Mountain Biking 2009 Season

My first season mountain biking was in 2006, which proved to be a year my life started to change. I’ll never forget the first time Jeff and I hit the trail…And yes “hit” is the correct word. On the first hill I must have fallen 2 or maybe 3 times and I know Jeff fell a few times as well. Tip: Before you go riding make sure you can clip in/out of your pedals quickly and don’t head to the toughest trail in Michigan for your first ride. The 2006 season proved to be interesting all around as the falling continued and so did the scrapes and bruises. Yet we pushed on as it was something new and challenging. Since the 2006 season, my mileage goal has increased each year. The 2009 goal was 1500 miles of which I fell short. Maybe the word short is to nice? To date I have 275 miles on the bike and unless by some weather miracle, I am pretty sure the season is coming to a close. In the 2006 season I rode 525 miles, 2007 a solid 1003 and 2008 1250 even just barely achieving my goal.

So what happened in 2009? Did I get lazy? Maybe gain some weight? It was not laziness and yes I gained a few pounds! As you know Kelly and I had our first child, Aiden Matthew on May 26 this year. While that did change some things, Kelly and I put our health as a top priority and riding is my way to lose/maintain a reasonable weight. Along with our son, I took on the project of installing bamboo flooring in most of the house. Hopefully with that project finally coming to a close, 2010 will be an exciting year of riding! Perhaps 1500 miles? Only time will tell…