2010 restrospective

Well, 2010 sure was a good year. I'm one lucky bastard which I endeavor never to take for granted. I've got a job and family that give me tons of flexibility and free time, and I've got the financial resources and family support to go crazy on this thing called endurance mountain biking. This is looking likely to continue indefinitely as well, thankfully.

I logged a bit over 3000 miles in 2010, about 1200 being boring commuting miles (that's a lot of miles saved on my car), the rest being "real" riding, which means dirt of some sort, with as much rocky goodness and steep climbing as can be found here in the Rocky Mountains. How many hours? How much chain lube, how many worn out tires, and how many moments of doubt in the middle of some huge sufferfest where I ask myself, "Why the hell am I doing this again?" Not sure exactly, but "not enough" is the answer. That's because every hour doing this was one less hour in an office, in a car, watching TV, or doing any of the other mindless crap most Americans spend their time doing (you'll have to excuse my cynicism here, I recently re-read the novel "Fight Club" :)

But 2011 is another year and is therefor the time to take it up a notch. My friend and most frequent riding buddy (the Punisher as he's usually known by) have some great plans for the year, and I also have some solo bikepacking plans as well.

And what's with this blog nonsense? Honestly I'm not sure yet. I've always been pretty cynical about blogging, it seems an inherently self-important exercise founded on the assumption that what you're documenting is worth other people's time to read. However I'm starting to think that the discipline enforced by making an effort to document my rides will keep me focused and honest, and more likely to follow through on my plans and goals. Plus I look forward to bringing a camera along more frequently and looking back on what I put here in the future.

Anyway, here's to 2011, may it be full of bikes, beer, and burritos!