Happy Valentine's Day & A Bicycle Goal

First, and perhaps most importantly, a very happy Valentine's Day to all! I hope you have plans to spend it pedaling, but I know that many areas are currently experiencing deep snow and cold temperatures, so regardless I hope you'll spend it with one or many individuals you love.

*Image from Loveland Chamber of Commerce & found here

As mentioned recently, both riding a bike and kickboxing have taken a hit with our current house project. Only in the last week or so have things begun to get back to something that resembles a normal schedule. Oh, there is still much to be done, but both Sam and I have realized that we won't survive this renovation if we don't allow ourselves some time to do the things that we enjoy and/or simply need to do.

With that, I recently returned to kickboxing to discover that the owner-instructors have implemented some new things in the hope of helping their students achieve personal goals.

*Image found here

I have stated in the past that I am not a New Year's resolution sort of person, and I stand by that statement. I know that goals and having specific, attainable steps of a goal are important in order for growth to take place, but I don't find the new year to be a particularly good time to set these up for myself. Really, I find that I struggle with setting goals at many points throughout the year because I often am not entirely sure of what it is that I actually want to achieve. Then, frustration follows, so it's often much easier to simply move on to other projects and not bother with such things.

Imagine my dismay (horror?) when approached by one of the kickboxing instructors who wanted me to define a goal (or goals) for 2015. More accurately, he stated that he wanted to meet with me outside of class to discuss these goals. Ugh. I was definitely not looking forward to this meeting. In fact, I pretty well had myself worked up into a tizzy about all of it because I honestly didn't even know where to begin or what would seem a reasonable goal.

I am not a racer, and I'm not going to ever in my life come close to a winning time at any sort of race - be that on foot, bicycle, or otherwise. So, what sort of goal does one set? I've attempted these sort of goals in the past, but rarely do they end well.

As the two owner-instructors and I sat staring at each other, they tried desperately to pull anything out of me. They know I ride a bike, but they also know that I have no desire to enter races. One asked if I'd have interest in doing "mud runs," to which I responded that I don't run (As a side note, I do run, but again, it's very slow and I have no real desire to be a part of any sort of race of this sort. I ran a marathon once and have no desire to do it again, so my running is limited to around the neighborhood and possibly a few miles on a treadmill in the winter when I can't do the things I'd rather be doing).

I have toyed with the idea of doing my own version of a half Ironman triathlon, but the reality is that my body is not well-suited for running, so I don't know that it would be the best choice for me.

After several minutes of successfully avoiding the topic, one of the instructors said, "What if you rode every street in the city on your bike." I couldn't help but giggle a bit as I had planned already to do this. In fact, I'd wanted to do it last year, but it just never happened. "Okay," I agreed. After which they proceeded to tell me that I'd need to map out my plan and figure out a deadline. Argh. It's as if they don't know me at all. G.E. doesn't plan things - she just does (or doesn't, as is more often the case).

Not wanting to actually have to calculate how many road miles there are in our city, I called up the Public Works office and was directed to a gentleman who informed me that there are approximately 334 "center line" miles in our incorporated city.

Fair enough. The problem is in the details, however.

There are several unincorporated areas for which he was unable to provide an exact number of miles. These roads are also spread all over the city, so, would I want to include these areas in a bike riding goal or not? I had a good starting point as far as mileage, but I knew the plan would have to be sketched in some other manner. Perhaps, by neighborhood.

*Image found here

I happened to come across the interactive neighborhood map pictured above online and thought perhaps that would be a better way to map out the intended rides. The problem is not the 334 miles - I can definitely cover that distance over a number of rides without issue. My biggest concern was exactly where to start and stop the overall big picture ride, and secondly, realizing how slow the riding is going to be because the majority of it will be in neighborhoods.

Additionally, I'd need to find something of interest in each ride, otherwise, it will feel pointless and as though I was merely spinning in circles without end. After my experiment last year with riding a few neighborhoods, I know precisely how nauseating it can become to ride around endless neighborhoods without purpose.

There are also details in regard to how long this sort of adventure could take. I was informed that there is a man who walked all of the city streets in the past, but it should be a bit faster on wheels, I'm thinking. I also don't know if it would make more sense to block out a chunk of time daily over a period of time to ride, or if it is more logical to do longer rides once a week over a stretch of time.

Knowing that I can become distracted once I lose interest, my suspicion is that I need to complete the goal as quickly as possible from start to finish, so whether that means shorter rides every day or longer rides spread out with a bit more gap, I'm not entirely sure, but your thoughts are always welcome.

Pretty much to sum this all up, I haven't come up with an exact plan yet for the rides, but I did want to share that there will more than likely be reports coming (I'm just not sure how soon they'll come) as I move forward with this plan as a way to document what is taking place. If you have any ideas on how to keep myself excited about this project or things to look for along the way, I'd be happy to hear about that as well.

In the meantime, I hope you're able to enjoy a bit of time riding, and again, a very Happy Valentine's Day to all!