BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

1 Keep riding

1A avoid overuse or bad-judgment injuries

1B avoid other-caused injuries (hit by driver etc)

2 Increase my 2012 mileage by 15%

3 More intermediate distance rides instead of 20-mile rides

4 More low-(schedule-family-budget)-impact S24O or S48O overnights instead of 1 or 2 blockbuster epics

5 Knock off two bucket-list items from among (Natchez Trace, Katy Trail, Chesapeake Bay)

6 I really want to ride with the Major Taylor folks and I didn't make it happen this year, it's a goal for 2013.

7 not dying

1) complete a randos series, including the 1240k endless mountains. Yikes.

2) CtC single speed

3) Dirty Dozen or at least marshal it (which means I would basically be doing it)

4) improve my bike mechanic skills

5) ride more than this year (I have 6100ish since Feb)

6) do more cross country rides

7) lose maybe 5lbs? (Though my body seems to be happy where it is)

at least watch a cross race if not participate in one

@Vannevar: Hopefully you will make #6 happen soon! Those are my favorite rides. You still have time in 2012! There is a ride scheduled for 12/22 starting at noon from 885 Progress Ave (North end of the 16th st bridge). The weather is supposed to be bad so I may not make that. I think there will be a ride on NY Eve too. Hope to see you soon!

My goals aren't as lofty as I'd like, but hopefully that makes them more realistic.

1) Ride at least one day each week for the entire year.

2) Commute every day for a week on a bike. Now try to do it as many times as possible in 2013.

3) Eat better on the weekends. Just because it's Saturday doesn't mean it's OK to eat meat and potatoes and beer all day.

4) Explore and take more alternate routes to/from work.

*Do more group rides

*Throw another alleycat

*Ride to DC again, 2 to 3 Days, Travel Ultra-lite

*One ultracross race (I did both the hilly bill roubaix, iron cross this year)

*Do more cyclocross racing (did 3 days of races this year)

*Do a mountain bike race

*Build a wheel from scratch (or at least take one apart and put it back together)

*Ride the rollers at least once a week during the winter.

*Eat immediately after a hard ride so I don't crash.

*Be more frugal with my bike related expenses, buy quality for the long term.

Oh I forgot I want to do the HBR also.

And more alleycats. They are so fun!

The team decaf rides are great if you can't make Wednesday night rides with the major Taylors, which is usually the case for me.

I think I had a good list for 2012, so I'll work from that.

1. Once a week all year, ride someplace purposeful. I did pretty well at this in 2012.

2. At least once a month, contact one elected official about bike safety, bike advocacy, street design, racks, whatever. (I sucked at this one this past year.)

3. At least once a month, contact one business or building owner about improving bike infrastructure -- racks, security, etc. (See #2 on my 2012 success measure.)

4. At least once a month, go on a group ride, or marshal one.

5. At least once a month, get someone new seriously interested in transportation cycling.

6. Rid my house of junk so I can set up an indoor work area to keep bikes fixed.

7. Exceed my mileage from this year, roughly 1,600 miles so far.

8. Replace dead bikes. Keep them all running.

9. Equip all road bikes with tools and a patch kit so I don't get stranded.

10. At least monthly, do something social and bike related, other than just a group ride. It's too easy for me to just ride & type (not at the same time, of course).

Wow! Most of you have goals that are way to ambitious for me! I think I might have to use Pinky's goals as a basis for my own. So here goes:

1) Ride at least one day each week for the entire year.

2) Commute every day for a week on a bike, assuming knees permit. Now try to do it as many times as possible in 2013.

3) Eat better on weekdays. Just because there is more work than time doesn't make it ok to eat lunch/snacks from the vending machine.

4) Earn any beer that I drink. Work it OFF before I imbibe. It's too easy to put off the post indulgence work out.

4) Explore and take more alternate routes to/from work.

5) Take a bike class or course. My skills are rudimentary or best, and could be improved.

6) Divest myself of excess bike gear, and what I keep, maintain in good repair.

StefB, major props, 6100ish is killer mileage for somebody who's not retired yet

Stu, kudos for considering the newb-mentoring aspect

SEW, thanks for the word, I'm going to be there if the wx permits.

1) Keep bike commuting regularly (goal measured more per winter than per year, but no more than 10 days skipping).

