Shoulder check: 2010

It's like a year-in-review, or year-in-rear-view-as-a-horrible-pun, but year-in-helmet-mirror doesn't have much of a ring to it.
 
At our first team Slow* meeting in December, folks talked about where we wanted to go for 2011 - a setting of loose personal and team goals. People sketched out randonneuring, a whole lotta races, training goals (ride more dirt! more hill rides!), team recruiting, tour-type/fun rides...

...and there was also some retrospective jabber, getting a wee bit wistful for our great accomplishments and forgetting the less-fun moments of it all - little gems like one's lungs not functioning after crossing the finish line, the frustration of mechanical issues, the mud wrastlin' or - you know. The good bits.

So - a few thoughts backwards, and forwards, from this corner.

Backwards - 2010

::Superlatives::

Most Gorge-ous: first trip to the Gorge on three (!) wheels - trikes w/ Ben out to Crown Point, when it was 100 degrees, no less

Longest: Rode the fabled Portland Century on trikes - 110 miles and ridiculous amounts of climbing, fielding questions about the trikes all the while, ending up with a wealth of finish line beers and foods.

Most up: Larch Mtn with Fred, Jonathan, Ben, Erinne, Adam G, Ed. Stopped short by snow. Much much up.

Foldiest: took a pair of Birdys to California in May. Also known as borrowing our new ED's bike while he was still cross-country. (But I had permission!)

Ronde del Lente?: Rob, Ed, Ben, and I led Hill Rides every other weekend-ish for a couple of months. The project was sidelined by physical therapy, gardens, and other distractions - but, still, A Thing. Started out 2010 with the Up and ATOM ride - first one I ever led in PDX.

::Race-pants::

5/7 Short track races. These were so fun that Ben decided he'd get out and race (first! time! ever!) after watching one week. Originally motivated by Beth's call for women on singlespeeds, I felt compelled to keep showing up out of loyalty - a great way to spend a Monday, really. And a guarenteed exhausted Tuesday. (Finished 5th, not 4th, in the series - the OBRA results are off, as they incorrectly granted me a lap when I had a mechanical...)

 
First ever! Cross Crusade race. The Alpenrose startline featured 106 women. In my category.  (p.s.: that's INSANE.) Another optimistic placing - that should be about 70th, not 9th. STILL. For starting penultimate - not so shabby.
 

Blind dates. Never tried one - so I went on two? (Yes, yes, races not dinners...) Both fun, both hard, with the warm-up over Council Crest being far kinder than the return slog over the West Hills. Blessed be beer.
 

MUD. Lots of mud. Salem mud and PIR mud - veeeery different beasties. 

Doubling up in Salem. I'm damn proud of me and Erinne for racing women's singlespeed (with a full start line of fifteen!) ... and then turning around and racing beginner women's. Neither one of us were last in either race. GO SLOW! (Thanks to Rob for driving, and Rob and Tomas for cheering, and Tomas for pom-poms.)

(and, for the record - all of this done on a 1990s-vintage Trek mtn bike, full rigid/steel frame. Original wheels, singlespeed'ed; added orange grips (raffle prize!) and brake housing for flair and hilarity.)
 
Feels pretty good, really. Somewhere in there, also brewed a half-dozen things (2 meads, 4 beers), created a patio/firepit and three raised beds in Ben's yard, did a bit of traveling, and was checked into and out of physical therapy. Not so bad, kid...  (Oooh! Also built my first wheel. Thanks for the instruction, Fred...)

So. 2011? Hmm.

Reasonable ideas:- Don't kill the roses
- Grow more food in the garden
- Ride your bike sometimes
- Race a bit
- Remember to wear pants

More defined ideas: 
- Match and/or raise # of races
- Get your g.d. track bike out ... on the track
- Ride on dirt early and often
- On two wheels+transit, get to Forest Grove w/ Ben and drink sake
- Make the garden explode with edible goodness
- Backpack to Log Lake and both Bears

Bordering on ridiculous:
- Run a half-marathon
- Race all of short-track, half of the Crusade, half the Blind Dates,
- Ride all available state champs you can find
- One track race?
- Ride to the coast, like everybody else has
- Climb another stratovolcano or three

That's just SILLY: 
- Actually train for any of this

... So - we'll see. I might manage to garden while wearing pants, and look my track bike in the eye every other Thursday, and go to the gym before this time next year. (Maybe those pants will turn into a mumu?)

But - the great thing about goals? Write them down, and they somehow are more likely to happen...

...here we go, folks.

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* Yes! Shameless plug! (It's a blog... c'mon) The ladies and gents of team Slow are looking for more peeps. If you like bikes, pom-poms, trying hard, cheering your lungs out, being friendly, and generally avoiding jerky behavior - and are looking for a team - holler.