Goodbye 2013.  Good riddance.

Yes, I had some fun on the bike.  Put on almost exactly the same number of miles as 2012, even though I took almost 3 full months off (I put less than 1,000 miles in after August).  Aside from the great riding though, this was a pretty uneventful year.  2014 looks to be the exact opposite.  Lots of change, lots of excitement and lots of riding.

Although my 10 days of ToAD were an improvement over 2012, it finished with a pathetic limp to the finish line on the last day.  If I said I was running on fumes at that point, I’d just be giving fumes a bad rap.  I was smoked.  While my overall fitness had improved from the prior year, my specificity really had not.  I didn’t really dial my riding back very much in the off-season, and by ToAD I had lost any and all strength gains made in the gym over the winter.

This year I did the opposite – less riding in the off-season, more time in the gym.  Lots of CrossFit-type of stuff.  Fixing aches and pains and weaknesses and strength imbalances.  I feel much better, and I hope it pays off.

Time will tell.  Now if the snow would ever go away…