Read. Write. Ride.

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions but I did come up with a simple formula for making 2014 a great year.

In short in 2014, I will:

  • Read more
  • Write more
  • Ride more
That's it - you can be done reading my blog now. 

However, you can keep reading if you want a a slightly more fleshed out version of my Read more, write more, ride more goal.


Read More -  I have a good start on reading more having finished two fiction books already this year (The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin and A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy). I'm also well into The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (a Christmas gift from my daughter, Rose).

  • I want to read books in an actual chair with a cup of coffee or tea. You know, relax and read a book instead of sneaking a few moments with a book in the bathroom, say. 
  • I want to let go of the guilt of reading and get my brain around the fact that a writer needs to read and that downtime with a book is good for the soul
  • I don't have a number of books I am setting out to read but I would like to spend some time reading every day.

Write More - I wrote a ton of website content in 2013 but didn't write much for publication or - gasp - for the sheer joy of writing so in 2014. So to start things out:

  • I have a goal to finish a very short bicycling piece by the end of the weekend
  • I have an airplane restoration article that I started months ago and want to finish by the end of the month and send it out to an aviation magazine
  • I have a bicycling essay I started and want to finish and send out for publication - uh, how about by the end of February? Sounds good.
  • I'd like to keep up on my two blogs (this one and the 1947 Dodge Blog I write with my brother)
  • And I want to write in my journal more often. Not daily, perhaps, but several times per week.
Ride More - I've got every bike I need (though not every bike I want, but never mind that) to ride year-round on pavement, gravel and snow and I just want to ride them. Last year my milage was somewhat low, yet all of my miles were good miles - and some of them were absolutely awesome! This year I've already gotten a start riding my fatbike in the snow. And I want to keep on going!
  • I do want to up my milage this year but I don't want to get stressed out with the numbers.
  • I want to do one of the MS rides this year, hopefully the week-long ride across Minnesota. 
  • I want to get my gravel bike set up so I feel comfortable riding it - then ride it more.
  • And, this is the biggie, I want to stop comparing myself to other riders. They may be faster or more skilled or go farther than I do. But - news flash! - I need to worry only about one rider and that's me.
It goes without saying I want to do other things in 2014 - spend time with my family, travel more, floss my teeth every day, exercise, be the real me, sing, dance, laugh, walk the dog - all that sort of stuff. But I think if I take care of my simple list of three, other things in my life will fall nicely into place.

Here's to a great year!

There's lots of snowy trails and they are just waiting for me to ride them on my fat bike, Bear!

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