I picked up a GPS unit, Garmin 705, back in October 2010 with the idea of loading tracks onto it when I was in unfamiliar territory. Little did I know that I'd get all geeked out on the stats & tracks of my recorded rides. It seemed to mean a bit more with the visualization of the aerial image of what was just ridden along with the elevation profile. So it began. I started tracking every ride I went on, didn't matter how long or short, new or old, easy or difficult, I'd track everyone and see what I could do over an entire year. I threw out what I thought were some modest goals for 2011, 1200 miles & 100,00 vertical feet. I was on pace through the first 3 months, perhaps a bit over, then April rolled around and I managed a 203 mile month. I began to think, you know, I can make 2000 miles & 200,000 feet this year!! Let's go for it! 2011 closed up shop yesterday and I brought down the house with a fantastic finish out at Picketpost, truly one of my favorite places to ride.
My final tally for 2011 was:
122 Rides
2,128.17 miles
235,440 ft
146,721 Calories burned
405:08:07 (hh:mm:ss) time riding
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| Hit mile 2000 at the popular DC water tank. |
I'm really excited to have accomplished the mileage & climbing goals. Only 2 short years ago I could not have dreamed of doing even a quarter of that. I have my family & friends to thank for the motivation a company while out on the trail.
Here are some of my favorite images from this past year, not all of them are bike related!!
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| Re-discovered the trails out in Gold Canyon |
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| Getting 'lost' under the 3-bridges during the Jamboree |
Suffering through my first Quadruple Bypass & breaking my finger (on video, 4:33 mark)
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| Re-discovering South Mountain |
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| Zipping up to Deer Valley, UT for a day on the slopes |
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| Riding through Antelope Canyon on the BCT for the first time. |
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| Going back to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve for the first time in over 12 years |
The Ripsey segment of the AZT, I couldn't settle on just one image, here's a few:
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| Seron on the Florence-Kelvin Hwy. |
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| The Big Hill |
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| Ripsey ridgeline. |
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| Best ridgeline in AZ!! |
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| Sequence shot fun, Seron on the roll. |
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| Crasanda on the alt-line. |
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| James doing the Man Drop!! |
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| AES Prescott Monstercross, 13 1/2 hours, last 2 under the lights!! |
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| Finding treats in the desert. |
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| Riding solo to the end-of-trail at Picketpost in May. |
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| Almost finding the end-of-the-line on the same ride!! |
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| AES - Flagstaff to Sedona |
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| Desert Tortoise spotted on Hawes |
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| Grey Fox on the Lost Goldmine Trail |
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| High above the Florence-Kelvin Hwy |
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| Spotting the elusive Shaka cactus. |
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| More exploring around Pima / Dynamite. |
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| Summer night rides. |
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| Getting away from the heat to Mt. Elden in Flagstaff |
2011 - The summer of the Haboob in Phoenix
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| The final space shuttle mission, Atlantis. |
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| Day trip to St. Augustine |
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| Sitting in Charlotte's airport for 9 hours trying to get home |
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| AZT - Blue Ridge Passage |
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| AZT - Blue Ridge / Fred Haught Trail buried in ferns |
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| First jaunt up to Tom's Thumb on a warm August morning. |
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| Went to San Francisco for the annual street food festival...yum! |
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| Riding alongside Whiskers the super trail dog! |
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| There were many Hike-a-bikes (HAB) in 2011, this was one of my most painful. |
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| Mountain bikers unite. |
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| Rode the newly completed San Francisco Peaks passage of the AZT |
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| Made a run south of the border to Puerto Vallarta. |
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| Entered & finished my first sanctioned mtb race |
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| Back home in PA for a friend's wedding, couldn't have asked for better weather. |
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| While in PA I was able to borrow a carbon 29er, didn't want to give it back! |
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| Enjoyed a day by the Lehigh River in Jim Thorpe, PA |
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| This may look like PA, but it's Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ |
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| Still Mt. Lemmon, same ride...the Lemmon Drop! |
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| Went back to Mt. Lemmon a week later for a hike through Marshall Gulch |
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| Chris and I did some exploring on the AZT near Kelvin |
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| My first taste of riding a singlespeed 29er, the AES BCT 50 miler |
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| Happened to be near home when this rolled through Queen Creek, the last steam locomotive |
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| Another AES event, Kentucky Camp 46 |
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| My solo Thanksgiving ride of the Flight of the Pigs route. |
Picketpost Group ride
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| AES McDowell 46 brought out future Olympian Krista Park |
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| It also brought a chollaball into my hand.... |
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| Attended the 1st annual Turkey Ranch ride |
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| More fun on the not-so popular west end trails of South Mountain |
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| Did some more hiking exploring around Kelvin |
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| Our scouting / exploring led to this through ride from Picketpost to Kelvin |
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| Seron and I enjoyed many long outings in 2011 |
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| Great bunch of guys to finish of 2011 |
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| Is there a better way to end the year? No. |
Here's to a grand 2012.
