bit too expensive to really commit to.

-find an STI-equipped road bike for less than $500 I came close. The Pinarello has half-STI, and was
a bit over $500

-ride all the Twoonie Races (beer league XC MTB series) I got to most of them, but missed several,
partly due to preferring the WTNC.

-find a regular weekend road training ride The Tour de Forest. Complete success.

-ride some of the Tuesday Night criteria at UBC I did a lot of these, and made major progress. At
first, I could not stay with the pack. By the end of the season, I routinely stayed with the pack,
managed one or two foolhardy attacks, and finished about 7th in my best race.

-ride a metric century Did it twice over the same route. The first time, I had to call in sick for
several days after messing up my achilles tendon. Fortunately, I healed in time to do the Pacific
Populaire with a time just over 4 hours.

2 0 0 4

Okay, now for some new goals for 2004:

-ride the Velodrome regularly starting in the Fall

-do a six-week training program, peak for the Harris-Roubaix, and finish on the podium. Heck, let's
go for it: I want to _win_ the 3/4/5 race

-improvement in the Twoonie Races: win a "B" group or compete with the "A" group

-ride a few freeride obstacles worthy of my new arm and leg armour

-do something about the fork on my MTB (either improve the damping or change the fork out)

-ride the Escape Velocity "easy spin" 80 km training ride regularly

-do some significant rides: the Bastion Square Criterium, the Brockton Oval Crit, and find a few
more "goal races"

-win a significant road race or TT: at least a Tuesday Nighter, but ideally something big like the
Harris-Roubaix or the Victoria crit

-Try one new cycling discipline. I'm thinking of BMX

-build and give away two bicycles to friends

--
Ryan Cousineau, rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

30 Dec 2003 14:29:57 GMT,
<Xns94615675868FBebabulacare2com@207.250.5.35>,
Eric Babula <ebabula@care2.com> wrote:

>2004 in 2004!
>
>That's 2004 miles in 2004! I was a slacker in 2003, and only totalled a pitiful 706.39 miles for
>the year. I know - I suck!

Consider the up-side; barring disastrous failures, your tires will likely make it through another
year or two at that rate.

Convert to kilometers if you're only happy with bigger numbers. Some people have fewer miles in ten
years on their bikes. Others will do that in a week of touring.

As long as you enjoyed the miles you did log, just resolve: "More in 2K4".

I know I rode fewer kilometers this year than I wanted but I didn't have a target number and I lost
the cyclometer along the way.

My resolution, once again, is to ride most every day and studiously avoid any painfully stupid
bike stunts.
--
zk

Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:28:47 GMT,
<jBiIb.37978$wz4.8807865@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>,
"Arthur Harris" <n2ah@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>"Eric Babula" wrote:
>> What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?
>
>To ride lots, have fun, and stay safe.
>
>Art Harris
>
Amen, here-here and me too!
--
zk

"Ryan Cousineau" <rcousine@sfu.ca> wrote in message
news:rcousine-7F633D.11494030122003@morgoth.sfu.ca...
> In article <aEhIb.172859$8y1.520677@attbi_s52>, "Claire Petersky" <cpetersky@mouse-
> potato.com> wrote:

> Already have reservations for RSVP (Ride Seattle - Vancouver and Party!)
>
> Which Vancouver?

Yours! They make it a manditory two-day ride anticipating delays crossing the border. We have our
hotel reservations already for Bellingham and downtown Vancouver. See
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/RSVP.cfm for more information. Why, do you want to ride with us?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com

Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky
My bookshelf: http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Cpetersky

"To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner
was you."

<snip> What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes? <snip>

Mine is manifold:

1. To NOT purchase any more bikes.
2. To NOT upgrade those parts just because Campy now makes them in carbon.
3. To do the Horribly Hilly Hundred, followed by the Markleeville Death Ride.
4. To ride at least 5000 miles (got 4500 road miles this year, so close, just 15 more miles per week
would've done it).
5. To NOT gain more than 10 pounds in the off season (the last two years have been 20+ lb gains!).
6. To boost my average weekly speed during peak physical condition to a minimum of 18 mph.

App

Zoot Katz <zootkatz@operamail.com> wrote in
news:3ffcf767.14504814@news.individual.net:

> Convert to kilometers if you're only happy with bigger numbers. Some people have fewer miles in
> ten years on their bikes. Others will do that in a week of touring.
>
> As long as you enjoyed the miles you did log, just resolve: "More in 2K4".
>
> I know I rode fewer kilometers this year than I wanted but I didn't have a target number and I
> lost the cyclometer along the way.
>
> My resolution, once again, is to ride most every day and studiously avoid any painfully stupid
> bike stunts.

I'm not so concerned with big numbers. I am disappointed in myself for the poor showing this
year, though. I went most of the last quarter of this year, with very little bike riding - and
that stinks!

