2021 review - Highlights, lowlights, nightlights, stats, etc.
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Weird year for me, numbers were down a little, worst ride was involved a bad crash up off Empire about 7 weeks ago that took a while to get over. Had a bunch of great rides getting to know in detail my new neighborhood. Had an amazing trip that featured an epic descent off the Wasatch crest above SLC and an unforgettable 5 days on the legendary North Shore BC.
XC summer was a great success, sold my old Levo SL in the spring and built up a sweet Epic that helped get me over the E hangover. But summer is over and now a new Orbea Rise H30 hangs in the garage.
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XC summer was a great success, sold my old Levo SL in the spring and built up a sweet Epic that helped get me over the E hangover. But summer is over and now a new Orbea Rise H30 hangs in the garage.
Big year for me did 2500mi and 331k ft. I did 6 XC races and an Enduro. My most memorable ride without a doubt is the Mother Lode Epic race. That was 41mi on the hottest weekend in June. I went from racing to riding to surviving. I was challenged physically and mentally more than I ever had. Almost gave up when it was 105*+ and one stage left, but I dug deep and finished it (without coming in last
). I did some other big and challenging trail rides that were pretty fun. Rode a bunch of new places. Had my 17yr old son there for all of them. Spent way too much on bikes and parts lol. Now we’re zeroing in on my sons final high school MTB racing season. He’s gotten much stronger and faster, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does on varsity this season.
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). I did some other big and challenging trail rides that were pretty fun. Rode a bunch of new places. Had my 17yr old son there for all of them. Spent way too much on bikes and parts lol. Now we’re zeroing in on my sons final high school MTB racing season. He’s gotten much stronger and faster, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does on varsity this season. 
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602 Posts
179 hours on the bike in 2021, and 164k in elevation.
Highlights:
Worst ride of the year: descending dirt Alpine on a gravel bike (but it wasn't that bad).
Introduced to Peloton rides - better than doing nothing.
Highlights:
- Riding Pacifica for the first time, and many times.
- Riding Downieville for the first time (best ride of the year)
- Not having a significant crash for the first time in 3 years
Worst ride of the year: descending dirt Alpine on a gravel bike (but it wasn't that bad).
Introduced to Peloton rides - better than doing nothing.
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4,169 Posts
Nothing too eventful in the mountain bike world for time this year. Just a lot of local riding and ebiking.
My most memorable ride was when we set the alarm for 11:45pm and rode through the night with Derek on the way to his Everest ride.
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I did get to ride a couple new places this year, but significantly less than in the past because I’m hooked on the moto again and most my trips were centered around that.
New spots for 2021:
Oakridge. Better than I was expecting.
Tish Tang DH outside of Humboldt Co.
Del Valle. I wanted to ride here for year and finally got a full tour.
A new trail system outside of Truckee.
Grouse Ridge. Too jank for me.
Some trails in Rouge River. Not my cup of tea, but fun for machine built flow trails.
I guess that’s not bad. On to 2022.
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My most memorable ride was when we set the alarm for 11:45pm and rode through the night with Derek on the way to his Everest ride.
I did get to ride a couple new places this year, but significantly less than in the past because I’m hooked on the moto again and most my trips were centered around that.
New spots for 2021:
Oakridge. Better than I was expecting.
Tish Tang DH outside of Humboldt Co.
Del Valle. I wanted to ride here for year and finally got a full tour.
A new trail system outside of Truckee.
Grouse Ridge. Too jank for me.
Some trails in Rouge River. Not my cup of tea, but fun for machine built flow trails.
I guess that’s not bad. On to 2022.
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5,419 Posts
Good stuff people.
For me 2021 was one of the most active I have had to date. Took up jogging and lifting. Tried to moto once a week and that was rad but only rode local (Metcalf/Hollister). Found a diet I love (intermittent fasting heavily influenced by salads). Still not drinking booze and love that but...boring. Been about 6 years now and not going back...don't miss the hangovers. Took up piano and guitar and play everyday...really enjoy both.
Biking was huge for me this year. Had a steady diet of eBikes but re-found my passion for acoustic after buying a Stumpjumper Comp Carbon and made some upgrades. Picked it up late April. Ebike duties were split between Kenevo and Levo.
