Closing Time

It's time to close this blog down. Over the years that it has been up, it has not met the expectations I had of it.

Signing off.

Tailwind

I was fast this morning. I mean, noticeably faster than any time this year fast. For me. My morning commute was a full ½ km/h quicker than my next best effort of the last few years; and at least one km/h quicker than my next five quickest rides. How quick was I? Prepare to be underwhelmed. I averaged 35.1 km/h from my home to the office. Are you impressed? I’m guessing that the answer is a resounding, “No!” I’m guessing this because either you don’t understand the metric system and think that I’m just making up numbers here that have no meaning, or if you do know the metric system you have heard the speeds that professionals ride and realize that this is pretty weak. I thank you for your honesty if you fall into one of these camps. If there’s anyone left out there who thinks that this may be impressive still (and at 21.8 MPH it is for me), then thank you for your kindness.

Every year I look for the first commute to average over 32 km/h, which is about 20 MPH. It came early this year. It even came on a route that has never held a high-speed record before. I know the route I take when I’m pushing for a high speed. I drop down the steep hill on Winchester, and then follow 700 West. This gives me a quick jolt of speed, spiking around 64 km/h, as a starting point, and not too much residual climbing to lower that average. But there are some other things that play into a good speed: wind and lights.

Wind, or more specifically a strong tailwind, is the biggest contributor to a high speed for me. If I can get somewhere over 20 km/h and then feel the wind vanish, I know it’s a good wind day. And today was. I was feeling still air near 30 km/h. That means that I didn’t have to overcome wind resistance until I was moving pretty quickly. That also means that I have a quicker base to get from intersection to intersection.

That quicker base speed translates into catching more lights green, which translates to keeping my speed high. So, putting these two things together, I had a magical ride this morning. I rolled through most intersections on green without having to slow down.

Halfway through the day I’m still excited about that great start. It’s amazing how a fairly lithe thing can keep you going for a while. I don’t expect to match this effort for several months or even longer, but I can bask in the glory of it now, until I ride home into the headwind and have the slowest ride of the past few years. But that will be another post for another day.

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Oh yeah, "Tailwind" is indeed the name of a song. Not one that I own, but a title used by several artists for several songs.

Hill Groove

I haven’t ridden out to Camp Williams in years. Let me just start with that. Somewhere around 17 km into a ride on Saturday, in the midst of a downhill coast, I suggested to Phillip that we should make the right turn at Redwood and climb up to the Camp. Let me clarify something here: neither Phillip nor I are climbers in any sense of the word.

To this point in the ride we’d taken on the relatively mild 1% - 3% grades that the valley floor offers. I was feeling pretty good. I’d managed to keep up with Phillip so far.

A little recent background on Phillip. He’s been riding his trainer this winter. He’s dropped 40 pounds in the past year. He’s taken to this biking thing seriously since I introduced him to it years ago. And, Phillip is the kind of guy you want to ride with. He’s willing to talk, takes solid turns pulling, and just helps you to feel good while you’re with him.

So, we rolled past the Maverik at Redwood – if you’re a cyclist in Salt Lake, you know the one I’m talking about – and turned South. I love the recently widened road. Instead of rumble strips and vanishing shoulders, there is a painted bike lane and smooth pavement! It’s beautiful. In fact it was almost beautiful enough to cause me to forget that I was now climbing at 5% - 6% gradients instead of the smooth valley. Almost. However, I know a solid climb when I feel one.  (Did I mention that I’m no angel of the mountains?) And I felt that climb. I made some comment about how I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but mostly we rode quietly, just keeping the pedals turning.

Somewhere up this climb I started testing new ways to turn the pedals over. Last year I had focused on lifting the pedals rather than pushing them down. That wasn’t working for me on this climb. However, I discovered that by pushing the pedals forward across the top of the stroke, I was able to utilize different muscles and find a new rhythm that worked for me on that climb.

