2007 In Review

What an interesting year 2007 was. Even though I lost the bulk of my weight in 2006 I still started 2007 weighing about 240 pounds. By the end of the year I was between 202-207 pounds. It was a good year for weight loss.

I was able to meet and surpass a few goals set for 2007. One of the biggest was to complete the Assault on Mount Mitchell, I was able to complete it on my first attempt in 10:08. This year the goal is to shave off an hour.

I wanted to complete at least four centuries during 2007,and finish at least one of them in under 6:00 including the stops. I managed five centuries, two of which were solo, and finally in September I did complete one in 5:53 with stops.

Mileage was a completely different story and quite a surprise to me also. The original goal for 2007 was 2500 miles. After all, in 2006 I only put in 1600 miles, so a conservative goal was set. By the summer I was already at 2500 miles, so I revised the goal to 3000, then again to 3500. At 3500 miles I stopped revising goals and figured that every mile beyond that was just icing on the cake. It wasn’t until December and I was about 180 miles short of 4000 that it became the target. On the last day of the year, after the ride with a few Bee Teamers, I still had to put in 2.2 miles to make the 4000, but I did it. The goal for 2008 is just 3000 miles, but I intend to actually ride smarter.

There were two big wrecks in 2007, the first on a Mitchell training ride, coming down the backside of Fork Creek Road. The second, while riding in Oregon, I was hit by the tri-guy riding with the group who cut me off by turning right as I was pulling through the paceline. Suffered a slight concussion but managed to get back on the bike after a day of rest.

So here is a brief breakdown of the year in numbers:

• 4,000 miles
• 250 hours on the bike
• 282,772 calories burned
• 155,000 feet of climbing

Here are a couple of charts, the first one is month to month mileage, the second is elevation per ride. As you can see, the Mount Mitchell ride skews the chart big time.

All in all a great 2007, and looking forward to an even better 2008!