I’m back…

I’ll admit, I dropped the ball on this thing this year. There aren’t too many regular followers that I’m aware of and I largely do this for my own fun so when things get tight it tends to suffer. I felt like I was starting to hit a little bit of a groove early this year. Almost weekly content, keeping a decent riding schedule, family stuff going well, and work was humming along. Then like for most of us Covid hit and all the things that came with the shutdowns. Since both Katie and I work remotely most of the time anyhow, that part wasn’t a big change. However, trying to do it with the kids around all the time was new.

We had to learn a new normal a couple different times. We’ve got a lot to be thankful for though. With that said we’ve had some other significant challenges and stresses in family health, moves, pets, etc. with all that said I’m not going to complain. The year has been stressful in ways I wouldn’t/couldn’t have imagined and easier in others. Nobody is here to listen to that stuff though. However, for anyone feeling like you’re struggling but not enough to complain because so many have it worse…I hear ya and it’s real. At the end of the day, I still feel like I’m living the dream though

While there wasn’t much bike racing in 2020 there was still some good times on two wheels. Most of the actual events I had intended on doing ended up being cancelled for the year. I did end up riding a couple events. Despite the fact that I actually felt like I was riding decently at times I had pretty disappointing results at both events. I’ll do actual posts on both here shortly but no excuses, just how it goes sometimes.

The two events were ORAMM and Swank. I rode the new Epic Evo (amazing machine) with gears at both. The year was already a mess so I figured why not just go with the squishy geared bike. ORAMM was first and because of the shutdowns the course ended up having to change last minute to two laps of the Jerdon course (which is a fun course but much different than anticipated). I went out harder than I should have then the heat got to me which helped my stomach go sideways. After a pit stop or two to take care of business, I hopped on the struggle bus and limped my way in for a pretty disappointing time.

Swank was the end of the season event, where I actually felt like I was riding pretty well coming into it. This one also had a late course change. This really should have been good for me because it moved it to trails that I’m very familiar with. I think I went out a little too hard, again. Honestly don’t think it was quite hard enough to explain the fairly epic bonk/blow up I had. Oh and I managed to crash and (I think) break a rib on the final descent. Anyhow, I did find my rear hub bearings to be shot after the race (maybe before…) but that’s just an excuse. It was a tough day that had/has me searching for answers.

The rest of the year was more about riding with a small group of people and a few other “challenge” type things. For a little while during the early part of the Covid shutdowns I had some weekly segment type challenges. The kind of situation where someone sent out a route or segments and you rode them at your convenience during the week/weekend. This ended up creating some competition and motivation that was honestly more fun than I would have anticipated. I ride solo and on my own most of the time so it was kind of fun to be almost “riding with” people on my own schedule. Most of the segments were climbing and/or more off the beaten path a little. With one of the only “rules” being “don’t be an ass”

There was “The Quad” in June, which was a 100+ mile mountain bike ride hitting 4 of the major riding areas around here right from town. Four of us took this on and it was a really fun group of guys to get out and spend the day riding with. We also had it documented by a good friend as well, so it ended up being a really cool day on the bike.

We mixed in a couple of road trips, one to Colorado and one to West Virginia. One of the draws for Colorado was to get our Basecamp/Family Adventure Van set up some by some really cool folks at Boundless Adventure System. We got to ride some on the Colorado trail, Crested Butte, and some of the more local trails around Denver. In West Virginia we didn’t ride a ton but did get a guided tour of the new Wolf Creek Trails in Fayetteville.   

On top of all of those things both of our kids are getting more and more adept all the time with their own bikes as well as really enjoying the Mac-Rides

Anyhow, there was definitely some good stuff in the bike world for the past year. I’d like to re-count at least a few of those things in a little more detail on this page. So, Stay tuned… I can’t promise weekly, but I’m going to do my best to hit every other week or so.

I’m looking forward to adventures in 2021 whatever they may look like.  

Happy 2020!!