Then, I spotted another cyclist at the base of the final grade. He was far in the distance, but when the world drops a rabbit in front of me, it’s hard for me to not think about chasing it down. However, my desire to chase and my ability to chase were not the same. Having him out there kept me going, but couldn’t give me wings. As a side note, I didn’t have any Red Bull, so I couldn’t test if their ads are true or not.

Then, about 6 km after we turned the corner onto Redwood, we reached the top. Now, just for the record, the light is not at the summit, nor is the county line. You have to go a few hundred meters past each of those to reach the summit. At this point we congratulated ourselves on a solid climb, told ourselves how good we were, discounted the efforts of cyclists who rode past us, then turned around for the descent. I’ve decided that this self aggrandizing is a critical part of cycling. Were it not for these sessions, none of us would have any idea just how good we were.

Well, the rest of the ride was largely a footnote to that climb. Phillip had some aerodynamics issues with his jacket that slowed him on the descent, then I got a flat about 10 km before the finish, but it was pretty quick and uneventful.

Alright, one quick note on the flat tire. Always make sure that you sweep the inside of the tire for any sharp objects that may have caused the flat. I’ve read this advice countless times, and usually follow it, but forgot to this time. I got lucky and didn’t have another flat. However, there was still a metal sliver poking through my tire when I checked after arriving home.

Swing of Things

I’ve decided that these past weeks have been neither my most stellar riding nor writing. I think that there is a parallel here. Let me explain.

I’ve taken a few months off from both riding and writing. Without bike rides, there is very little to write about on a cycling blog, so the lack of writing seems to have an obvious cause. I blame the lack of riding mostly on cold weather. And, I’m a wimp about being cold. So, it was off the bike and into the heated truck for a few months.

Well, now that spring has finally arrived in northern Utah, I’m trying to get myself going again, but find myself rusty. I feel much like the cycling comic book entitled Old Guys Who Get Fat in the Off Season. I’ve been dormant, almost hibernating. That means, that despite some muscle memory kicking in to get me down the road, I’m back to where I was last Spring when the cycle played out then as well. That same rustiness has settled into my writing. Despite some terribly interesting events on my  recent commutes and ride with my daughter, my writing has been terrible.

I haven’t even talked about how I used ski gloves and a baklava to keep warm when I was riding in near freezing temperatures. Nor have I talked about the migration from the wind jacket over a thick, long-sleeved jersey to a vest and arm warmers now that the temperatures have risen closer to 50° F in the mornings. I’ve not talked about these things because I couldn’t find a clever way to work them in anywhere. I still couldn’t think of a clever method of incorporating them into a great story, so they just get listed like that.

I still need to gripe and rant about West Jordan and their inability to support anything that doesn’t have a baseball diamond as part of the discussion. I’ll hold that for another day.

So, I’m still looking for the great story about helping out the geocachers, or my daughter falling asleep in the trailer immediately after telling me to go home, or about having three people lined up for the Salt to Saint relay race in June. Well, I’m really not looking for those stories. Those stories have all happened already. I’m just looking for the inspiration to write them in a way that anyone else will want to read.

Basically what I’m saying is that my writing will improve again. Please be patient, and I’ll get there.

Don't Be Stupid

I really felt like yelling this time and again at drivers last night! “Don’t be stupid!” However, since they were all in their metal boxes, although some with a window cracked, they couldn’t have heard me even if I had yelled it.

Where to begin? Well, I knew that smoking was popular on the west side, but I didn’t know that it’s popularity had skyrocketed over the Winter. I swear there was a smoker at every intersection last night. And I got to breather all of their exhaust, both from the car and their mouth. The stupidity here should be self evident, but let me just clarify that smoking is not good for you, and it leads to distracted driving as bad as someone on a cell phone. I just couldn’t believe the increase in smoking and other mass stupidity that had come over the population along my commute route.

There was the guy in the moster SUV who decided it would be smart to turn around the cyclist. Let me clarify a bit further. Her decided that he would loop out into the left turn lane, then angle himself hard across the lane of traffic to be able to get a tun in before the light changed. In the end he did get onto the street a few seconds earlier than witing, but, wow, what a bone-headed way to get home so little quicker.

