BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

These look like great goals. I think I might adopt most of them for myself. My one complaint about the Bike Center (bike parking) downtown is that it gets very hot in the summer -- hot enough to fry the display on my cycle computer on one occasion. That means I remove the computer when I park there, and often forget to slide it back into place when I get back on the road. I need to add getting better at that to this list, so as to customize it for myself. I don't think I own a growler from East End, but I do own a growler from the Cider House. Fair trade? (Other than East End's fabulous support of biking in the community?)

Swalfoort - an aside, Bike center, any chance you could recommend to the operators that they install a solar powered ventilator or 2 in the place? No power required, self-contained, and run only when the sun is out. Probably like $400/ea. plus installation.

Winter 2012 goals: Two of these if we dont

get a blizzard again, one if we do.

Everest challenge = 67 times up cathedral of

learning stairs.

RCT day hike = Rachel carson trail single day

(and prob night) hike.

Tripe CHEW = 3 laps of the dirty dozen route

with danny chew in a day. 180 mi 24000' climb

Screw up slightly less than you did in the last 12 months.

Dress a little bit more like you aren't screwing things up.

Cross train.

I've got some general goals as well as cycling-related ones:

cut down on caffeine that isn't in coffee or tea (meaning: take fewer energy drinks, nodoz, 5-hour shots, etc). Then, cut down on coffee and tea.

rest better

stretch more

eat less food from work.

ride up more hills

learn better maintenance on my bike

learn how to make something. Anything. I'm only good at making bread.

be less whiny.

be more outgoing/less shy

and my last goal for the year: get a shiny new bike.

Steevo, to be a proper Everest challenge, you should put a plastic bag over your head (loose fitting, of course) for the last 10 or so trips up.

id like to find some other riders that would like to do some riding in the morning since i work 12 noon till 9pm ive riden 2000 miles in 2011 all by myself either on the ghost town trail montour trail or the riverfront trail; that goes by the casino

get one person from my office to commute by bike at least once.

odds are i'm due for a collision, so the goal is no loss days from work.

Design and run a 1000K brevet out of Pittsburgh for next August (route design mostly done, still working out plans for overnights and drop bags).

Take up rollerblading.

Expand my cooking horizons...too much brain-dead meat-n-potatoes stuff, not enough interesting variety.

Brush off my 20-years-neglected drafting/mechanical drawing skillz.

I just popped by to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Haven't been around much lately because I haven't been cycling at all. (For those not following my rare posts on twitter, I hurt my knee.) Had a couple 30mi weeks on the stationary lately and all seems well... so I should be back on the road soon! (I CAN'T WAIT!!!)

My new years resolutions are:

1) to be better prepared for my next century.

2) try and be a more kindly and social cyclist (I actually went on group rides last year!)

3) Clean my bike more often

4) Finally take a bike maintenance class

1. Ok, goal 1, I'm going for bike to work 50 times in '12. A challenge (for me) but acheivable. That's really where my desire lies this year. I will count a bike-in-bus-out as a .5. Man I love daylight saving time.

2. Reduce the amount of stuff that I own, it's driving me nuts. Except bikes.

3. Try not to be nauseated and disgusted by the '12 Pres campaign, uggh. But, the more time I spend on the bike, the less I will hear of this!

4. Kayak more.

5. Start more random conversations with strangers.

That should do.

Stu, let me know if you need any help with your #8, I have smatterings of old and obsolete equipment, that will help me with my #2.

So how many resolutions have people actually kept, and has anybody got any "tricks" (other than willpower)? I've noticed that if I'm super specific and not too ambitious, I have a chance. But still not that great a one, so I'm trying to step up my game at it this year.

I'm trying to make mine super duper specific with graduated and equally specific milestones. I've also divvied them up by daily, weekly, and monthly efforts. Yup, there's a spreadsheet involved (the "gold star" effect I hope will be enough to build good momentum).

The only cycling related one is a daily: Run or Ride, 30 minutes or more, outside, every day. Straightforward and doable.

Ok, I've got another cycling goal, but since it involves other beings I'm hesitant to call it a resolution since I may fail due to external causes - Get BOTH dogs (recently added one) trained to ride with me. The one rides well on her little extension leash, but she prefers the collar to the harness and I'm petrified I'll break her neck accidentally, so we're trying to sort it out. The other... he's young, huge, and is still learning leash manners. To get both dogs with the bike at the same time going in the same direction would be awesome.

@ej, might I suggest adding in-line skating to the mix? In the event that one of the dogs' necks gets in front of you, it would be easier to hop/dive/step.

@e59, I think what I need first is space to work on things. That means a basement purge (similar to your #2), which is not on my goals list, but a clear candidate to be my #11.

Somewhere in the rubble is a beautiful 21-speed Specialized, nothing wrong with it except stuck cables and flat tires from disuse. I might actually do some off-road if I just took an evening and cleaned it up. So many other things and projects in front of it I never even think about it.

