Bicycling in Bloomington

The start of a new year and a short summary of the past couple months.

Right after the Hilly Hundred in October, I started to train for a 10K race in Niles Michigan on Thanksgiving Day. This is the fourth year that I, my wife, my daughter, and one or two grandchildren have run the race (some do the 5K). My wife has consistently placed in the top three in her age group and this is the first year that I made the podium (sorta). I was third in the 60-64 age group.

My recreational bicycling during this period was limited to one trip to Wapehani. However, during December, I was able to ride indoors about 8-10 times. It’s not the same as outdoor riding but it’s probably more time-efficient.

I was able to commute consistently from September through December 22. There were few days that I did not commute during that time and mostly because of travel or the need to transport heavy materials between home and work.

In 2008, I had roughly the same mileage on my road bike and my commuting bike – about 1100 miles. My commuting miles were a little higher than previous years because I had many trips across campus for meetings. My road miles were fewer and I had fewer mountain bike rides. In 2009, I hope to do more road and mountain bike riding. I doubt that I would increase my commuting miles very much.

Despite the lower road bike mileage, I think that I was more comfortable doing the Hilly, including the Mt. Tabor climb, this year than any previous years. I am attributing it (without good evidence) to the OWLS rides. Having two good rides a week for part of the year probably helped. This year, I expect to participate in more OWLS rides. I missed yesterday’s ride because of another commitment. Fortunately, there are so many opportunities for biking in Bloomington that I should be able get in more rides.

As many do in the beginning of the year, I am setting some goals for the year – more riding, more running, more yoga, more strength training, and more tai chi; along with more reading, more gardening and more household maintenance. I also am planning to try to work fewer hours. It’s unlikely all or even any will happen.

Happy New Year.