Almost all of my bicycle riding is commuting to work. I commute to work by bicycle for many reasons,
but one big reason is because I want to use the car less, and make less of a negative impact on the
environment. The more I ride the bike, the better I feel about why I'm riding.

Setting a mileage goal, for me, is just a way to motivate myself to do more. Obviously, I'd prefer
to ride to work every single day, and rack up over 5,000 miles, but I know I can't do that! I like
to keep track of how much I do ride, so I know whether or not I'm doing better than last year.

I know, some of you have the time/drive/whatever, to do 2004 miles in one month. I don't, but I'm
trying to do my part, and having fun doing it! Well, when there's a 15-40mph wind in my face, I'm
not having that much fun!!! You know what I mean, though!

Not psychotic about the numbers. Just having fun, and pushing myself to do better next year! ;-)

Oh, a few other resolutions for me:

- Be more visible at night. (Add more light and reflective tape.)

- Increase my speed, and make my 14-mile commute in 45 minutes (fastest last year was 00:47:45).

- Take better care of my bike.

--
Smile!!

__O _-\ <,_ Eric Babula (_) / (_) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Appkiller <petengail@yahoo.com> wrote:
: 1. To NOT purchase any more bikes.
: 2. To NOT upgrade those parts just because Campy now makes them in carbon.
: 3. To do the Horribly Hilly Hundred, followed by the Markleeville Death Ride.
: 4. To ride at least 5000 miles (got 4500 road miles this year, so close, just 15 more miles per
: week would've done it).
: 5. To NOT gain more than 10 pounds in the off season (the last two years have been 20+ lb gains!).
: 6. To boost my average weekly speed during peak physical condition to a minimum of 18 mph.

creepy. i'll negate 1, 2 and 3 and match you on 4, 5 and 6.

also i hope to get laid off mid-year (end of june?) and go touring well into 2005. worst-case i get
laid off late 2004 and goto the southern hemisphere.

ahhh, and i'm real keen on not dying this year.
--
david reuteler reuteler@visi.com

Eric Babula <ebabula@care2.com> wrote:

>> What is your New Year's Resolution, as far as bicycling goes?

From the similar thread last year: http://tinyurl.com/ysmja

>> How far did you ride in 2002?
>
>3646 miles (mostly commuting) I bought my bike in mid June, and started riding it in July.
>
>> Satisfied with what you did ride?
>
>Yes, though I wish I'd started sooner.
>
>> Goals for 2003 (2004)?
>
>8000 miles, STP, RSVP.
>
>> Interesting tidbits?
>
>It's been a good year to be bicycling. We had a long dry summer here in Seattle, so it was a good
>time to start biking again after a eleven year lapse. I took some bike classes at the volunteer
>bike shop here (Bike Works) so I've been doing most of my maintenance since I hate to lose even a
>day of riding. Now I'm working on doing more of my errands and what-not by bike, so I can be as car-
>free as possible.

>> How far did you ride in 2002?

8159 miles this year. It probably would have been a couple of hundred miles more if I hadn't had my
accident at the beginning of December. Still pretty good I suppose.

>> Satisfied with what you did ride?

I'm pretty happy with it. I'm particularly glad I stuck with commuting by bike to work. I managed to
get in a lot of miles and have a lot of fun. Though the days when it was simultaneously
dark/cold/raining/windy were not as much fun as they could be.

>> Goals for 2003 (2004)?

This past year I did Chilly Hilly, which was a nice social ride. But I think on reflection, too
crowded for my tastes.

I'm really proud of myself for doing STP in one day. Considering I have never been athletic in my
life, it was great to do something like that. Plus I managed to run into my Middle School librarian
(who I've been good friends with for quite a while) down at Powell's while I was in Portland. This
is more amusing when you consider I grew up near Newark, Delaware.

RSVP didn't happen as I had too much going on around then. I'll get it in eventually.

I think my goals for this year look something like this:

Try and get a Tandem so I can more easily cycle with my wife.

Maybe do the STP as a two-day so I can meet up with my wife at the stopping points and do fun things
with her and my daughter.

Start doing cyclocross this fall (Marymoore velodrome has beginners classes then).

Maybe build up a fixie and another road bike from the spare parts I have.

Get down to Bikeworks and do more volunter work. I'm trying for at least once a month, possibly
twice. They've switched to Wednesday nights, which is better for me.

No real milage goals other than "Ride a lot".

>> Interesting tidbits?

My First Double Century (complete with 15-20 MPH headwinds for the last half) My first Car accident
- Closely followed by: My second new bike (Surly Crosscheck)

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g "...you might as well skip the Xmas
celebration completely, and instead sit in front of your linux computer playing with the all-new-and-
improved linux kernel version." (By Linus Torvalds)