2) Get a carrier for the younger kids so I can bike on errands with them. Make it PAINFULLY visible from all angles under all conditions ("artistic" ideas appreciated).

3) Make some outdoor structure to shelter bike + biking stuff so I bike for more ad-hoc trips (currently drag out of basement, harder to work up motivation). Inexpensive ideas appreciated.

4) Be in good enough shape for next year to join the DD training rides (regrettably, DD itself is on a Saturday so no dice for me).

5) Start or get on board with some Saturday night or Sunday rides (pointers anyone?). Need to burn off some of the shabbos indulgence.

6) Bring up next year's bike participation in the Chanukah parade (my goal is 25-50 bicyclists depending on weather). Have a HUGE menorah next year attached to carrier for humor value / recruiting.

1) Commute at least 120 times in 2013. I was just under 100 in 2012. I aim for 3X week, but sometimes travel gets in the way. I've gotten better at dealing with weather.

2) Ride the Dirty Dozen

3) Complete 5 centuries

4) Eat better

5) Steal #10 from Stu: At least monthly, do something social and bike related, other than just a group ride. It's too easy for me to just ride & type (not at the same time, of course).

@byogman - I was at IKEA over the weekend, and found really nice looking safety vests in a child's version. Not the plastic mesh you see so often, but a softer woven material. High Vis, as you can see from the photo. They were priced at less than $5. They might be too big for really little kids, but might work over a jacket. Or could be modified to fit over the kiddie seat, etc.

Note that I am NOT trying to steal business or interest from Fiks.... I totally support Nick's product line and business model. But, he doesn't make the range of kid sizes that I sense Byogman needs.

byogman- there was a guy on the DD training rides who was out of town on the day of. About two weeks before the event, we did as many hills as we wanted to, meaning we did all of them, so there will be a chance to ride all of them right beforehand.

1) Ride more dammit

2) Lose 25 pounds, preferably by riding

3) See #1

4) At least one MS 150 ride (did one in 2011, did zero in 2012)

1. Don't give up.

1.) ride a bit

2.) ride some more

3.) somethign to do with riding.

4.) Drink a smoothie.

Every summer I do a 2 1/4 mile swim race. The last three summers have all been personal best times. Pretty impressive at my age. Or at least I impress myself. I hope to do better this year.

Play more music in public. (Got one gig scheduled)

Swim the Mackinac straits (um... I haven't been keeping with the program for this, so I might have alredy missed the boat).

Do another bike trip - perhaps another round trip to DC - maybe this time coming back through Gettysburg and Rt S instead of the C&O. Maybe go to Erie with the MS 150 and bike back. It puzzles me and leaves me uneasy when people take a "bike trip" and msot of the distance is done by motorized transport.

Mick, last year they introduced a loop option to the escape to the lake ride. Day 1 everyone rides to edinborough. Day 2 the loop riders ride back to zelienople and the rest go to conneaut oh and swim in the lake.

Also Jim Logan does a return ride, I think. At least he used to.

(1) Ride more. I should make it to 1500 this year, but i'm still kinda disappointed. (Who knew having a short commute could be a disadvantage?)

(2) Ride with people more. Flock is awesome, but I also want to just ride with a handful of people. I'd also like to do it more than once a month...

(3) Ride more places. Almost all my rides are within the city, especially on the river flats and the Oakland/Shadyside plateau. I've been here 7+ years, it's time to start exploring...

(4) Ride more hills. Kirkpatrick, Stanton, and the rest of Herron (I already can and have made it as far as Brereton) are the specific goals of mine.

Continuing from the success I had completing all of my goals of 2012. My 2013 goals are:

1. Continue to work on my Wellness blog and Wellness Facebook site.

2. Complete my personal trainer certification in NCCPT and ACE.

3. Finish my college degree in OT

4. Increase yearly milage from 6,000 to 10,000 or more.

5. Keep up with the lead group on the Tuesday Decaf rides

6. Become a nicer person

7. Get more involved in the community

8. Continue to improve my fitness level and health

9. Reduce my use of my car by 80%

10.Continue to let my wife and daughter know that they are the most loved, special, cared for, and respected ladies in the world.

Also those are just basic goals.

I cant forget one last goal

11. Help Flock to continue into an even more awesome ride

Marcel, I want to be as good a person as you are when I grow up.

-I got much more comfortable with hills this year. By the end of next year I want Greenfield to feel relatively easy for me (a pipsqueak goal compared to some, but hey, it's MY pipsqueak goal ).

-Solve my ongoing how-to-commute-to-Oakmont-without-riding-the-Freeport-4-lane-section,-ARB,-or-those-tiny-narrow-roads-in-Penn-Hills dilemma. Failing that, initiate nasty but exhilarating Oakmont and Verona hill climb lunch breaks.

-Learn at least something about the mechanical workings of my ride. Right now in my head it's basically a magical griffin upon which I climb when I want to glide around the city.

-Continue to get more involved in all the bikey doings near and far.

-Oh, and figure out whether I should move to clipless pedals to take the next step forward.

@mm 5. Keep up with the lead group on the Tuesday Decaf rides

Hahaa - yeah, I'd like to keep up with the lead group too.

Ha Joanne, you summed up my feelings with this:

Right now in my head it's basically a magical griffin upon which I climb when I want to glide around the city.

griffons are cool.

5) Reminded by another thread: be more zen when confronted by angry drivers.

I think I've come a long way on this one in 2012, but there is always room for my own attitude improvement.

2013 Goals:

-Work on my nutrition (eating more whole foods, more veggies/fruits, etc...)

-Do more yoga, stretching, and lifting

-Crush the Commonwealth

-Dirty Dozen

-Racing my first 1/2 Marathon

-Racing a couple 70.3 Ironman Races

-Do a couple CX races

-Race most of the local road races and crits (including the oval)

-Make sure that racing is still done because its fun!

Oh and most importantly *move somewhere warmer year-around*

@pinky, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

@pbeaver, they are cool--they go where hybrid lion/eagles dare.

2. Don't keep the butt ointment in the same drawer in the bathroom with the toothpaste.

Reading these goals reminds me what is great

about riding bikes. It really allows people

to have individual goals that they can pursue

and obtain. These goals are relative to

themselves and provide a great feeling of

accomplishment... and can be pushed yearly if

desired.

Wow my goals are pretty small in comparison:

I have both an open water swim and a triathlon "A race" on deck.

I plan to make as many of the 200k rando rides as possible.

Do more recreational riding with my kid (he is distance-curious).

On! I forgot!

I still have "come in DFL in the "Search for Monongy" swimming race in the Allegheny on my list!

I'm willing to sing obscene songs while doing backstroke if I have to!

take the bus only once per month or less (barring mechanical issues)

Bike to cleveland

@joanne -- "Right now in my head it's basically a magical griffin upon which I climb when I want to glide around the city."

OT, but I think that sentence is pretty magical itself. What a beautiful piece of writing.

I've been toying with the idea of giving a name to the LHT I bought this past summer, but since I'm lousy at this sort of thing, I've always drawn a blank. I knew it would be something unusual because the way my mind works with these kind of things. If I decide to do it, you have given me the name -- Griffin.

^Aw, thanks. Griffin--I love it.

goals for 2013

short answer

Ride Bike More

Fix Myself

Icicle Bicycle

Pedal Pittsburgh

Ride more than 1000 Miles

Write more

Ride up 18th St

Go on 7 flock rides

Organize my own ride

Longer answer with more explanation

http://fatguyorangebike.blogspot.com/2012/12/resolution-goals.html

1) climb 5280' of vertical in a day

2) dirty dozen (weather permitting)

3) ride the completed section of trail through sandcastle once it's completed!

Get in good enough shape to race a downhill series.

Start hitting gap doubles without panicking.

Race either a few enduro races or a couple dh endurance events (eg whiteface 5k or snowshoe Mt Everest race)

Break my 6' barrier on drops.

Ride in the woods at least 4 days a week.

Get more people into riding in the woods.

I rode in to work today for the first time in '13. It was nice.

I have decisively not made any resolutions for this year. I've been in a dark and sour mood since the onset of winter after Thanksgiving.

I failed my '12 resolutions, and they weren't that ambitious, but eh, whatevs.

I lost almost 20 lbs from Feb to June last year. Gained the same from July to now, so I am right back at the same point as last year. It's as though everything I did in '12 was nothing. meh.

Through '12 I had huge mental battles with riding on the weekends, it became something I felt I should do, an obligation to do some miles, a chore, not something I wanted to do. I did come to immensely enjoy riding to work.

I have had many activities I wanted to participate in torpedoed by family duties, work issues, all kinds of crap, so I have become somewhat callous and inured to having my desires torpedoed.

So for me I say fuck all resolutions and goals for '13. I'm just going to ride my bike when it's nice and I feel like it. I suppose that's a goal.

@edmonds59 - wouldn't feel too badly. I've had the bike out maybe three times since New Year's, and the three together don't equal what I put on the unicycle on 1/1 itself. Just too damn busy.

The Snow Melt tastes wonderful. Let's get together for at least lunch sometime. My treat.

Top! How's everyone doing? I was just thinking today, we're about 6 weeks into the new year. This is when my gym gets back to a normal crowd and when I start to eat cake again. Here's my update: 1) Ride at least one day each week for the entire year. - So far so good. I skipped one week when it was like 5 degrees out. Other than that, doing well. 2) Commute every day for a week on a bike. Now try to do it as many times as possible in 2013. - Not yet. 3) Eat better on the weekends. Just because it’s Saturday doesn’t mean it’s OK to eat meat and potatoes and beer all day. - Er, I guess this one hasn't stuck yet. Maybe next weekend. 4) Explore and take more alternate routes to/from work. - Yesterday was so gorgeous that I bopped down the North Shore Trail to the jail and back before crossing the river to go home. But that's not really exploring, so I have some work to do.

already broke my one reasonable goal: I rode the bus probably 10 times in January.

Sticking to the bit about riding someplace purposeful once a week pretty well. Not doing very well any of the others, though. OTOH I rode the whole 10+ miles to work this morning, the first time all year. And I'm trying to use the helmet cam as much as possible.

@pinky Saturdays would have a lot of rides. As soon as you participate -- who cares about meet? :)

Closing in on the end of the year. How are we doing? Will share my (lackluster) status. 1) Keep bike commuting regularly (goal measured more per winter than per year, but no more than 10 days skipping). > Technically, I blew this one in January! There were things going on that made me being away from home a bad idea, but I also used them for excuses a couple times. I will at least make my (unadvertised) low mileage goal (2000) on my ride home today. Cue up 2500 miles as an official goal for 2014. > 2) Get a carrier for the younger kids so I can bike on errands with them. Make it PAINFULLY visible from all angles under all conditions (“artistic” ideas appreciated). > Achieved. However, the double trailer didn't translate into many errands with them in practice since eldest needs to go, too. So, for 2014, need to frind a way to get all three of the kids moving at once either via huge (probably home-built) trailer, trail-a-bike for eldest and me and wife riding together, or eldest actually building up for riding alongside. > 3) Make some outdoor structure to shelter bike + biking stuff so I bike for more ad-hoc trips (currently drag out of basement, harder to work up motivation). Inexpensive ideas appreciated. > Partial credit. The shelter is a sukkah, so, it has no, um, roof. I did tack tarp up on one wall so it's easy for my bike to roll underneath and there's negligible wind up there, so it generally all stays. Unfortunately it didn't during my last vacation, something my (now bright orange) chain is complaining about rather vocally. Anyways, the walls stay and I have, in principle, buy in for the idea of the removable roof segments, so finishing that job will be on the goals for 2014. > 4) Be in good enough shape for next year to join the DD training rides (regrettably, DD itself is on a Saturday so no dice for me). > Not so far off, but didn't quite get there. Did some of the hills solo. But did only two of the real training rides, and blew up with cramps the day of 4 hills instead of 3. Cue it up again for next year. > 5) Start or get on board with some Saturday night or Sunday rides (pointers anyone?). Need to burn off some of the shabbos indulgence. > Only did about half a dozen non-trivial sunday rides (not counting the two DD training rides). And all but two were solo. Meant for this to be something... whoops. I have excuses, but lame, lame, lame. Probably will be more house/project focused Sunday mornings in 2014, so not a goal in 2014. > 6) Bring up next year’s bike participation in the Chanukah parade (my goal is 25-50 bicyclists depending on weather). Have a HUGE menorah next year attached to carrier for humor value / recruiting. > I'll give myself credit on the menorah. Even though it was the backup, it was big and attention getting. Ridership was a miss. 15 riders vs. 12, more, but not significantly. Which makes sense, I did a lousy job recruiting. Another goal for next year. >

Ooooo! I forgot all about this--I now remember that I set some tiny 2013 goals. -By the end of next year I want Greenfield to feel relatively easy for me (a pipsqueak goal compared to some, but hey, it’s MY pipsqueak goal :)). *Done. It helped me a lot to start riding up the sidewalk on the first narrow stretch--it gave me some space to pace myself (this makes me feel a bit lame, but obviously not so lame that I stop doing it). -Solve my ongoing how-to-commute-to-Oakmont-without-riding-the-Freeport-4-lane-section,-ARB,-or-those-tiny-narrow-roads-in-Penn-Hills dilemma. Failing that, initiate nasty but exhilarating Oakmont and Verona hill climb lunch breaks. *My Oakmont commute quest has failed, but I have commenced my lunchtime hill climbing rides. -Learn at least something about the mechanical workings of my ride. Right now in my head it’s basically a magical griffin upon which I climb when I want to glide around the city. *I fixed two flats and learned to adjust my brakes. It's progress, but I am still only an egg. -Continue to get more involved in all the bikey doings near and far. *I did well on this until a couple of months ago--need to work on fitting everything in more effectively. -Oh, and figure out whether I should move to clipless pedals to take the next step forward. *I went with power grips instead. So far, so good.

Vannevar wrote: 1 Keep riding 1A avoid overuse or bad-judgment injuries 1B avoid other-caused injuries (hit by driver etc) 2 Increase my 2012 mileage by 15% 3 More intermediate distance rides instead of 20-mile rides 4 More low-(schedule-family-budget)-impact S24O or S48O overnights instead of 1 or 2 blockbuster epics 5 Knock off two bucket-list items from among (Natchez Trace, Katy Trail, Chesapeake Bay) 6 I really want to ride with the Major Taylor folks and I didn’t make it happen this year, it’s a goal for 2013. 7 not dying

1,1A,1B: done. (brush by PAT bus, no injury) 2 EPIC FAIL. 5500 miles in 2013, DOWN 20% from 2012 3 done 4 done 5 did all three 6 FAIL 7 done

Geez, this sounds like a performance review. OK, let's have at it. 1. Once a week all year, ride someplace purposeful. * I might have missed a week here and there, but I did OK. I'm a couple dozen miles past 2,500, at this writing. 2. At least once a month, contact one elected official about bike safety, bike advocacy, street design, racks, whatever. (I sucked at this one this past year.) * Thpppttt. I don't know why this is so hard for me. 3. At least once a month, contact one business or building owner about improving bike infrastructure — racks, security, etc. (See #2 on my 2012 success measure.) * See Item 2. 4. At least once a month, go on a group ride, or marshal one. * Did OK on this one. I marshaled both keg rides, the 3-2-1 ride, the Dirty Dozen, rode in several Flock Rides, the Amtrak trial, and at least showed up to ride Icycle Bicycle. 5. At least once a month, get someone new seriously interested in transportation cycling. * I don't know how well this worked. I talked to a bunch of people, but don't know if I got many out on a bike. Maybe a couple. I can do better, I know I can. 6. Rid my house of junk so I can set up an indoor work area to keep bikes fixed. * I got rid of a bunch of junk frames, but still don't have a decent work area. 7. Exceed my mileage from this year, roughly 1,600 miles so far. * Yepper! See Item 1. 8. Replace dead bikes. Keep them all running. * Meh. I could do better. 9. Equip all road bikes with tools and a patch kit so I don’t get stranded. * Did OK here. The main ride is pretty well equipped. 10. At least monthly, do something social and bike related, other than just a group ride. It’s too easy for me to just ride & type (not at the same time, of course). * I did a few. Kitaira's birthday bash, a Bike-Pgh volunteer night, a few downtown lunches. Yapping with people on Facebook doesn't really count, though it's OK for keeping in touch. I will come up with something for 2014 next week. I still think my 2012 list was a good starter list.

Rinse, repeat. Who's starting the '14 one? I only have one thing.

In 2013 I rode my bike quite a bit. I don't know how many miles, how many times, or how much elevation was gained or lost. However, I had fun. I'll probably do the same next year.

Andrew wrote: 1) climb 5280? of vertical in a day 2) dirty dozen (weather permitting) 3) ride the completed section of trail through sandcastle once it’s completed!

1) Yep. ~6,700' of vert on the 67mi out and back ride from Ashville, NC to Mt. Mitchell 2)Nope. Skipped it this year 3) Yes, I do enjoy the new completed scetion of trail through Sandcastle...all the time!