There were three people pulled over along my short commute. That’s moer than one driver per 5 km. I don’t know what they did, but there was, apparently, mass stupidity preceding my ride as well as duing it. Where, however, was the cop during that stupid turning-right-from-the-left-lane incident I just talked about. That would have been good. Oh, wait, the cop drove past about 20 cars after the guy turned. Dang, that could have been four citations.

Let me preface this one by saying that I am grateful that the vast majority of drivers are pretty smart on this next item, and whether they realize that Utah has a three-foot passing law or not, usually provide closte to that when they pass me. However, there’s always the idiot who wants to prove his sole right to use the road as a motorist and buzzes the cyclist. He pulled this one just before pull-over number three. Some little, silver wannabe-racer car had to rev his missing muffler as he zipped past the cyclist to prove his gas-guzzling superiority. Maybe if I hadn’t had the immediate impression that he was a moron I could have been impressed by the noise his car made, or how quickly he could accelerate. However, neither of those latter two thoughts made it pas the moron label at the time. Too bad for him.

Then there’s the truck who is offered a small opening in a line of traffic and pulls out just far enough to claim that spot, but also just far enough to make going around him impossible either to the front of the back. While the cars may be backed up on their lane, there’s nothing ahead for nearly a kilometer in mine, except for this one joker parked across my lane. Fortunately he was able to inch forward enough for me to pass, so that I could make that light, rather than waiting another three. So far, I think I can forgive this one more than the others. But it was annoying to have to lose my momentum then crank back up to speed.

Okay, now this is a gripe I have whether I’m on a bike or in a car: Choose one lane and stick with it, people. Seriously, when one lane of traffic splits near an intersection to allow for different lanes for turning and straight traffic, choose one of them. Then act like you’re in that lane. There are at least two intersections where this is a constant problem. People either can’t decide which lane they want, so that all traffic has to wait for the slower lane to move before anyone can more; or they choose a lane, but then can’t commit to driving in it and sit there for a while. This is only a problem when I want to actually go through the intersection ahead of me. I guess I should blame this on men, since they are so frequently blamed for not being able to commit, but I think this is a gender neutral issue. Just commit.

After all of that, turning into my neighborhood was a blessed relief. I at least knew that I could predict the drivers from long experience, and I’ve found most of them to be pretty good, at least around their own homes and the neighbor’s kids.

I am more motivated than ever to get through the book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, and What it Says about Us that I just got from the library. I’m sure that I’ll find something scathing about me, but I’m sure there’s plenty about these clod-pated drivers as well.

Rite of Spring

[A Note: I think that by posting two entries on the same day, the listing of 100 things of interest about my riding and cycling history was missed by may people. That entry can be found under 500 Miles.]

Whilst the seasonal change seems to be stalled out in Salt Lake, I have decided to declare Spring as here. I have made this declaration for a few reasons that I would like to lay out here, namely biking to work, scheduled rides beginning, a good excuse to end snow skiing season, and water ski season beginning.

Let’s start with bike commuting. In a bold move of self-commitment and competition, I challenged our office’s new cyclist to a commuting challenge. From the time each of us first dared to commute by bike this year until the end of October we are keeping track of how many times each of us bike commutes. I don’t think I even included a prize for the winner. The very fact that it’s a competition of sorts should help to spur me on. I got off to an early deficit during March, so now have to work on catching up. It has to be Spring for me to start in, so I DECLARE SPRING HERE. For those wondering, I have cycled to work twice this year and hope to double that this week.

Then, there’s the fact that my Upcoming Rides calendar shows that I am supposed to be in shape to be getting out and riding. I’ve gotten a few invitations from teamgive to participate in Saturday rides with them. The annual rides are starting to roll out, including the Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour this Saturday. I guess that I had better start riding so that I can do even a few of these this year. Therefore, I DECLARE THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING. Now, how many will I ride? I dunno. The rides that I have a real interest in I’ve listed, but there’s always the issues of active fathering with a 3-year-old and newborn that can hinder even the greatest of plans.