Total ride: 252
Total footies: 1,006,660
Miles: 4663
Acoustic footies: 216,818
Acoustic miles: 1024 miles
I won't do that level of riding again but glad I did it. My eBikes are trashed now. Need hecka parts all over the place.
Also, of note, did a lot of building and trail work this year. That's a hellofa workout.
Launched the 12th annual Dog Meat No Dab and I always enjoy the participation I see there.
Customized my helmet...yeah, dope, I know.
Best ride was Nisene where I spent a good amount of time this year. Can't believe Pinecrest didn't get more love...stupid fires! Enjoyed a steady diet of Pacifica, SC, Nisene, LG proper, Woodside, Coe...I think one Annadel thrown in for good measure. No real worst rides...no big crashes or bikes fails that I can think of. I was injured all year with pain here and there. Knee pain, shoulder pain, and neck pain causing headaches. Blech. Nothing that kept me from being active though.
2022: Plan to moto more. Not worry about footies. Build more cool stuff. Make music. I also plan to spend way more time on acoustic bike...at least 50% is the plan.
Peace out all you dirt riders and hope I see some of you out on the trails this year!
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For me 2021 was one of the most active I have had to date. Took up jogging and lifting. Tried to moto once a week and that was rad but only rode local (Metcalf/Hollister). Found a diet I love (intermittent fasting heavily influenced by salads). Still not drinking booze and love that but...boring. Been about 6 years now and not going back...don't miss the hangovers. Took up piano and guitar and play everyday...really enjoy both.
Biking was huge for me this year. Had a steady diet of eBikes but re-found my passion for acoustic after buying a Stumpjumper Comp Carbon and made some upgrades. Picked it up late April. Ebike duties were split between Kenevo and Levo.
Total ride: 252
Total footies: 1,006,660
Miles: 4663
Acoustic footies: 216,818
Acoustic miles: 1024 miles
I won't do that level of riding again but glad I did it. My eBikes are trashed now. Need hecka parts all over the place.
Also, of note, did a lot of building and trail work this year. That's a hellofa workout.
Launched the 12th annual Dog Meat No Dab and I always enjoy the participation I see there.
Customized my helmet...yeah, dope, I know.
Best ride was Nisene where I spent a good amount of time this year. Can't believe Pinecrest didn't get more love...stupid fires! Enjoyed a steady diet of Pacifica, SC, Nisene, LG proper, Woodside, Coe...I think one Annadel thrown in for good measure. No real worst rides...no big crashes or bikes fails that I can think of. I was injured all year with pain here and there. Knee pain, shoulder pain, and neck pain causing headaches. Blech. Nothing that kept me from being active though.
2022: Plan to moto more. Not worry about footies. Build more cool stuff. Make music. I also plan to spend way more time on acoustic bike...at least 50% is the plan.
Peace out all you dirt riders and hope I see some of you out on the trails this year!
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5,419 Posts
I wish. I actually started a new job in July. Blegh.
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haven't been around here much but MTB year in review:
- Set a goal of climbing 400k feet and got like 415.
- Didn't ride that many new places. Weirdly Rockville was probably the most new stuff, other than some of the newer trails in Sedona. Hope to change that this year.
- After like 25 years of mountain biking I somehow made some real technical leaps this year. I'm generally actively riding stuff now rather than just surviving it, and that feels like a big change. Some of the stuff that threw me at Rockville in the spring was no biggie by the time I got back there in the winter. And definitely rode plenty of stuff in Sedona that I've not been able to before.
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Been a weird year for me.....have been living abroad in Europe for nearly 3 years, before returning back to NorCal nearly exactly 1 year ago today. The re-entry / reverse culture-shock has been real...
1 year ago today I had a broken femur. I broke it in Denmark just a few days prior to moving back, which caused all kinds of mayhem. But once I returned to NorCal, rehab and recovery and getting stronger again was the name of the game. So January and most of February 2021 were not the best months physically and mentally for me, but was good to be back 'home' (even though I had just left a place that had become 'home' for me during the few short years I was there).