In no order.

1. Polo. Stay healthy, play hard, play smart. Qualify for the North American Championships, do my best in them. Compete hard for the PA State Championship (team got 3rd last month, I want our name on the cup next time).

2. Travel. My plan for 2011 was to spend roughly two months not in Pittsburgh. Success -- spent 53 nights out of town this past year. Repeat that.

3. House. Continue marching towards the "finished" goal of some ongoing updates and renovations.

4. Photography. Shoot more.

5. Publish book.

6. Run a large scale cycling event of some sort. Been a couple of years since, I've got the itch to do it again.

Also have some others, like doing my part on the BikePGH board to make Pedal Pittsburgh and 2012 Bikefest a success, and some business goals to make sure I continue to not have a boss and keep food on the table.

stu - I have rollerblades, and considered offering them to reddan if they fit him. I can't stop in them... or slow down (I miss the toe stops of rollerskates). At least running and on a bike I could slow the mutt down... on rollerblades, I'd have to fall down to be a hinderance to his exuberance... I seriously think I have more control/agility on a bike (or unwheeled feet), and for me, that's saying a LOT.

Stu and edmonds - decluttering is a total passion of mine. If you need pointers, tips, help, let me know. I've got a book list of motivators I pick up when I feel stuck, to keep the momentum going. I made progress last year, and the trend is easily continuing (one of the few resolutions that has easily stuck for me!). There's nothing as satisfying as a sparkly clean closet. Except maybe eating chocolate ice cream while looking at a sparkly clean closet.

I was successful last year with my goal of driving to work even less than the previous year and I should be able to expand on that even more this year now that PAT has a bike rack on every bus.

My main cycling goal for 2012 is to stop making excuses and ride the Escape to the Lake with the Thick team. I have issues with migraine headaches after long or strenuous rides but if I can figure out why it's happening it will mean I can also ride my mountain bike more which means I have another goal for 2012. Have more fun on the bike.

I have issues with migraine headaches after long or strenuous rides

Same here. More electrolytes (I was drinking coconut water on the last MS150 and it worked pretty well), ibuprofen early and often. Also, pay a little extra and get a real bed so you aren't staying up all night drinking with the rest of the Thick team

I really want to make it back to PGH for the MS150 in 2012.

Migraines after rides:

Same here, especially anything over about 85 miles. Followed by up to 3 days of being just plain ole pissy.

I did some reading and apparently for some people their blood sugar can take a big dip after sustained work.

Based on that advice, after my last century I made sure to consume some ridiculous amount ( I think about 300grams) of carbs within an hour of finishing. It was kinda fun, and crazy unhealthy since all I could find was a connivence store... so all the food groups ice cream, candy bars, sugary drinks and chips!

That seemed to do the trick, not only did I not get a headache on the drive back from Findlay... but I was in a stellar mood all the following week.

Your mileage, as always, may vary.

* Get more flexible.

* Eat less dairy.

A winter rachel carson hike sounds like a pretty cool idea.

-Finish getting over my back injury

-Be fit enough to actually race rather than ride the Trans-Sylvania Epic MTB stage race.

-Write more, and take more pictures.

-Ride more downhill

-ride in with more different local folks, I end up out by myself way too often.

-More trail and advocacy work

-More riding with the kids

Hmmm...some duplicates for me:

* Write more

* Learn to make really good gluten-free pizza

* Read more fiction and poetry

* Ride more with the kids

* Ride my MTB more

* Take my boys to the BMX track

* Climb harder gear routes

- ride the f'n GAPCANDO like I was supposed to do in 2011.

- rectify my downward slide from 204 (2010) to 187 (2011) days riding to work.

- also reverse my downward mileage trend (i rode ~80 fewer miles in 2011 vs 2010 - hm, theoretically i still have 2 days to fix that...)

- 2012 miles in 2012 sounds like a good goal

- start taking leisurely Saturday morning rides again, I miss them.

- do another century (the 2011 MS 150 was my first, so 2011 wasn't a *total* loss.)

- stop obsessing over a new bike and get one (or two or three) already.

Ironically, I blame selling my car for the decline in commuting trips and miles. The damn scooter is too tempting. There were a lot of trips (both to work and otherwise) where I wouldn't have dreamed of driving my car but I rationalized taking the scooter.

-Ride a Century

-Bike Camping (some or all of the GAPCANDO)

-Get better at adjusting my own brakes & derailleurs

-More frequent 20-30 mile trips

-Get stronger on climbs

-Ride regularly through another winter!

[edit] and, I'd love to see the Try-A-Bike Jamboree happen again!

-Continue to ride 5k or more total miles a year

-Ride a century

-Post on the message board only when I have something important to say and proof read before I hit send post

-Learn bike maintenance and repair.

-Donate more time and money toward bike advocacy

-Watch a Polo game

-Participate in every Flock Ride and Team Decaf (Team Dropped) Ride in 2012

The damn scooter is too tempting.

