I am feeling rather sentimental at the moment and though I hadn’t planned on doing an “end of the year” post, I have hastily cobbled one together anyway. I have included a picture from each month and added a few highlights underneath them.
Had my first subzero ride at -17, which was my toughest commute of all time because I was unprepared to deal with that level of cold. But I made it and subsequent subzero rides were much easier.
So much fun in the snow, this is the month where handling my bike in snow started to feel more natural. I discovered the wild world of snow dunes and crunchy ice rides.
Errandonee! Mary from Chasing Mailboxes organized a fun event that turned mundane errands into exciting adventures.
I used clipless pedals for the first time and promptly fell over. My mom rode with me, the first time since the start of the year that I had a biking buddy! I also clocked in my longest ride ever at 39 miles.
I bought my first road bike, on our first ride we went 50 miles. The next week we rode our first century. May was a month of giddy excitement.
My sister came home and we were able to go on some rides together through the rest of this year. She even biked with me to work one day, which no one had ever done before.
I raced an Amish horse and buggy for the first time.
I bought a bike trailer which has hauled everything from my dogs to groceries to garbage.
I went on some adventures to lakes and parks in my area, over 700 miles in total for the month.
I rode with a local group of 3-5 cyclists for a few Monday nights, my first ever group riding experience. I also biked in a city for the first time.
I went on my first ever mini bike tour; 3 days, 320 miles. I rode 150 miles the last day and came to the conclusion that I will never, ever bike long distances without cycling shorts again. Ouch!
I bought a new mountain bike to use for the winter. We had our first snowfall and it made me so excited for winter-which unbeknownst to me would take forever to properly arrive.
Lots of pining for snow and some fun trail riding on my mountain bike.
My favorite ride in the snow ever!
6,788 miles in total.
I had a great year on my bike and I didn’t do it by myself.
Even I biked the majority of these miles solo, God was always me with me. In reality, I never rode alone.
My dad was my 24/7 emergency hotline, troubleshooting problems over the phone whenever I ran into problems.
My family gave me so much love and support this past year and I even got various family members to join me on rides which was really special.
And last, but certainly not least, all of you have encouraged me so much in the past year. Your blogs have inspired me and taught me many things. Thank you for investing in me by taking the time to comment on my posts; whether you gave me a new perceptive, shared a personal story, passed on helpful advice, shared links to invaluable information or funny stuff, made me smile and/or told me to “keep it up!”, you made a difference. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I wish I could give all of you great big hugs…
Happy New Year to all!
Great post Bri, and a very Happy New Year to you.
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Thanks Martin! 2016 is just around the corner 😀
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It sure is, it’s only 45 mins away here!
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Happy New Year, Bri! What a year of cycling you’ve had, and I particularly like the March and April photos in your post. All the best in 2016.
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Thanks Mary! Best wishes to you for the New Year as well.
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You are an animal!!! Way to go! Have you thought about doing a bike tour. Two really good ones are nearby. Adventure Cycling has a loop around the Adirondacks. Also, the Erie Canal is a real treat. Best wishes for 2016.
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Thank you! I am determined to go on some sort of tour this year. I have a dream but I have a lot of work to do to make it happen…we’ll see 🙂
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Your last paragraph. Awwwww. We all had some bike fun this year didn’t we?
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Yeah, it was a great year 🙂
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Congrats … great year in biking. You actually had more mileage than me .. Kudos to you.
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Thank you Ron 😀
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Looking forward to your further adventures.
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I am so excited for 2016, Dan! We both have lots of adventures to look forward to in the new year 🙂
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Nice post! Happy New Year Bri. You had a great cycling year, completed more mileage than me I think, and rode in much more difficult conditions. You are an inspiration to all of us on 2 wheels.
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Thanks for all the encouragement you gave me along the way , Gary 🙂
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Have a fabulous bike filled 2016 sweetie… Here’s to many more miles under the pedals
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Aww…thanks friend!
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Happy New Year!! That was a great post and I loved reliving your year in photos. I hope 2016 is even better for you.
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Thank you so much Anthony 😀
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That’s a ton of miles. You learned a lot on the bike too. I have been riding for over 40 years and each ride teaches you something. You’ll never stop learning and enjoying the biking. Happy New Year.
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Thanks Ray!
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You’ve definitely been bitten by the bicycling bug!Looking forward to reading more of your adventures in biking in 2016.
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Thanks Doug! Getting bitten by a bug has never been so much fun 😉
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I am in total awe of your exploits, discipline and determination. I just found your blog, and signed up to follow your posts. Good luck for 2016, cheers.
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Thank you so much! Your commuting is super impressive to me, keep it up 🙂 I hope you have an awesome year as well.
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