December 2021 (miles 1975-2057)
That’s not a typo. I coasted to the finish line with just 74 miles in December. I broke two more rear wheels on the Snabb. With the holidays, and work, and stress, I just hit my wall and burnout is real. Either way here we are. Just over 4,200 miles into the 2020’s. 2022 needs to be a year where I take care of myself. I wear a smile. Build loud, crazy fun bikes and cars… Just sometimes the outside doesn’t match the inside.
November 2021 (miles 1814-1974)
Like the phoenix rises from the ashes, so has my fleet. Fall of 2021 was some dark times. Where the story of Spring was one of the broken body, Fall was broken equipment. My bikes are looking better now than they ever have. I am going to have to open up another page to showcase my builds. The jumper got a fresh powdercoat, lavender sparkle, and top to bottom rebuild. Looking and riding gorgeous. I didn’t even try to hide the scars on the Snabb. I opted for a Yakuza finish. I covered her in ink from headtube to rear axle. I logged a few more miles, and have the bikes back to form.
October 2021 (miles 1642-1813)
Too close for missiles, we’re switching to guns. With the Snabb in pieces, what better time to completely tear down the Jumper and find myself without a bike. Wait, I have a collection of 7 more, they’re just in kids sizes. Feel free to swing by anytime and I’ll crack a few beers and race them down the street with you. Still racking up the miles, and taking some time to catch up on a lot of deferred maintenance.
September 2021 (miles 1424-1641)
Absolute, and total destruction. In one race run I completely annihilated all the work I’ve done getting the Snabb back into action. My return to racing went like the movie Tin Cup...
Roy: I just made a 12. Molly: You sure did Roy, and it was the greatest 12 of all time. No one’s gonna remember the Open five years from now, who won, who lost, but they’re going to remember your 12.
I had the fastest first 90 seconds, then I thought I dropped a chain. Then the rear wheel stopped moving. The derailleur disappeared, cracked the cranks, shattered the chain, wedged the end of the chain into the brake. I spent 10 minutes on the side of the course breaking the bike free from it’s own carnage. Then coasted to a 6th place finish. I wasn’t about to let the mountain win, I was always going to finish that race…
August 2021 (miles 1207-1423)
Dirt jumping, racing GridLife, good times with friends. Summer is where it’s at. Got another 200 miles in this month and I fully recognize that I’m riding on borrowed time as far as the hardtail is concerned. I got all the parts in for the Snabb, and I am getting ready to race my first bike race in a long, long time. Hanging all my medals and numbers in the shop lit a fire under my ass to get back to trying to kill myself on two wheels. I’ve missed the feeling of shutting the world out, going flat out with total commitment.
July 2021 (miles 984-1206)
Burnout is real. This wasn’t a physical burnout. It was mechanical. I’m over 3,000 miles in since I started in 2020 on the same two bikes. Wear and tear this month was such that niether worked really well. It is hard to stay motivated to stay on the bike when its bombarding you with problems. It adds stress to something that is supposed to clear the mind and relieve stress. Uggh this month was hard and frustrating.
However, I got a lot of miles in. More than 200 in the last month. I am also catching up on things. I am closing in on fixing all the issues with my trusty fleet. I even put in an order for a 3rd. Stay tuned and you’ll get a chance to see this build. I’ll make a special entry when it comes in. Till then just keep moving forward.
June 2021 (miles 706-983)
Making up my miles with a vengence. Sitting off the bike as long as I did gave me a great habit of walking with the wife and kids consistently. The sun is up late, so I also have time to ride. There is a lot of pent up aggression towards sitting idle, and the bike is the perfect outlet. My hand is coming back, I still have limitations, but it is coming back. This month was a good one. It got me back out there. I got me back to where I needed to be for the second half of the year.
May 2021 (miles 553-705)
You can absolutely call it a comeback!!! 6 weeks, surgery, snapping scar tissue in physical therapy, I pressed 100% commitment to get my hand to close again. It was a hard, gory, painful process, but it was worth it. Nothing worthwhile in life was easy. It feels amazing to overcome such a tremendous setback.
With all of that being said. I’ve made a few changes. I have put an increased focus on safety equipment. I have a dirt jumping helmet, armored gloves, I even ordered a HANS device for my racecar antics. I think the shattered pinky was a wake up call not to change my ways, but to change my protection and safety gear, I am still going to give it 100%, I just need to make sure that I’m wearing what I need to minimize the risk. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of miles to catch up on.
April 2021 (miles 453-552)
I didn’t think much of it. I was out riding a trail that I hold the KOM time by a large margin on. I wasn’t pressing for a fast time. It was just my backyard local trail. I crossed some roots and slid 6” off line, and my handlebars glanced the tree. I even almost rode it out, but lazily fell off the bike.
When I got up, my pinky wasn’t where it belonged. I’ve been here before. I must have dislocated it. Time to trail reset them. I pull and there’s no pop, nothing solid. I try again, same result. Shit, I’ve broken my hand. It would take surgery and three pins to get the seven pieces of my pinky back together. This is certainly not how I wanted to catch up on miles for the 2021 Challenge.
March 2021 (miles 278-452)
The absolute highlight of my March miles was our family trip to Crested Butte. Three days in the high country does a lot of good for the mind. The snowy & icy spring has made mountain biking difficult. Even with the weather challenges presented, I have almost caught up on my 2021 miles. I currently stand just 48 miles off pace.
February 2021 (miles 176-277)
Snow, Ice, Cold… Just get out there and make it happen. On the positive side, crashes hurt less with a few more layers. The snow and ice also make for some seriously wild drifts and slides. Where others hang their bikes in their garages, a dedicated few are still out there getting seriously fast. The lack of daylight hurst the most. Just barely broke 100 this month. Still 100 less than the month before.
January 2021 (miles 0-175)
Going back to zero sucks!!! Thankful for dirt jumping to keep my spirits flying high for a new year, and a new challenge. I know the commitment it takes to make it happen. I have that going for me this year. 175 miles is a healthy start to the 2021 challenge. If you have a goal, aim freaking high. Shoot for the moon, you might surpirse yourself and land it.