It's that time of year where I look back on how I did versus my stated plans. Here's what I wrote down for my 2020 plans in February:
- March - Murray 1200K (Australia)
- April - Hill Country Randonneurs 1000K
- April - Okayama 1200K (Japan)
- May - Brevet series in Wisconsin
- June - Northern Virginia 1200K
- June - Sandhills Tour
- June - Tour of the Driftless 1000K
- July - Colorado SR600K
- August - Hokkaido 1200K (Japan)
- November - Great Southern 1200K (Australia)
So how'd I do against the plan?
HM the Q, said 1992 was her "Annus Horribilis" which if I recall my high school Latin well enough, means "My butt hurts terribly". So taking a cue from the Q, I'm going to go with "Abacus Horribilis" which I think means "wow my back hurts".
Because it does. The good news, if there is any, is that with the exception of the Murray 1200K none of the other rides happened anyway so I didn't miss anything. All things considered, if I was going to choose a year to sit out I couldn't have done much better than 2020.
So I didn't do any of that, what did I do? Here are some stats for the year:
- 203 rides
- 5,288 miles (less than half my usual annual total)
- 1,498 of those miles were on the trainer
- 1,880 miles on the Cruzbike recumbent
- 3,408 on various DF bikes
For the visual among you, here's what it looks like as of today. Note that I'll probably get to 500-600 miles before the month is out.
To recap the key events the chart depicts:
- Had what I thought was a "Soleus strain" in February. Turns out it was sciatica but I didn't realize it at the time.
- Blew my back out but good on June 8. Spent the rest of June and most of July in considerable agony (Abacus Horribilis)
- Rode the recumbent, mostly on the trainer in August. Managed a little over 500 miles.
- Had back surgery on August 28th.
- Zip in September. Walked instead.
- Cleared to ride again on October 9th. Spent the rest of October riding the recumbent on the trainer.
- Started riding the DF on 11/1, still inside. From then on intervals of riding the DF or recumbent.
- First outdoor ride on November 3rd. From then on I rode outside when the weather permitted.
So there you have it. If you're of the "glass half empty" school, I did none of the rides I'd planned and only rode about half my normal mileage.
I choose to take a rosier view. Despite persistent problems with my back, surgery and the resulting recovery I'll have managed to ride just under 6K miles by the time the year is out. Not what I'd have chosen but I persevered and did as much as circumstances allowed and perhaps more than was prudent.
So what's in store for 2021?
Stay tuned!
