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Notes on 2008
As often seems to happen in these year-end wrapups, the cycling stats often reflect something about the year in general, and it's true again this year. Fewer rides than last year, yet 300 more miles total. The Surly, as the main commuter and CX race bike, got almost exactly the same miles as last year, but the other riding changed a lot; more group rides, more rides with friends, more dirt rides, mostly singlespeed or fixed miles, almost no training rides.

The biggest story of the year had to be that of stolen and recovered bikes. Early in May, both the Bridgestone mountain bike and the Surly CrossCheck commuter/CX racer were stolen from my garage. The Surly was recovered the next day by Mike and Benita, and the Bridgestone was recovered 3 weeks later by a fellow CX racer in Mpls. Then in early August, the Surly was taken again, this time solo, but it was again returned, just a week later, and again through Mike and Benita. I don't know what the universe was trying to tell me, but i put a deadbolt on that garage door, i'm forever grateful to Mike and Benita (and everyone who spread the word), and i rode the hell out of those bikes the rest of the year.

I was sick a lot last winter (2 bouts of pneumonia, at least 2 bouts of the flu), plus it was the first year that Fiona was in day care, so there was extra transportation to manage. The result was very little riding in the winter, and i had to cancel plans for the Ragnarök 105-mile gravel race that i'd been looking forward to, after really enjoying the long rides of 2007. It wasn't until April that i passed 100 miles for a month, but by mid-April i was riding pretty consistently again.

At the end of May i began working part-time as a mechanic for my friend Jim at Hiawatha Cyclery. I'm fairly handy with bikes, and feel like i did alright, but i learned a lot from Mark too; that guy is a true mechanic. We took one Wednesday night off in June to do the Black Dog time trial, representin' for the lugged steel crowd.

I needn't have worried too much about the lack of distance riding, as i organized a reprise of the Winona train ride for mid-June, though flooded rails switched over to plan B, which was a day trip to Red Wing and back. It was a larger group, with Jim (2nd year running), Tracy, Brian and Andre, for Tracy and Brian's first centuries. A really fun trip that i would do again in the fall with Tracy as an overnighter. It's really a pretty ride along the river, especially on the Wisconsin side.

Heading into summer, i tried to get a little trail time in anticipation of the 24 Hours of 9-Mile, in which i'd entered the 12-hour solo category with Ted. My first mountain bike race in about 10 years, despite the dehydration and cramping, i was happy that i could work through that for 6 laps and a 33rd place (of 57) finish. In other dirt riding, i went to Gnomefest again, with Tracy and meeting Ted, Cyndi and Greg there for a fun weekend of riding at Levis-Trow, which has some amazing trails, gotta get back there.

Cyclocross season started late for me, with the late fall cycling trip and other weekend projects after the start of the school year. I also did virtually no training, but was able to eek out 2 top-10 finishes and a realization that i really need to upgrade to Cat 3 and the B races for next year. I raced the whole season as a singlespeed, for the first time. It's hard to explain, but i really liked racing SS. The bike probably isn't actually that much lighter, but it feels lighter, and much more solid without a chain bouncing around. One mechanical this year; a flat at Afton, which otherwise would have been a good race for me. I was happy with the season, and i actually got faster as the season went on. Many thanks to my fellow Wheelmen and friends for the cheering and support.

Surprisingly little bike tinkering again this year, given the access to parts at employee rates; mostly wheelbuilding. I built a fixed wheel for the Ross and rode that fixed most of the summer, then built a 2 leading/2 trailing funky front wheel for it. After racing season was over, i cashed in my County Cycle team credit on parts to build another fixed wheel, this one based on the Kogswell 135mm hub i'd picked up from KM over the summer. The big project was the bike trailer brazed together from 2 scrap mixte frames. It's not totally done, but it's cool, and i look forward to using it a lot this coming summer.

Notes on 2007
Cycling this year was, like the rest of the year, a virtual rollercoaster. I got a good start on a year of commuting right away in February and through the spring. I did a couple of Wheelmen rides and other rides with Malte before he went home in June.

I started July with my first ever century, completing 150 miles riding home from Winona, one of the highlights of my year. I finished that ride excited to do more centuries, but alas, the planned 200 miler in October was cancelled and i went on to focus on cyclocross instead.

Before cyclocross kicked in, however, i had a blast on my mountain bike at Gnomefest. My first real trail riding in many years, and a ton of fun. After that trip, i've been getting interested in trying out a 29'er and getting the singlespeed Lotus out on the trails.

Cyclocross season went pretty well, despite the extra stresses this year. Training time and miles were scarce, I didn't get some of the higher places i had last year but still had a good time. It was therapeutic to push through and ride 6 good races, especially after missing 2 weeks to a bout of pneumonia.

