Here’s a picture I took on the last ride of 2022, on New Year’s Eve day:

It was a good ride. That’s Ponyhenge in the background. Ol' Stragglepus is still set up for D2R2-type stuff. We did not quite 38 miles and it was a very nice time. Sure, there was a minor casualty in the form of my front fender, but now I have an excuse to buy new fenders, so —

But if this is a retrospective, here are some numbers:

Probably I should have more interesting numbers but I don’t pay for Strava Premium and Garmin’s "Connect" data kind of sucks. And really I’ve written about the brevet series elsewhere, in which I attempted and succeeded at doing a "Super Randonneur" season, in which I rode a 200, 300, 400, and 600k. I also did D2R2 again this year after a brief hiatus, and it was super fun. Plus countless "training" rides, etc. I did at least two double centuries (the 400 and 600k) and a number of regular ol' centuries besides that. It was a good summer.

I learned that I could do a "pass" and be OK (if not, you know, climb just fine, even with my bike that is heavy even if I like to pretend it’s not actually that heavy).

I learned that distance is very relative and what used to feel like a long ride doesn’t feel like anything at all anymore, a mere walk in the part.^[2]

I continued to learn more about what I really value in a bike (integrated shifting is fine but not necessary, appropriate gearing in terms of overall range, ratio, and steps between rear cogs is) and — 

OH! I learned how to fucking build a wheel this year. That was pretty cool. Here it is (the red tape is where the valve hole is) before final tensioning:

I probably learned some other things too but maybe I don’t remember right now.

Too much gets said (especially amongst men) about how bike riding is good for mental health.^[3] I mean, it is: I don’t want to take that away. But also it’s not really a replacement for therapy and other such things. But the bike was, this year, a very reliable friend, I must say. Partially it was a matter of planning and of intention: if I was going to do these big rides I really needed to have time to do the smaller preparatory rides and that meant that they had to be prioritized and I am pretty good (usually) at making time for prioritized things. I struggled this year to make time for other things in a lot of ways, but the bike — the bike I had time for. Whether it was taking me to work or way the fuck up to Maine, I’m happy I got to spend a lot of time on the bike. You’d think you’d have a lot to think about, and sure, sometimes you do think of things. Sometimes you’re riding in a group and chatting and getting to know folks you’ll leap-frog back and forth for the next few hours. Sometimes you’re riding with a buddy who you haven’t seen in a long time and there’s a lot to catch up on. But I spent a lot of time riding alone this year,^[4] and the beauty of it is you can not think. I think a lot: I once intended to think professionally (i.e., I have a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and I had every intention of pursuing a PhD until I heard my PhD-candidate friends talk about the job market). Not thinking is a luxury sometimes. I don’t really have time to do drugs or any of the usual don’t think stuff. But on the bike — it’s just pedalling. Noticing the scenery, how the legs feel, how the breathing is, remembering to take a drink of water every 15-20 minutes or so and eat something every hour or every half hour depending on the ride and the day. I’ve been given to understand that this is what meditation is supposed to be. I’ve tried meditation of course, have done the yoga and all else, but that shit’s hard and riding a bike is easy. Or at least it’s easier for me to get into that pleasant sort of empty state. And it helps. And it’s good for me, I think. Even above all the other beneficial things about riding a bike so far as strength and health and endurance. It wasn’t the easiest year. But the bike was good to me and I’m grateful for it.

A joke I got to tell:

So that was the year in biking, sort of. I am sure I left a lot out but that’s fine. There’s no pretence for completeness on this here weblog (or even truth, necessarily, although if I lied I didn’t mean to). In the new year I hope to continue to ride my bike a lot, but it won’t be my "main goal for the year" like the brevet series (functionally) was last year. I intend to do another brevet series, of course, although the timing might be challenging with some other obligations I have this summer but we’ll see. Unless something radically changes financially, I’m not even going to pretend like I’m going to do PBP,^[5] but I might try to do one of the domestic 1200ks if the timing works out. But I won’t sweat it so much. And I want to try and volunteer at a brevet this year: I think that would be a good thing to do.

Of course, there’s always things I want to do to the bike(s) as well this year. I think the Straggler almost found its final form last summer, but I want to change the derailleurs to accommodate slightly different gearing (and I’m going to spring for a clutch RD, too, so I don’t have to go 1x every time I do D2R2).^[6] I am also pretty sure I need to replace at least the right downtube shifter since it started ghost-shifting in the middle of the range near the end of last brevet season. There are a few small modifications to the Riddler bike I’d like to do as well, although I’m always going back and forth on that one. I know all the bikes save the fat bike will need new tires (and frankly, it would be a little bit more fun with better tires, too, although the tires that are on there are fine and still have tons and tons of life left in them).

Ah bikes: always things to fiddlefuck with.^[7]

Oh, and I got some rollers and I want to learn how to ride them this winter. First attempts have been…​ uneven. But we’ll get there. We’ll get there.

Anyway, to send off, here’s a picture I took after the first ride of 2023 yesterday:

I had some unexpected free time, the weather was (too) nice, and I thought hey: I never fucking ride the fat bike, why not go ride the fat bike? I hope for more of that kind of thing this year. Because bikes are fucking rad, you know?