Yes, I have the same problem. But I've learned to stop worrying and love it.

I bought a motorcycle in 2011. Riding it, though, is tempered by having to push-start it, which involves pushing it up 200 feet of 10% grade. Usually easier to jump on the bicycle.

"-Post on the message board only when I have something important to say..."

What!?! That's just crazy talk. If everybody followed that, the human race would be as dull as a box of butter knives.

@Pseuda: RE: Try-A-Bike, I'm down with doing that again. BikeFest event?

@Reddan: sending you [edit] an email!

@ edmonds59 sometimes I wonder if my posts make any sense. I try to make intelligent post but it often ends in fail.

Hey Reddan, ran across this, Daniel Rebour, from Bicycle Quarterly. Practice, practice;

_Ride the Adventure Cycling North Lakes Route/Lake Erie Connector route to prepare for a longer tour in 2013.

_MS150

_GAPCANDO with Rail-to-Trail Sojourn (riding as a volunteer again).

_Start jogging daily again.

_Make use of the gym at school.

_Start reading literature again, starting with Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Kafka.

_Be positive. Be productive. Start projects sooner. Complete projects sooner (stop being a perfectionist).

_Get the guitar and violin out of their cases at least once a week.

-Train more than two days for Crush the Commonwealth.

-Crush the Commonwealth in under 36 hours.

-Finish filing for my first patent.

-Create a few local jobs.

-Get outside of the country.

-less carbs, more fruits and veggies. I need to be a better vegetarian. I need to stop being lazy about about getting to the store to get fresh fruits and veggies

- get a century in by the end of the year

- get back on the bike ASAP after pooping out a baby this summer (if everything goes well and as planned). And a future goal will be to get that kid on a bike as soon as it can use a balance bike. Kids walk around the age of 1, right?

-volunteer for the ms150 since I probably shouldn't do it

-more mountain biking

Also re: migraines. I get them also after centuries. I took a few Excedrin migraine tablets about 1/2 way into the ride last year before I developed one and it helped a lot. I am sure there is some sort of electrolyte imbalance factor to migraines, but for me personally, hydrating, eating well, and replacing electrolytes doesn't work. My migraines are a result of too much light or just focusing/using my eyes a lot. I used to get them in surgery under the bright OR lights until I adjusted, and I get them sometimes after going to the movies. But like I said, taking medicine before getting a migraine was very helpful. I was able to take 2 more tablets after the ride and I was functional.

@edmonds: The illustration of the Rene Herse is lovely, and I'm digging the Merckx drillium bars...

@Nick: Check out this calendar for reasonably local brevets and ultra events; we've(Pgh Randos) got a few things scheduled before CtC that'd be good training opportunities. We're offering a 200K and 300K, and there will likely be assorted 100K-ish training rides as well.

@edmonds/reddan:

Joel Metz has a nice collection of Rebour drawings on his site.

Cool. The historic CX pictures are incredible.

dan, events to train isn't the problem. It's finding the time. With what is going on this spring, I'll be lucky to make the time to even ride Ctc.

I used to be a lot more comfortable with night training rides, but over the past few years, I just can't hack it.

@Nick: makes sense...time is often the rub. If you decide you'd like to buddy up for some night-riding motivation, I'd be down for something on a regular basis.

I may also be down for some night rides.

-Ride more, like I used to before I had my scooter and motorcycle. I'm starting a new job on Wednesday; I'm going to drive the first few days while I get settled in but really try and ride every day.

-Eat better--more real/unprocessed food, less sweets. This will be tough, especially the less sweets.

-Be a generally more positive/optimistic person.

-Use my camera more

-Read more

-Make things

-Be a generally more positive/optimistic person.

This was just added to my list!

As someone who bike commutes as much as possible but expects to slow down in winter, I'm entertaining the goal getting through the month of January on the same tank of gas in my increasingly decrepit Corolla. Obviously, help from the weather will make all the difference with this but so far so good.

Sometimes I kick myself for buying a car that's actually fun to drive, but I think with my mostly flat commute I'll be able to still convince myself to ride.

So with one day down, how are people doing so far?

I'm on track so far, but the first day is always easy. Been doing some reading on resolutions, and I think I'm one of those abstainer/daily people. I find it easier to do something every day rather than intermittently, and I find it easier to cold turkey rather than moderate. But I married a moterater/easy-does-it kind of people, who do maddeningly well with slow, gradual change and moderation.

well I didn't work yesterday, so not eating food from work is going swimmingly

Didn't leave the house though...

Also, I took my bike to the shop, so bike-related goals are out for a few days.

So far, I'm holding to the one-ride-a-week goal. Rachel's letter-writing campaign fits nicely into this, too.

One new one: I'm calling it Crush The Commute. Simply put, for five consecutive work days, I will bike both to and from work without help from either the bus or the family car. In the three years I've been really trying to make bicycling happen, the best I've done is six one-way trips in a seven-day span. Usually it's bike in, bus home, or at least bus to West View and bike 3 miles.