The cycling bonus came in December, with a trip to visit my Dad in Oregon. There i was able to get in a cyclocross race in Eugene and a really fun afternoon loop around a lake near Florence, along the coast. It was especially nice to get those rides in since changes in school schedules have made it necessary to drive every day since the cold weather settled in.

For bike hardware, i spent most of the year simply satisfied to ride, not tinkering much at all. As summmer drew to a close i got the fixie itch again and built one up from a Ross that friend Tom found for me. The only other real change was converting the Surly to a 3-cog singlespeed after 'cross season was done, for full-on commuter mode.

Overall, a few more miles than last year, but a hard taper at the end of fall killed a shot of 3,000 for this year. For next year, i'm setting the goal at 3k. I'm just about set to try my hand at building some racks and other bike parts, so that'll be a big upcoming project. For riding, i'm hoping for a lot more miles in the dirt, and if i can shape up a bit, maybe some more racing in the dirt.

Notes on 2006:
A very busy biking year, start to finish. It started by building up the new Surly Crosscheck, thanks to Hiawatha Cyclery. Aside from the headseat installation, I built the bike myself, from the wheels up using some new and some old parts. The build was planned pretty carefully to maximize the budget and to come close to the fit of the Rivendell, which i like a lot. The Surly ended up a little racier fitting (lower bars), but is very comfortable. I'm proud that it's survived over 1300 miles, handbuilt wheels and all. In the end, it accounted for over half of the miles for this year, which says a lot.

The Redwood didn't get ridden enough, but I still love it. I smile everytime i ride it, and it's still the fastest bike i have, and the one i'd take on a century anytime (well, when i actually ride one - that's one goal i haven't yet done). If i could have only two bikes, it would be the Surly and the Redwood, hands down.

The 3-speed got a few work rides in this year, which was fun. I tried out some different braking options, but only the original caliper will work in the rear. The newer levers do help a lot though, makes me want to rebuild the rims to get rid of the lumpy rear rim. I put no miles on the MB4 this year, but it saw a lot of action with Malte, as he rode it extensively on the river bottoms and for the full cyclocross season (below).

The other commuters rotated a bit too. I got tired of mentally wrestling with the french threading of the Peugeot (wanting to change cranks, mainly), so i gave it back to Tom and bought the SR for $40. It was a nice, light, generic japanese road frame with little clearance for fenders, which was a dumb move for a commuter bike, but i did ride nicely. Fortunately for the conundrum, but unfortunately for my lip and gums, i crashed it hard into a car, totalling the fork and frame. I found the Lotus Pegasus MTB frame & fork on CL from a fellow iBOB for free, and that built into a decent singlespeed winter commuter from the SR remnants and the parts bin. In fact, i didn't spend a dime getting the Lotus on the road until i bought new tires, fenders and the rear brake for it. It's a slug with super slack angles, but the ride is fine for commuting, and should be good for hauling.

The year ended, as is now usual, with a season of cyclocross racing. I did 6 races this year, with my best a 3rd place finish, and 7th place at States. I rode with the Gopher Wheelmen this year, and i really liked riding with the team. I joined late in the year, so i didn't get to meet many teammates before the races, but it was fun training with them a few times and great fun to cheer and be cheered at the races. I'll be with them again this coming year, hopefully for more training rides, but probably still only racing CX.

I'll keep the same mileage goal from last year, 2500 miles, but i'm very happy having broken 2400 this year. I still want to try a bike camping trip, and maybe a century this year. Otherwise, continued good health, lots of bike commutes and even less driving for 2007.

Notes on 2005:
This was more or less my first year back bike commuting pretty much most of the time. Most weeks that i did ride, i was probably averaging 3 days a week, some weeks every day, a couple none. Ella started 1/2-day kindergarden, and i picked her up from school at lunch, so i pretty much stopped riding when the weather got too cold for riding in the trailer. My goal was about 2000 miles, and i'm very happy having gotten over 1800.

As expected, commuting miles are the biggest chunk, and i'm happy about that. I feel like i should be riding more miles on the nicer bikes, but i also had fun converting the Peugeot to the 3-speed wheel. Two bikes came (Peugeot and Raleigh Grand Prix) and 2 bikes went (Grand Prix and Super Course), but i'm happy with the commuter bike now.

Another goal was to do a bit of racing again, and i did. One duathlon with Autumn in the spring, and 3 cyclocross races in the fall. We won our group in the duathlon, and i was mid-pack for the CX C races i did. I love cyclocross, and will be building up a cross bike for next season.

I finished the year helping Hiawatha Cyclery get their website up and running. Jim's a great guy, and i was glad to have the chance to help out with the shop. I hope he has a great success with it.

Goals for 2006 are for more miles (around 2500 or so), more consistent bike commuting, more errand trips by bike, an overnight bike trip or two, and some decent CX finishes.