Back to the point at hand: Spring. I need a good reason to feel less badly about not snow skiing at all this season. (Okay, there, I’ve admitted it. I think that’s one of the steps on the road to recovery.) It’s a whole lot easier to hang up the skis if they haven’t even come down this season. Well, they’re now hung up because IT’S SPRING. I am, of course, ignoring the one-hundred inches of fresh snow that have fallen in the last ten days.

Then the fourth major reason: it’s time to start water skiing. I know this because my brother invited me to go this weekend. Somehow I have no problem accepting air temps in the low 60s and water temps in maybe the upper 40s as ski-able. Yes, it’s still dry suit weather, but I have a dry suit. The lake I prefer is still down from a draining over the Winter, so it’s off to Utah Lake. I can’t believe the number of obstacles against going out, but IT IS SPRING, so I think I’m doing it. If my head freezes off, or my toes become one with the ice, then I’ll regret it. But in order to make this a reality, I DEFINITIVELY DELCARE IT TO BE SPRING.

Faith

I think that I’ve figured out why I don’t want to exercise. Exercise is hard. I mean, that probably goes without saying. But if I think about exercise from the standpoint of just here and now, it’s not worth it. It hurts. I get all sweaty. I have so many other things that I need to do, that I could do during the same time. Far too often, exercise just doesn’t work for me. (Those who know me well know that I have very little in my life that does work for me, and I still don’t have time to do the little that remains.)

I’ve actually had time to exercise a few days this past week, but found ways to talk myself out of doing anything on each occasion. Today it was paying bills; Saturday it was using the Wii to pretend I was doing something. There’s been an excuse every day. I’ve come to see the NordicTrack as an implement of torture. I don’t want to get back on the horse.

I realized that I really need a goal to actually get me motivated to exercise, and the goal can’t simply be to lose weight or get in shape, or something like that.  It has to relate to something that I enjoy that I believe today’s exercise will help. I need a goal event or achievement. I need to decide to ride the Desperado Dual or the ULCER. I need to determine that I’m going to clear the water ski slalom course this season. I need something that ties in something that I know I enjoy. I then need to believe that I will be able to accomplish that goal, and I need to believe that today’s exercise will positively impact my ability to accomplish the goal.

Right now I don’t have a goal like that simply because I don’t believe that I will achieve a goal like that this year. I’ve officially declared this winter’s snow skiing season to be over before it even began. I’m increasingly dubious of any major biking events staying on my schedule this summer. Stemming from a number of factors, I don’t know how much I will actually get to the lake for water skiing this summer either. And, lacking a goal I can believe in, I don’t have the desire to get up early in the morning, drag my tired self down to the basement, crank up some tunes that I may or may not enjoy, and make myself hurt. It’s just not intrinsically worth it to me.

Maybe I’m just weak willed. Maybe I’ve just decided that it’s okay to live a borderline-obese existence. (Maybe I should find a primary care physician and get back on the statins.) I don’t know. Maybe I just need to figure out how I can believe in a goal for this year that will have the power to motivate me to give up a half hour of coveted sleep, replacing it with daily pain. At this point, that’s going to take some doing.

So, for now I’ll continue to eat a few more calories each day that I burn, and gradually watch my weight go back up. Such is the life of a stressed desk jockey. I wonder when Rubenesque will again become popular; I’m ready.

500 Miles

So, this is my 100th post. I had heard somewhere that a blogger should list 100 things about himself (in my case) in his 100th post. I started the list some time ago with the intention of fleshing out the stories of each thing, but never added the details, and when I started today it became overwhelming and would have been far too long. So, without clarification, here are 100 (more or less) things about Kevin's biking history. If you have questions or want to hear the stories behind any of these, comment, email me, call me, or just talk to me. I'm always glad to talk about this stuff.

