Personal Goals

I am constantly adding stuff to my "bucket list" or my "before I'm 30 list." I'm also constantly hearing about fun new ways to challenge myself or make life more interesting. The flavor of the week is randonneur cycling. Basically it's long distance bike riding where you carry your food and gear. The rides aren't races, it's more about finishing under your own speed in an alotted time, which is much more my style than wanting to beat the other athletes in an event. I just dont' care about winning, I care about finishing and achieving. How I've never heard of this before this week is astounding, but there it is.

Luckily there's a fantastic randonneur group here in Anchorage that organizes recognized rides and provides info and support for new folks interested in riding. I'm going to an interest meeting tonight at REI. With this in mind I've decided to set the following goals for myself this summer:

• Ride 10 miles in under and hour (the Coastal Trail will serve as a great test)


• Ride 25 miles in under 2 hours (Coasta Trail + big loop toward my apartment)


• Complete De Ronde van Anchorage 100k in June


• Complete the Kenai Backroads 200k in September


• If I'm feeling very adventurous by late June there's a 200k then and another 100k in July, but that remains to be seen!


• Prepare to complete a 200/300/400/600 series next year and then choose between the Fireweed 400 miler or the Bild Wild Ride 1200k. Those are big rides, so I'll need to judge my perparedness at a later date.


• Ultimate Goals: Complete the MS Ride Across the US within 3 years and the Paris-Brest-Paris in 2015 (the next year the ride is held).

The good news is that there's ample opportunity for me to learn and improve this summer. The bad news is that my bike is terrible for this type of riding! I have the wrong handlebars, the wrong frame length, no shock absorbtion to speak of and my bike is quite heavy. With the right maintenance I'll be able to get through this summer on such a machine, but anything beyond 200k will prove challenging if not impossible. The next bit of bad news is that a proper rando bike will run me anywhere from $900-2,000! They're not cheap! However, I've been thinking of upgrading to a better bike than the $80 Schwinn I bought off Craigslist. This gives me some real motivation. If I still want to go forward with this sport at the end of the summer I can save for my new bike over the winter. Also, considering the endurance required to complete these rides and how early in the season they start, I think I might need to learn to ride in snow and ice to stay in shape over the winter. Based on my difficulty with that on the icy/snowy Coastal Trail yesterday, that could prove a bit difficult.. yikes!