OK, It's decided and done!

Alright, I've made my decision for 2008. And...I'm making it official and in writing by putting my goals down in this blog. First off, let's reflect a little on 2007. Oh, Happy New Year everyone! And...Say happy B-day to Mrs. Mozam, it's her 51st this year on Jan 1, 2008. Ok, back on topic. Like I said before, last year was a banner year for me cycling wise, and I even surpassed my goal for the year. Unfortunately, this month has been a rather dismal month of cycling due to illness, which I can't seem to shake all the way. But, given the situation, I did pretty well and topped off the year just under 8,400 miles. With only one Double and a hand full of centuries this year, I think I did pretty well on the organized cycling front. So, the question remains for what to do in 2008?



Here's the plan (click on titles to follow the link):

Total 2008 miles: 8,800. That's 10% over 2007.

Jan: Lotsa training miles: Shooting for 800 plus for the month, 1 local Century

Feb: Butterfield Double

March: Solvang Double

April: Training carryover, with 1 local Century

May: Davis Double Century, or possibly the Eastern Sierra Double in June

June: LA Wheelmen Grand Tour

July: Training Month with at least 800 miles.

Aug: Desperado Duel Century Option

Sep: HooDoo 500 (50 plus)

Oct: Solvang Fall Double (never done this ride but looks really good)

Nov: Event options open. Looking for 700-800 mile in training.

Dec: Same as November.

Now I guess the question remains can Mozam do all of this? Somebody once said: "Always shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you will still hit the stars."

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Indeed, what is wrong with the picture above? Well, Mozam is not on that bike and riding it! That's what is wrong with that picture. We are on a "flexible" work schedule this week between the holidays and I can't ride because of this miserable cold that I've managed to acquire. I had a track coach in college that always said, "treat a cold like you would treat an injury." Well, I have taken that advice but by being so prudent, I've decided not to ride, and expose myself to the elements which could make this malady even worse.

So, I thought I would look at the glass half-full and post a little information about a wonderful discovery me and my cycling buddies came across 2-days ago, The Rivers Mountain Trail. Here's a quick blurb from the website:

The River Mountains Loop Trail is Nevada's first endeavor of its kind. Constructed through a combined effort of many of Nevada's resource management agencies, private land owners and citizens, the trail will provide Nevada residents with an outdoor recreation area offering scenic views, plentiful wildlife and the vast beauty only the Mojave can offer.

When completed, the River Mountains Loop Trail will be approximately 35 miles in length and will surround the River Mountains connecting Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Hoover Dam, Henderson, Boulder City and the rest of the Las Vegas Valley, expanding recreational and alternative transportation opportunities for the region's growing population.

I have alluded to the trail a couple of times on some of my past blogs. A couple of days ago several of us discovered that the good folks who put this trail in have completed a whole new section that follows along the west side of Lake Mead. Most of the trail in that section paralells the main road but after a few miles the trail takes a turn and heads back inland where the "old" lake road used to be. Here's a link to the trail map. I gotta tell ya, they did a magnificent job on this thing. The trail is extremely wide and easy to ride on, even on a road bike. We all remarked, "hey this is like mountain biking, but using your road bike instead!" What a great ride!

A couple of pictures of the newly complete section

The Start of it All

I can feel the sea breeze in this photo: Bellows Beach
Ever wonder how things get started? Well, I was sitting in this very chair on 25 Nov 2005 when I decided to start a photo album for my son. I took on this monumental task because when my 'ole man died back in 1991 I found a bunch of photos of people in his family who I didn't even know. So, that began the journey into the land of scanning, categorizing and organizing hundreds of photos of our family so my son's kids don't have to look at a picture and say, "who the f__k is that." What does that have to do with cycling you ask? Well, while I was thumbing through all our family photos from our days in Hawaii from 1994 to 1997, I came across a few that we took during our very first organized cycling event, the Honolulu Advisor Century ride. And as they say, "that was the start of it all."


Looking back to the North from Hanama Bay and Hawaii Kai area

As I recall, it was a beautiful day, and what day is not beautiful in Hawaii, eh? I bought a Burly Zydeco Tandem back then and thought it was such a great bike. Actually, it was a real POS by today's standards. But hey, we weren't real roadies anyway. We just puttered along the Pearl Harbor bike path and took a few trips around the base on weekends in those days. Anway, like I said, it was a great day and we were really gonna have fun on this one. I remember the routing taking us through downtown Honolulu, up and around Diamond Head, through Hawaii Kai, past Hanama Bay, with the turnaround someplace near Bellows Beach. It was truly an epic ride and probably the reason my son, Keith, has never taken up cycling with me. He learned all about the dreaded bonk monkey and just how grumpy Dad can be when junior decides to ride the tandem instead of pedaling the tandem! Regardless of all of the bad things that happened that day, I only remember how gorgeous the scenery was and how thankful I felt to be part of it all.

The Mighty Burley Zydeco Tandem

The Kid Bonks!

Goals for 2008...Hmmmm?

Decisions, decisions! Last year was a banner year for me on the bike because I rode my bikes more than 8,000 miles in a single year. Having said that, what do I do next year I thought to myself? I would really like to set the bar at 10,000 miles, but I don’t want to be obsessed with striving to attain such a lofty bar. (Mozam, chin in hand, elbow on desk, looking up and to the right…deep in thought). Some quick math tells me that to attain 10,000 miles next year, I would have to average about 833 miles per month. That’s quite a big nut to crack since I scored an average of close to 700 miles per month this year. So, what’s a guy to do? Set the goal and go for it? Or, pussy out and only go for the recommended 10% increase over the previous goal and use that as a guideline?

I was told once that goals should always be achievable. Why? I have absolutely no idea. Who cares if the goal is achievable anyway. The only person who really cares is you, so why would anyone else give a crap? Ooops, why am I putting this in my blog? Frankly, I think riding 10,000 miles in a year is doable, and if it isn’t I can always change the goal, or lower the bar, so to speak. But hey, isn’t that cheating? Let’s see: I’ve already committed to riding 5 Double Centuries next year with my riding buddies so that’s 1,000 miles already in place. And…if I do another, say, 10 Centuries during the year, i.e., one per month or so, that’s another grand, so theoretically I could make it, right?! I love arm chair logic, don’t you? Get’s you all fired up inside and ready to hit the tarmac with a vengeance. Now, how do I crack that 833 miles per month in the summer time when it’s 100+ °F on the roads around here? Things that make you wanna go hmmmm? I would talk this over with Mrs. Mozam, but when I mention stuff like this she just stares at me with that 30-years-of-marriage, evil-eye and says, “you’re crazy!”