The inspiration is Crush The Commonwealth. For me to do this kind of CtC, though, I'd be riding 100 miles a week, itself something I don't think I've done more than a couple times, ever. The shortest and least-traffic way home is Federal Street. Can I do that five days in a row? Or mix it up by taking, say, McKnight? Or climbing the James Street or Rising Main Avenue steps?

Not to belittle, but some commutes aren't as simple as others.

I'm really glad I have a whole year to accomplish my goals... Living at grandma's for a week put a wrench in the "new routine"

Stu, I've never heard anybody accuse any of your commutes of being anything close to simple. You can totally do that, though.

Stu, doesn't one of your routes involve fording a creek? Nowhere near simple...

No goal news but I did walk for a considerable time in cold miserable rain in my new Showers Pass Portland jacket, acquired with the commute in mind. It's like freaking rain armor! So happy. Now I need something for the pants area.

I'd totally hint at this for valentine's day if I were you: http://www.showerspass.com/catalog/men/mens-pants/storm-pant

Nothing says "I love you" more than rainpants. Nothing.

I'd totally hint at this for Valentine's day if I were you: http://www.showerspass.com/catalog/men/mens-pants/storm-pant

Nothing says "I love you" like the gift of rainpants. Nothing.

Anyone ever bike in wellies? If I can find a pair downtown in my size, I am totally getting them. My commute in today (on foot and by bus) was totally miserable. I have waterproof hiking boots, but opted not to use them today. I can be such an idiot!

I have a set of rain gear for the motorcycle. I've used them once, on my trip to Buffalo last summer. I spent 10 minutes getting into it at the first hint of rain going up Route 8, then sweltered in sunshine for the next 75 miles. The boots look like they might be worth trying out on the bicycle on a wet day, though, and I might give the whole shebang a try on a cold morning.

*ding* 0.5 today. Snuck one in in January. whee!

About rain pants - I got these for myself.

http://www.rei.com/product/795099/novara-express-bike-rain-pants-womens

I wore them to ride on Friday morning in the rain. On the Carson St sidewalk by the West End Bridge, a truck WHOOSH hit a giant puddle and sent a huge wave of water over me, up to my hips.

Got to the Y to do my morning thing and jeans were completely dry. These rain pants fall in the "products that changed my life" category. Love them.

@pinky I also love my rain pants. keeps me dry, that is, until I start sweatin in 'em.

(apologies for my double post earlier, turns out a post using the words "mens" and "shower" with a link in it gets filtered)

I was really tempted to ride the Vespa today given the weather but I didn't want to spoil my "perfect month" of riding to work every day. Looks like the last time I accomplished that was January of 2011. I also topped 100 miles in a month for the first time since August.

So far:

* >=1 ride/week? Check.

* Contact elected official? Check.

* Contact building folks? 1/2: Have name, drafted letter, not yet sent.

* Group ride? Icycle Bicycle.

* Get someone to ride? Fuzzy; definitely had some interest from two people, but no action yet.

* Car-Free Calculator? Check.

* Mileage: 88 miles for January! Woo hoo!

* Bikes? Nope. Oiled the chain once.

* Car bike rack? Not yet.

* Growler? Not yet.

Not bad for the first month.

Only one of my resolutions has so far been kept up to levels I would call successful, my "Fix The House" resolution. I completed February's in January (bathroom plaster repair), January's will be done tomorrow (steps and banister refinishing), and March's is already planned out and waiting on execution (master closet organization). Unfortunately my husband accidentally added a 13th month to the list this morning (replace cracked glass pane in door).

Everything else gets a fresh start tomorrow, when February is the New January and I resolve to begin again.

Wow, E! I am tired after just READING your january accomplishments.

But I feel better knowing that February is the New January, and I get to start fresh again tomorrow......

I'm pretty much on track to complete my October project in February. That's a good thing, right?

And, no new projects get started until that project is DONE.

ha! ANY finished project is a good thing! always!!

I'm running on pure inertia at this point. I expect to collapse in a little heap at some point (maybe around Easter), but hopefully I'll collapse instead of the house

Happy New Year 2.0!!

Another .5 today, whee! I'm liking this "winter". I won't keep posting every time, promise.

I was about 300 yards behind someone in a high viz jacket going up the evil Steuben street hill out of Crafton at 7:48 am. My killer instinct kicked in and I determined to catch them on the hill. Unfortunately my killer legs have not come in the mail yet. Swooped them through the West End Hypocycloid, though. Anyone here?

Also beat my 29 bus through the WEC, that had left my home stop 10 min before I left by bike. By a lot.

4 other commuters seen on my route this am. This is awesome.

