Working in a corporate environment I am inherently indicator driven. I'm comfortable with spreadsheets, and like to see my data graphed. So after listing some highlights of 2007 in an earlier post I started trying to think of what tangible data I had to show that 2007 was a success. I thought maybe it's a financial indicator? That's too predictable, and something I would not typically share with everyone who stumbles upon this blog. Then I started thinking about my race times. They did improve significantly this year, but I still have a long way to go. Truthfully, they'll never be good enough, I'll always want to go faster. Then it hit me!! The "success" indicator for 2007 is.... drum roll.... How many new bikes did I purchase. That's it! As I've mentioned before, I LUV bikes. So what better way to sum of the year. Besides, the numbers have meaning. If you think about it, each new bike represents a different type of racing, or training. Each bike presents new opportunities and increased fitness which in turn should improve my overall fitness and allow for faster race times. So here's the breakdown corporate style:
2007 -
As a family: 5 New bikes
Personally: 4 New bikes
Bikes:
Guru - I won't go into that whole story again. Update though, I got it inspected and it's good to go. Bought some fancy black finger nail polish and you can hardly tell there was a scratch. I can, but most cannot. And my toes look pretty.
Jose - Bianchi single speed - This may be the best overall purchase I have ever made in my life. And it was by far the cheapest bike this year. I love this bike. It is the most fun to ride and it is the perfect commuter.
Scott Road bike - Finally a road bike that fits me. Unfortunately it's identical to Jen's. Oh well, nothing wrong with being a "cute couple" I guess.
Scott Mt. Bike - This one will be ready Saturday. When it arrived, the shop opened the box to find that the fork had been damaged in shipping. The good part is Rock Shock sent an upgrade as the replacement. Over a pound lighter then the one that was damaged. So it all worked out.
In the end 2007 was a major success. I'm hoping to get some pic's of my rides soon. Now I just need to find room for the them all. The old Mt. bike will be going to the CCC (http://www.communitycyclingcenter.org/) and hopefully be joined up with someone that can put it to good use.
Other updates:
My personal commuter challenge is in it's 2nd week and going well. So far I have only driven to work 1 day since I started. I picked up a bacterial sinus infection over the weekend. Fortunately I got on it quickly and hit Urgent Care Saturday morning for antibiotics. By Monday I was feeling better, but decided to give myself one more day of recovery before braving the cold temps. Other then that just training away this week. on my way to a 22 hr week and feeling pretty good. This weekend will be a challenge though with 4 hrs of riding on both Saturday and Sunday. Both days are supposed to be in the hills. I decided to mix it up a little and do Saturday on the road and Sunday on the new bike, up on the trails in Forest park. It's nice to have options. I should have close to 200 miles of riding, 30 miles of running, and 11k in the pool. Oh, and the other thing... After lying around all weekend sick, I had a lot of time to think about IMAZ November 2008. I (with Scott's help) decided not to do it. 3 races in 8 months is too many if I want to do well at any of them. I need to be able to focus on Canada and not have to worry about another race 8 weeks later. I need to let it all hang out on race day. Basically I would rather go for quality over quantity. My fortune cookie that came with my teriyaki chicken today sums it up best "Enough is as good as a feast".
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