reflecting

it's been snowing for days, beginning with a grainy, unclean, mucky sleetish snow and gradually morphing into a beautiful, crystalline, light powder that now sits lightly over every surface and is sparkling under the sun's rays.
it's a beautiful morning, full of promise and perfection.
and here I sit, on the day of closure, looking back at my cycling year. I think I'll take a few minutes to just glory in all of those miles, all of those experiences, the totality of what the past 364 days have meant to my life.

my 6000 miles included:

• a chilly ride from wanship up chalk creek to the wyoming border on my first bad ass team ride
• durango to silverton, 34 degrees at coal bank pass on memorial day weekend
• the fastest 100 mile tour of cache county I've ever been on, thanks to the bad ass team
• the 1000 warrior-fools ride, hitting the base of little cottonwood 94 miles in, on a 99 degree day
• my slowest lotoja yet, an exacting test of my mental strength
• countless rides up and down emigration to my beloved little dell and back
• wolf creek pass, torrey, teasdale, monte cristo, trapper's loop, old snow basin road, little cottonwood, big cottonwood, big mountain, morgan, ,millcreek, henefer, city creek, francis, kamas, midway, brown's canyon . . .
• and 2 (yes TWO) mountain bike rides

places those miles did not include that I wanted them to:
guardsman (I only went halfway up, once)
albian basin
hawaii

just kidding about the hawaii part. though I have heard from quite a few people that riding at sea level is a thrill ~ all that available oxygen, you know. someday I will ride at sea level and experience that for myself.

I have had an amazing year. I am truly grateful for every experience, both off and on my bike, as each such experience is moving me closer to becoming the best version of me. I suffered plenty this year, and I celebrated great accomplishments. I kept my commitment to myself, and I continue to keep the concept of balance part of my belief system. I will never stop learning, I will continue to keep an open mind, I will always take it all in and keep only that which matches who I am.

I haven't yet committed to any organized rides for the coming year. at the moment I have no great goals, no have-to-do-it rides. my overarching goal is to train smarter, and not ride quite so much. what my challenge will be is that I like to ride my canyons, and I don't necessarily like doing "drills". so once power camp is over, I will need to develop a plan that allows me to ride where and when I want that also includes the kind of workouts I need to keep me fit and progressing up that performance ladder.
piece of cake.
grin.
I mean, sweet potato.
or kale.
yes, I will continue to incorporate those good foods in my diet. yes, I will still eat cake. yes, I will add more electrolyte replacement drinks in my intake and I will not overhydrate with plain water.
yes, I will still drink diet coke and coffee.
can't change too much or I wouldn't be me.

which brings me to my best goal for the new year: to be authentically me, me, me. because that's what God intended, and that's the best way to play my part in the world.
so how about if you be you this year, and I'll be me, and we'll all work together to try to pull it back around to the kind of world we want to live in?
happy new year, and may it become your best one yet.