It’s Been A Good One

Yes, this is the standard, “What I did this year” post, although I probably won’t get into too much detail (okay, I will.) First and foremost, I’d like to thank you, my loyal readers, for following along for the past year. I’ve picked up quite a few new visitors, and it makes me happy. If you didn’t come here every day and read this shit, I’d pretty much be talking to myself.


Second, I’d like to thank all of the folks listed over there on the left for their support. In one way or another, these fine organizations have helped me race, blog, and just ride for fun this past year. I don’t want to get into which one is better than the other, so I will just say thanks to you all. My dealings with you all have made this year fun and exciting.


What have I accomplished? Well, in the grand scheme of things, nothing. But, in my own little world of bicycling, it’s been a pretty good year. I started off last year by “racing” in the Winter Short Track Series with a piece of shit bike I built up, and it barely kept me out of last place (I’m sure my fitness had a lot to do with that though.)


In April, I competed in my first-ever solo endurance race, the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. It was definitely a learning experience, and it was also one of the most difficult things I had ever done at the time. I didn’t do so well, but it made me fall in love with endurance racing. I guess that’s a good thing.


Shortly after that race, I built up my very own 29er. From that point on, my mountain biking became more complete. Eventually I committed to riding big wheels full time, and I’m not looking back. In fact, in May I competed in another 6 hour race (the Grind On The Greenway) with my new big-wheeled machine. Because of those bigger wheels, I did a little better. 29ers (and endurance racing) would be here to stay for me.


Back in June, I did my first race in the State of Virginia. It was good to race on a course that I had never ridden before, and I vowed that in the future I would do more races like that. During that same month, I won a silver medal in the North Carolina State Games. June was busy, but fun nonetheless.


July was the busiest by far. I entered the XTERRA Whitewater, and we also spent a week riding all over the place when Mr. Shepherd came to visit. Our adventures took us to the mountains several times, as well as on our local trails. We even did a nice road ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A few weeks later, I headed down to Florida for some more riding, this time with Mr. Shepherd, Senor Oeste, and Lunchbox. That month flew by, but I got in a ton of riding.


August was a little shitty, as I broke two different bike frames. I bounced back from that though, and we ended up doing a lot of riding out in the mountains again. Things turned around the next month though, when I got to watch Little Miss Sunshine compete in her first triathlon. Also, I finally made the switch to tubeless tires.


October was chock full of good stuff, starting with our local Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day. Then it was time for my first crack at a solo 12 hour race, the Tree Shaker. I did better than expected, so now I’m looking for more long-distance events.


November was okay, but I broke a rib riding in the mountains. Also, Lunchbox broke his first bike frame. It wasn’t all bad though, since I eventually healed and got back to riding in the mountains. This month has been pretty uneventful as far as bikes go, but at least I’m still here talking about stuff I guess.


Sure, I only mentioned the good stuff (and not all of it), but that’s how I choose to remember 2010. That’s the beauty of writing about my own shit, I can tell it however I see it. I’m looking forward to an even bigger and better year for 2011, and I hope you’ll all stick around for it. That being said, I wish you all a Happy and Safe New Year. I’ll see y’all Monday.