100 Things about Kevin’s biking

1. Yellow banana seat bike
2. Roger De Coster
3. Schwinn Varsity
4. Centurion LeMans
5. Roland
6. Trek 830
7. Elastomer shocks
8. Trek stolen
9. Specialized Duralcan
1. Clipless pedals
2. XT
3. Future Shock by Rock Shox
10. Cannondale w/ bullhorn bars
11. Giant
1. LX/XT
12. Diadora shoes
13. Cervelo
1. Campy
2. Compact crankset
3. Wider cassette
4. Look pedals
14. Northwave shoes
15. Polar
16. GARMIN
17. Ride to Stokes Brothers
18. Ride to Cook’s grandparents to swim
19. Broken frame on mission
20. Free refills summer in Houston
21. One-handed shift and fall
22. Biking through underpass in 3’ water
1. Rebuilding BB, hubs, brakes
23. 500 miles August 1991
24. Sandy to Sterling
1. Fig Newtons near Utah Lake
2. Not 100 miles
3. Water from a trailer South of Utah Lake
4. Downed 2 litres in 5 minutes in Nephi (that’s 100 miles)
5. Nap in Nephi
6. Seat too low (by a few mm)
7. Walking grades
8. Front light / back light (one each)
9. We ARE stopping in Gunnison
10. Headwind down Spanish Fork canyon
11. BYU campus in spandex!
25. Deathride to WalMart with Mom
26. Schwinn Varsity at college
1. Zip from Institute to Pres. Circle
2. Lock worth more than bike
27. Locking Trek w/ bag strap on campus
28. Big Cottonwood to Amer Fork Canyon
1. Lost getting down to Park City
2. Rod pull group through Park City then bonk
3. Ride up canyon in truck
4. Calling for extraction near Timp cave trail
29. Bike camping on Boulder Mountain
30. First to bottom, last to the top
31. Broken derailleur hanger in Provo Canyon
32. ULCER
33. Desperado
34. LotoJa (LotoAft)
35. BBTC (BCC)
36. New guy who’s strong
37. Emigration canyon
38. Millcreek canyon
39. Big Cottonwood canyon
40. Moab 3x
1. “We’ll fix that when we get there… Let’s go ride.”
41. Never Gooseberry
42. No brakes on Little Cottonwood MTB
43. Corner Canyon mud ride
44. ICup first race
1. First ride on Giant
2. Pedals too tight
3. Wow I know these guys
4. Two hours for one lap!
45. Brian Head ribbon
46. 5-mile Pass improvement
47. Snowbird mechanical failure
48. Deer Valley course
49. Deer Valley downhill
1. Fix Phillip’s tacoed wheel
2. You can go faster when you can stop
3. Stan’s No-Tubes dried out
50. Early morning winter rides
1. Slide out on Jordan Parkway wood bridge
51. Scout 25 milers
1. Out to Bluffdale
2. Park City Rail Trail 2x
52. First family 25-miler (Zion Century 2008)
53. Biking Moon Palace
54. Biking Nuevo Vallarta
55. Ride to Brigham
1. Nap in the park
2. Didn’t quite make Promontory Point in time
3. 40°+ C
4. Flat on fruit lane
56. Cub Scout bicycle presentation
57. Boy Scout 50 miler
1. Complaining the whole way.
58. Too many socks
59. Collecting water bottles?
60. Lakeside Cycles shot glass
61. Chainlove.com
62. Fun print jerseys
63. Like long zippers on jerseys
64. Bibs
65. Workstand
66. Wheel truing stand
67. Install new headset & forks
68. Buying trailer from classmate
69. Pickett
70. Mickelson
71. Asher
72. Phillip
73. Daniel B.
74. Rasmussen
75. Penny Perkins
76. Atkisson
77. Justin Parker
78. Flores
79. Brad Keyes
80. Jarom Zenger
81. Don’t use bike ride analogies in Sunday school
1. Or maybe do
82. CSC
83. Team Garmin
84. DZ passed me!
85. Bikes for Kids
86. LR cycling club
87. Team Mata seminar
88. Dave Shields
89. Want to see the Giro
90. