Goals are a tricky mistress.
They tantalize and tempt.
Aim too high and they will mock you. Set them too low and they will be false.
Satisfy them, and they will only ask for more. Miss them, and they will taunt and torment you.
MIleage goals can be especially fraught with peril, as so many other circumstances can veer you away, steal your attention.
Coming off a 5,000 km year in 2011, I thought I could match that in 2012.
But that quickly changed just over a week in when Princess of Pavement and I discovered Little Ring would be joining us sometime around September. Suddenly life got a whole lot busier. Especially as his arrival loomed.
August took a huge mileage hit, after a very good July. September suffered from sleep deprivation and the constant demands of adjusting to life with a newborn in our midst. Then came the cold and rain of fall.
So a 5,000 km year turned into one a couple of hundred kms shy of 4,000.
But what I lost in quantity I made up in quality.
I joined a group ride for the first time, made some new friends and explored many new routes.
FR Fuggitivi introduced me to new riding buddies and new routes.
I did another fondo and rode with my Uncle Pete, still turning the pedals and coaching aspiring racers at 76 years of age.
Riding with my Uncle Pete at the Axel Merckx Gran Fondo was a definite highlight of the past year.
I banished my Lance books to storage.
Who knows what 2013 will bring?
One last turn of the pedals on a chilly afternoon two days before the start of 2013.
Finding the life/cycling balance will be an ongoing project, although Princess and myself are determined to involve Little Ring in our athletic pursuits as much as possible. No that doesn’t mean I’ll be getting a kiddie trailer for the Lapierre anytime soon. But it does bode a busy summer of meetup rides and runs. And sharing with him the joy and satisfaction we get from a good ride or run.
To get us off on the right foot, we made our first film together:
thebigring.wordpress.com 