“Start at the beginning!”

“And when you come to the end… STOP.”

The March Hare and Mad Hatter, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland

OK, that’s enough duplicating the 2019 edition.

The last 2 years have been very difficult and actually pretty amazing.

Good: My son Patrick finished 5.1 years of mountain bike racing with his AMAZING team, the LWC Gryphons. (The 0.1 year is the couple of weeks of MTB team practice he got in before COVID lockdowns cancelled everything)
Bad: I had the lowest mileage year since 2007 when I started riding again. 19.8 miles. That’s not a typo. 19.1 miles of running in 2020. Also not a typo.
Good: I finally figured out the health issues that have been holding me down for the past 8-10 years. It feels good to finally have some answers about what is going on with my body. Those answers are leading to some real-life improvements, some of them very measurable.
Bad: I got up to 325 pounds back in Oct 2021 due to not moving around much after the COVID lockdowns began. No more riding to work. Trips to get water/snacks or use the restroom went from 100+ feet (30m) to 10-20 (3-7m). And no social rides.
Good: I have been working with a nutritionist and endocrinologist which has led to me losing 18 pounds (as of Feb 17, 2021) and we have only just begun.
Bad: With the COVID lockdown, I’m not commuting to work by bike anymore.
Good: I bought a Stages SB20 smart bike trainer!
Bad: In October 2020 I sprained my right knee while working to clear a downed tree blown down in a recent wind storm
Good: I am up to 124.55 cycling miles and 6.6 running miles in 2021 after 6 weeks, almost 10x the total mileage of 2020 and well on my way to beating 2019.

With all that in mind, I have several goals for the year…

Goal #1: Complete ONE Sprint Triathlon race in 2021

The last one was in 2014, coming up on 7 years ago (and, no, I still don’t have a race report for it). That race wasn’t my best because I was pacing my pre-teen son on his first-and-only triathlon. He did finish it but he was really beat up by the end. Needless to say it wasn’t my fastest race. Not sure what race this will be. Races later in the year have a much higher probability of actually happening (depending on the COVID situation) so the Lake Stevens Triathlon in September may be it. Otherwise I could just do my own with my son. He would SMOKE me on the swim and bike (he did swim teach during his 4 years of high school).

Goal #2: Do 1 pull-up

I have a vague memory from my pre-3rd grade life (younger than 8?) of doing a pull-up. It might be me dreaming that I actually did one but I think I did. At the time I was probably around 4’ tall (1.2m) and 60 pounds (27kg), a far cry from where I am today. Doing a single pull-up should be a great barometer of my overall fitness (weight loss and increased strength).

Goal #3: Be ready for Cycle Oregon 2021

Granted, this one may not happen because the state of Oregon has tighter COVID lock downs than most states in the USA. Which means Cycle Oregon 2021 might not happen. It’s a big goal considering my mileage as of now (Feb 2021) is FAR from ready for 400+ miles of a typical Cycle Oregon route. So I have a lot of riding to do. If I’m not ready for that there’s always…

Goal #4: Be ready for RAMROD 2022

Yep, that’s right, I want to do RAMROD in 2022. The ride that chewed me up and spit me out back in 2015. How in the world am I going to be ready in 18 months for this EPIC ride? With these tools…

Tool #1: Stagesbike SB20 Smart Bike

I pulled the trigger on a fancy new stationary bike with lots of new whiz/bang features that allow it to be controlled by other apps such as Zwift, Trainer Road, etc. I picked Zwift for now but I think I’m going to try out Trainer Road for a month. I really like the features and feel of the bike. Why did I not buy a wheel-on trainer like the Wahoo Kickr for literally half the price? One word: weight. The Kickr has a 275 lb (125kg) weight limit. While I do hope to get down well below 275, I haven’t seen that weight since about 2011. Going with a heavy-duty stationary bike allows me to get around that. And my boys and wife can use it anytime without tying up my road bike. Full review of this coming shortly.

Tool #2: Zwift

This has been a GREAT tool when used in conjunction with a smart bike trainer. The routes change a lot, there are people to ride with (some folks from my company have a private Zwift club), and you get a TON of data (big deal for me, since I’m a data nerd).

Tool #3: Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells

They won’t arrive for a while, but I ordered a set of these. I am wiling to wait until April/May so I don’t have to pay $500+ on Craigslist for a USED set. (not kidding) Until then, I have a backup plan…

Tool #4: Physical Therapy

With my knee injury, I have been working with an amazing physical therapist to rehab my knee injury and increase my overall strength/flexibility, which really sucks right now.

Other thoughts…

I am looking forward to a few other events this summer, including the Crater Lake rim ride, which they do during their car-free days (when cars are not allowed on 75% of the rim drive).
Yes, I do have a weight goal in mind, but I don’t like to advertise it. My wife likes to joke that losing weight implies that you might find it again. And losing weight isn’t really my goal, it is a side-effect of achieving my other goals. And that number might just be 250 lbs (113kg) but I refuse to confirm or deny that absolute fact.
Remember that whole track-racing thing I tried back in 2014? I have decided that while velodrome racing is not my bag, training on the track absolutely is, which will lead to a track-training report in the future.
Mountain biking is AWESOME!!!! Over the past several years my son and I did an amazing amount of MTB riding at various trails around the Washington state. We have had quite a few adventures, including one that required a 5-day stay at a hospital. (more on that later) I even made a ride video from one of our races in 2017. The Seattle area really is an MTB paradise. Don’t believe me? Go to YouTube and search for MTB plus the words Duthie Hill, Tokul West, Tiger Mountain, Raging River, Ollalie, Galbraith….OK, that’s enough to keep you busy. But now I need to convince my wife that I really need to buy a new MTB since the one I have been riding has now been claimed by my taller-than-Dad youngest son.

Will it stick this time? Will I actually do it? We’ll see. I mean, I’ve tried hitting the reset button before and it didn’t really work.

I mean… What’s the worst that could happen, right? Oh yeah, after COVID we all stopped saying that. I should really stop now.

}B^)

And here’s that MTB video…

Starting from square ONE... 2021 edition