I had fewer fellow cyclists this a.m., but an awesome PAT driver shared the road with me most of the way in. He caught up with me three blocks from the start of his route (where I had stopped to chat with a friend). I thought he would bury me when we got to the Brighton/Shadeland split, and I took the longer, slower flat route. But, I got downtown, parked my bike in the bike center on Seventh, started towards work, and here he comes, dropping his commuters at the corner of Seventh Street and Penn Avenue. I want to say whoo! But what I am really thinking is "this is the bus I might have to take starting in September. Dang, this route is SLOW!"

Ha Edmonds, I was followed on Tuesday up the Noblestown Rd hill into Crafton on the evening commute, but that wasn't me today.

I saw two - TWO! - bikes on my way home on Tuesday. That's a first for my commute. One of the two was another woman in a bright jacket on the WEC stairs.

Is it dorky to wave? It makes me happy to see other cyclists on my route.

Not dorky in my book. They might be thinking the same thing.

I usually nod, but don't necessarily wave.

"One of the two was another woman in a bright jacket on the WEC stairs." That's probably who I saw this morning, they took the stairs, I took the ramp.

Also, I'll happily say hi/wave at anything, bikers, little kids, old people, superserious lycroids, bark at dogs. Put me on a bike and I'm as dorky as Forrest Gump, and I just don't care.

I usually wave or ring my bell for other cyclists.

There are a lot more of them than there used to be.

A lot of them don't noltice my bell or a wave. Some are obviously way too cool to ever respond. Others seem to view any personal acknowledgment from a stranger as unwelcome. (shrug).

I figure that even with the increased numbers of cyclists, one person steadily greeting might make a difference in community habits.

On a country road, I tend to do the "wave-and-nod" thing to passing drivers. I feel neglectful if someone waves and nods and I just look at them. Same with biking in the city.

I always smile and wave if I can see the person's eyes and act before they're out of site (no matter the mode of transportation of either of us, unless it would confuse issues of right-of-way). In my neighborhood, if I'm on my bike, it gets me blank stares. If I'm walking my dogs, it gets me greetings and grins. My dogs are awesome and cute, but seriously? Even smiling and waving from my car is more acceptable than from my bike. I don't get it.

Most other places, most people are nice and wave back, no matter the mode of transportation. Greeting people is just nice.

Sometimes I wave, sometimes I don't. I find myself doing this out of habit on my motorcycle to people on bicycles as well. Almost always gets a positive response.

Given the above, I think I'll give in to my urge to wave.

Kayla, I had a group of motorcyclists wave at me this week and it made me really happy to be acknowledged.

I've had some cyclists initiate the wave--especially true if I have my Chrome bag on my back.

So, on my way in today, I rode thru the west end circ, traffic was very heavy coming down the ramp and coming in from the right on W Carson. The side benefit was that it was congested enough that it was going sub-25 mph. So I just put the hammer down and took a spot in traffic, the whole way to the left at the Sta Sq driveway, merged to the left same as a car. Way cool. And that was on my tank bike, not one of the good ones. Probably inadvisable behavior for a man of my age, but fk it. I am bloody pleased with the way the year is going.

Stu when you want to go to east end for the growler let me know. Im always up for a trip to one of my favorite places in pittsburgh

E59- You are only as old as you feel! For me, some days I feel 20 years younger, and some days maybe my age.

Or maybe you are only as old as you act!

Or maybe as Groucho Marx said, "A man is as young as the woman he feels."

I usually wave or ring my bell for other cyclists. ... A lot of them don't noltice my bell or a wave.

I try to wave or ding for other cyclists, pedestrians (including children) who are staring at me, or who have a messenger-type bag or a rolled-up right pant cuff. It makes me really happy when I hear another ding echo past me (sometimes with a neat Doppler effect) in return, but I'm always sad when they don't seem to hear it.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory dressed as the Doppler effect on a Halloween episode

I love Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

i'm dropping 50lbs of fat. thats the main goal that will have all sorts of other pay-offs that would normally be isolated goals (get back into dh racing, better at dirt jumping, place respectably in the local 4x series at south park, plus all that dumb health shit) 10lbs down, 40 to go. dropping about 1.5-2 lbs a week so far. if i can avid injuries that prevent me from training i should do just fine.

Good job, that's about what I need to lose. I lost about 5 thru January but then winter came back. Stupid Phil.

I should lose 40, but I'd be perfectly happy with 20-30.

Shame that my weight is completely outside of my control.

Forgetting to take the bus pass (son had it for a trip on Sunday) results in an unexpected ride to work & back, and put me over 100 miles for the year so far. I got to try out riding on frozen mud and packed on the North Shore Trail, and frozen, deeply rutted mud and loose snow on the trolley trail. So, lots of fun yesterday!

Reddan, I'm thinking of shooting for the first March 100 km populaire. So what's a populaire, just less rigorous with checkpoints and such than a brevet?

@edmonds: Just shorter than a brevet, that's all. Uses the same concepts, controle cards, and whatnot.

It's a way to introduce people to randonneuring without expecting them to punch out a 200K right off the bat.

