1360 and some change, that was my off-road mileage for the year and as usual I have no idea what my road mileage was, those miles don't matter. At first I was certain that this was less than what I rode last year but after a bit of research I realized I beat my 2011 mileage of 1342. Hot damn I wasn't a slacker after all.
I set the goal of 1500 early in the year but then quickly decided I needed to focus on being more physically fit all around than just a stronger rider. With that I began lifting more weights, which obviously didn't stick once the warm weather kicked in and I also focused on running more which stopped all together once I started experiencing lower back pain again. After a couple months of ice & ibuprofen I decided it was time to let my body rest and start searching for an alternative to healing. Through a friend I found a book on how to make lower back pain a thing of the past, all without the help of doctors and modern medicine. Seven quick and easy exercises that I do regularly even when I'm not experiencing pain have help me become mostly pain free over the past couple of weeks. For a while I was living off of ibuprofen and I didn't like the idea of relying on medicine to help me get through the day, now I don't have to and I feel better about it.
So my goals for this year? To continue or should I say pick up where I left off in being more fit all around for one, I really have my work cut out for me. Will I start running again? I'm not sure. Also I plan to focus more on giving back to my local trails and cycling community. This year we have more opportunity to build and revamp existing trails than we have ever had, so much opportunity that I don't see us getting it all done in the next 2 years. That my friends is a good thing. Not getting it done won't be because of a lack of trying, we'll be working hard at it every month. The real question is, who will come out and join us?
In the past year we've really seen a growth in new fresh faces showing up to the trail workdays. Yeah we don't see huge numbers like some of the bigger cities but we are seeing double the amount of participants coming out to lend a hand. The cool thing is that most are excited about doing the work and some complain when we are forced to cancel a workday due to weather. That right there makes me smile and very proud of my fellow singletrack friends.
Am I satisfied with what we've accomplished? Yes but don't expect me to settle for it, I will continue to push for more, and I will continue to encourage people to come out and lend a hand in creating one of the best areas in TN for mountain biking. So here's to the new year, better health and new trails to ride, chock full of roots, rocks, berms and jumps!
See you at the next workday!
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