Anyway -- I ended the year with a few miles short of 8,000 miles. I ride road, gravel, and MTB and these miles are spread pretty evenly amongst my rides. I love to race (dirt) and knew I wouldn't be anywhere near the level I was at in the past, but did race have the Mother Lode Epic race (mentioned above) and scored a 4th in Pro division just off the podium, and more recently (October) raced the Moab Rocks 3-day Stage Race, and scored a 3rd overall in the 40 - 49 age group...so getting on a podium in a rocky technical stage race like Moab was a major 'win' for me and helped me get over some fears I've had about crashing and re-injuring my leg.
In June, I attempted the Trans North California bikepacking 'race', from Reno to Mendocino, point-to-point. This is a 400-ish mile gravel & MTB route that can be ridden on any bike, but IMO favors a MTB so you can rip the gravel roads, but also have fun on all the single track bits of the route that include Forest City, Bullard's Bar, technical dirt in the Stonyford moto area, singletrack around Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, and then finishing off with Mendocino singletrack just before the finish in...Mendocino. I wanted to beat the current FKT which sits around 40 hours and has last about 6 or 7 years. Halfway through the race I was on pace to beat that, but GPS issues and the savage SAVAGE heat on Day 2 left me unable to keep fluids down after suffering up Goat Mountain in Stonyford where the my Garmin recorded 120 degree temperatures for most of the day. I ended up getting a ride out in the back the back of a good samaritan's pickup truck where I sat and bounced around in the bed of his pickup truck, dry-heaving & puking off the side as he barreled down a dusty dirt road to drop me off (literally) on the pavement of a gas station in Clearlake where I could then get a cell phone signal
....good times....
Anyway -- 2021 was the first year in 3 years, where all my miles were in the US, not in Europe. That was both good and bad.
Looking forward to more adventures, and taking another crack at the TransNorth California FKT this summer I hope.
1 year ago today I had a broken femur. I broke it in Denmark just a few days prior to moving back, which caused all kinds of mayhem. But once I returned to NorCal, rehab and recovery and getting stronger again was the name of the game. So January and most of February 2021 were not the best months physically and mentally for me, but was good to be back 'home' (even though I had just left a place that had become 'home' for me during the few short years I was there).
Anyway -- I ended the year with a few miles short of 8,000 miles. I ride road, gravel, and MTB and these miles are spread pretty evenly amongst my rides. I love to race (dirt) and knew I wouldn't be anywhere near the level I was at in the past, but did race have the Mother Lode Epic race (mentioned above) and scored a 4th in Pro division just off the podium, and more recently (October) raced the Moab Rocks 3-day Stage Race, and scored a 3rd overall in the 40 - 49 age group...so getting on a podium in a rocky technical stage race like Moab was a major 'win' for me and helped me get over some fears I've had about crashing and re-injuring my leg.
In June, I attempted the Trans North California bikepacking 'race', from Reno to Mendocino, point-to-point. This is a 400-ish mile gravel & MTB route that can be ridden on any bike, but IMO favors a MTB so you can rip the gravel roads, but also have fun on all the single track bits of the route that include Forest City, Bullard's Bar, technical dirt in the Stonyford moto area, singletrack around Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, and then finishing off with Mendocino singletrack just before the finish in...Mendocino. I wanted to beat the current FKT which sits around 40 hours and has last about 6 or 7 years. Halfway through the race I was on pace to beat that, but GPS issues and the savage SAVAGE heat on Day 2 left me unable to keep fluids down after suffering up Goat Mountain in Stonyford where the my Garmin recorded 120 degree temperatures for most of the day. I ended up getting a ride out in the back the back of a good samaritan's pickup truck where I sat and bounced around in the bed of his pickup truck, dry-heaving & puking off the side as he barreled down a dusty dirt road to drop me off (literally) on the pavement of a gas station in Clearlake where I could then get a cell phone signal
....good times....Anyway -- 2021 was the first year in 3 years, where all my miles were in the US, not in Europe. That was both good and bad.
Looking forward to more adventures, and taking another crack at the TransNorth California FKT this summer I hope.
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