"First taste is free..."

I'm committing myself to the first two anyway, 100, 200. After that we'll see. Hope I haven't jinxed myself by saying it publicly.

Retrogrouches and rando go together like wool and Grant Petersen.

Evidence:



Oops, Feb 23. Might have to go to the next hole soon, here.

Better get my belt back on.

Stu try that, I pasted in a different html code that may not have worked.

Photo missing? Is that on purpose?

That would be some odd text without the accompanying photo.

That would be some odd text without the accompanying photo.

Yes, yes it is.

My big goal is To work on a plan to completely change my career. Start a new job that I could include the use of my bike and a healthier lifestyle. Then I would have more time to donate to Flock and bike pittsburgh.

Start a new job that I could include the use of my bike and a healthier lifestyle.

Paperboy?

@ reddan hadn't considered that but now it's on my list of possibilities. The job I want to do is sooooo crazy I don't know if I should tell you because you would think I'm insane.

Mr. Marv, you've seen some of the things people post on here, right? I posted a pic of my belt, for x'sake.

Oh you were talkin about a belt

Well if you really want to know I'm out of shape and not real happy with my unhealthy lifestyle. I've decided to become a personal trainer. It sounds crazy I know, but I want to change my lifestyle then help others do the same. I've worked in health care treating the cause of poor living, now I want to help prevent poor living. I know nothing about how to achieve this goal but I will do all I can to make this happen.

That sounds entirely sane.

I would love to brainstorm as to how you might do this.

I don't know that "personal trainer" is what is needed in the world. Too athletey. There are dozens of people called that who help people in gyms, and then watch their trainees get in their cars to drive home to eat processed packaged foods and watch tv.

Right off the bat the words that popped into my mind were "wellness coach", and it turns out such a thing exists. People need someone to stand back and examine them in a global sense. Imagine if you could get a health care provider to pay for you to spend a day with a person, in their home, see what they have in their fridge, find out where they shop, see what cleaning supplies they use, even show them simple things to cook, alternate ways to get around without the car, even help them try things, take a walk with them, teach them how to ride a bike, find out how long their tv is on every day, how much sleep they get, see if they read. Get a picture of their life, not just "weight, blood pressure, do you drink alchohol, do you smoke, turn your head and cough".

Then you would be on to something.

Stumbled onto this immediately. Might be worth some research.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2012/01/02/are-you-ready-for-wellness-coaching/YlLbjZFPwPeWebwyKeFOjM/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

And oh, yes, almost forgot. Do it.

@ edmonds59 what you described is exactly what my vision is. A wellness coach is perfect. I want to change their and my way of life. I have just started researching this and still have no idea how to reach my goal, but this is what I want in 2012

I guess in three words: Go.for.it.

A somewhat OT story, but it's akin to what you are describing. Several years ago, the father of one of my colleagues at the office came down with multiple myeloma. The colleague is something of a control freak in her life and this ws something she could not control. Her recourse was eating. By the time her father's cancer had run it course and he died, she had put on 100 lbs. She eventually hooked up with a guy who was finishing a PHD in food nutrition and was a competitive weightlifter besides. He put her on a rigorous diet and a weight training program. She dopped all the weight, is back to and holding her original weight, and still gets up at 4:30 AM to go to the gym.

Not saying you necessarily need to go back to school and burden yourself with a ton of student loan debt, or that you need to become a gym rat who can bench 300 lbs while mrs. marv cools her heels at home.

What I am saying is that there's gotta be a way for you to do this. The article edmonds59 linked to gave me a couple of ideas.

This seems to be something coming to vogue and your timing is right to jump into it at the beginning.

1. You need to figure out a cheap way to establish the creds you need. If it were I, I would start with the group mentioned in the article as working on professional standards and see where they are with it and what they suggest.

2. You need to figure out how to carve out a niche for yourself in this. Again if it were I, I'd consider starting to check with the local hospitals/health care providers to see about starting a program like this which you of course will work for/run/whatever. You already work in health care; that should give some contacts to start with.

Oncology ward work is tough and draining. I told you before I could never do this and marvel at how you can. But if you feel it is time to for you to move on, then it IS time for you to move on. All you and mrs. marv need to do is figure out how to keep you two and your kid(s) with food on the table, clothes on your backs and a roof over your heads while you do it. Maybe not as nice a one as you may have now, but something.

Again, if this is what you truly believe you want to do, and clearly the passion is there, then: go.for.it.

@mrmarvelous... with any luck I'll get to do this over the Summer while I'm out here in Chicago land http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/green/mosquito-repel-green100026449.html

Part of the job description:

"Experience and Skills

Successful Candidate Must

Must be 18 years of age or older

Possess a high school degree or equivalent with high school level math skills

Communicate effectively in English in both written and verbal forms

Have a valid Drivers License with an excellent driving record

Ability to sit and ride a bicycle for extensive amounts of time (MAY RIDE UP TO 30-50 MILES PER WORKDAY)" WIN!!!

Man, headloss, that sounds very cool. Get in there and see if there's any possibility of working your way up in that company. I could see this company setting up programs in third world countries and selling a whole package, bike and all. Become a field rep, travel the world setting up the locals with a program. Make sure to point out that the "end of the season" in Illinois is just starting the farther south you go. You were in the service, right? That sounds made for you.

Also, if you get that far, ask if they have considered making contact with orgs like 88bikes or the Kona Africabike program, who already have contacts on the ground in places that probably need this service. Bet they haven't thought of that.

http://www.konaworld.com/africabike.cfm

http://88bikes.org/index.php

I'm definitely going to try to get my foot in the door, but the reason I'm in Chicago is (ironically) to get a job in a radiation oncology department when I'm done with school here. If I can be a bicycle riding mosquito killer during my Summer though... hell yeah!

They apparently also have ATV work during the night! Not that $10 an hour is that great, but the other aspects of the job certainly make up for it!

If I do end up getting a job there, I'll certainly keep your suggestion in mind.

I do love working in Oncology, this last year has been emotionally draining an I feel it's having an impact on my stress level and trickles down to my over all health. I may go back to Oncology one day possibly in a fitness coach format.

I have been awful with my goals. But my new, primary goal is in a similar vein as MM's.

I need a new job. I love baking, but I'm growing unhappy with this specific position for a number of reasons. I dislike working downtown, and I've been with this company for almost three years. I've learned what I can, and I feel that it's time to move on.

However, since we're always so short-staffed, I need to make this a process. Plus, jobs this good in the food industry are difficult to come by, my new, main goal for all of 2012 is to find a new job in a neighborhood that I like better, with comparable pay and insurance benefits. I get paid vacations now, but I could obviously do without if I had to. The date in my head is late August.

I am one step closer to reaching my goal.

Did my first full 2 way commute of the year today, unintentionally. I worked until 6 and figured I would just bus it since I would be pushing daylight, got to my stop with 7 minutes to spare, and there was the 29. Pulling away, bastard. I think it was actually Jan Ullrich driving the bus laughing his ass off going "just ride your bike home you chubby girly man". So rode. Got home just in time for the big orange plasma ball to sink into Ohio. On the bike from 7:30 to 7:30, with like 9 hrs of work in the middle.

And just logged my car-free miles, just broke 100 commuting (non-recreational) biking miles for 2012.

edmonds - well done you!

Rode home again today and when I got home, parked my bike, was taking off my stuff, I looked up, and my bike told me it loves me.

@ edmonds59 we all do

Sunday morning I rode from my house to a ride on the Montour Trail, rode the airport connector, went to the Cycling expo at the Marriot, then rode into town to see the close of the picture show at the Carnegies library, and back downtown. Saw many lovely bike people. About 4:00 thinking about the daunting climb back to the west, I did hit the 24 bus back home. Rode 46 miles. A fabulous night's sleep. It was like some kind of bikey dream day.

I am totally disoriented and back to reality this morning, bleh, Monday.

How is everyone doing on their goals. I hope they where not forgotten.

So far, so good. 2,064 miles away from my goal of 8,000.

25lbs and 1.5 inches down 20 to go.

I've run 2 races already this year, and I'm registered for the Jtown 1/2 marathon, and have a training program (+ motivational training partner!) in place through next year's Pgh marathon. The "run" portion is well under way and established. I need to work on the "ride" portion

as for riding with the mutts - we've gotten leash manners established in both, and they're both comfortable around bicycles (and the one has STOPPED chasing others, thank god). So progress there too.

Cburch, Alan, you guys are awesome!

My goal was 1000 miles for the year, I'll be around 1575-ish when I get home from the ride I'm on.

I know I lost some weight, but I don't own a scale so I have no clue how many pounds. People I work with told me I look thinner and I've gone down 2 holes in the belt.

Weight and thin-ness can be two different things. Worst case scenario, you weigh yourself and work real hard to eat less and exercise more and 6 weeks later you weigh virtually the same and give up, where in reality, you lost 6 pounds of fat and gained a few pounds of muscle, but the scale does not show that.

Working toward 2000 miles by end of the "nice weather" riding season. 306 miles shy. Weight? Yeah, right there with helen s. it's all relative.

Eight months in, time for a report card. Working from my original post:

1. Once a week, bike somewhere: Check.

2. Contacting officials: Nope. (Unless commenting on P-G stories counts.)

3. Building owners: Maybe twice, but not eight.

4. Group rides: Check.

5. Getting others to ride: I know of five I've helped roll at least somewhat regularly, so, Check.

6. Log miles: Check.

7. 1,000 miles: Check, August 22. (Last year, it was October.)

8. All bikes ridable: Mainly check.

9. Car bike racks: The new car got one, still trying to get rid of the old one.

10. Growler: Nope.

So far, so good. I need to get off my duff about contacting building owners and elected officials.

I didn't post any goals near the start of this thread, but I did end up working with a few:

1) Get back on the bike. Done. Though I had to buy a new one (the previous one got stolen out of the garage, sigh).

2) Get up to my previous level of riding. Not so good: I managed only about 200mi in the last month. On the plus side, my leg muscles had faded much less that I thought they would. Hills mean lower gears though. Anyway, a couple of years ago my goal was 70mi/week, which drifted up to 100mi/week. This year: 1k by the end of December.

3) Continue re-riding the town. So far I've been amazed at how much things have changed. New building have popped up, old ones have disappeared. Potholes have moved around... Also, way more people on bikes.

4) Figure out some new rides. For example, can you get from town to McKeesport along the north shore of the Mon, without wandering inland? As near as I can tell once you're past Braddock it's all rail yards; but on Google Maps they seem to have these access roads...

5) Learn to slow down. What's the rush, anyway?

So Stu - have you gotten that growler yet?? That's really the only one that matters. Time's running out.

Believe it or not I have reached my goal for 2012! I have started a Wellness blog,Wellness Facebook page, Wellness twitter account, and Wellness instagram. I am working on my Personal Trainer Certification and learning how to build a web site. All of this was inspired by riding bikes with all of you.

Holy cow mr marv that's awesome!

^Thanks! I'm hard at work on it as we speak.

Well my year didn't turn out the way I thought it would have. I have done at least 10 century+s and only set the goal of doing one. I didn't even set the goals of doing the DD and CtC, but I did them. I don't know that I am eating less carbs, but I am eating more veggies. We should start a 2013 goals thread.

@stef doing the DD and CtC are awesom accomplishments.

Thanks! I look forward to what you're doing next year, marv

sorry - CtC?

Crush the Commonwealth

Well, wasn't on the boards here for most of the year, but one goal I had in mind after about mid 2012 was to shorten my commute (was going squirrel hill past Robinson and sitting in traffic was making me miserable).

Was picky about the next job so it took 4 months, but mission accomplished. Then, once I had my new commute, my mission was to make a go of bike commuting, mission accomplished there.

Right now, my goal is to miss no more than 10 days bike commuting this winter. Haven't been seriously tempted yet but conditions haven't gotten interesting yet either.

I know the worst of that is January, so obviously not a purely 2012 goal, but I'll fudge it slightly and measure relative to birthday (mid February). So that's what I'm keeping in my mind till the end of the year... it's a good thing, keep it going, keep it going, no, you're not cold, you're just not working hard enough. That sort of thing.

hmm, well let's see.

rode 1000 miles: check (broke 2900 today)

left the house more: check

lost some weight: check (no clue how much, but i'm 6 holes further into my belt.)

made some new friends: check

random stuff:

rode my first century (dam you Stef)

had a crash with a bone break (right upper radial head fracture)

found an awesome new place for a great burger (OTB)

bring on the apocoly... err 2013

My goal to see the Hobbit as soon as I possibly could has been achieved. I can now call this year a success.

Hey, Stu, I didn't see a response when I asked before - did you ever get that growler???

Nope. Long story.

Next question. Will you be working downtown tomorrow and/or Friday?

Yep. Both.

Next question. Will you be able to transport a 6 lb+- liquid filled glass cylinder from town to your home? Assuming adequate packaging?

I think so. Today, I may leave the bike in town & bus home anyway, depending on how hard it's raining, but bike or foot, it'd travel on my back more likely than on the bike.

TIA!!

Reading back through this thread one of my goals that I forgot about was to participate in every Flock ride. I guess I more than accomplished that goal. Who knew?

Well I never posted in this last year but I did do two goals I set for myself.

1)Bike 100 miles in a day (Done in October)

2)Climbed my biggest hill to date (Biked up Spruce Knob in June)

I don't know if Vannevar posted his goals here or not, but I wanted to congratulate him for hitting his mileage goal for the year. He's now over 7,000 miles. Very cool.

Congratulations, VB!!!

7K, impressive!

Thank you both, it's due to having good friends to ride with. Maybe eight next year.

And I thought hitting 1,600 was doing well. Seriously, that's impressive!

Congrats on 7k!

Thanks very much, I do appreciate it. It's my first year of retirement so I'm in a different time situation than most folks. StefB, I believe I read that you're at 6100-ish and working, that's much more impressive, my compliments.

Hm, I was closer to Stu goals. Before 2011 I did around 800 miles and I was happy. This year I was planning to ride 1,600. I ended up with a little bit more than 2,500. Next year probably 3,000?

Congrats to Vannevar and Stef and everybody else! MC!

My primary goal for next year is simply this: to finally get beyond the malaise of 2018, to ride more, and get back to peak fitness this summer. That’ll be aided by my secondary goal for 2019: spending the winter riding Zwift on the trainer, allowing me to enter the road season at a high level of fitness, and monitoring that by performing regular FTP tests throughout the year.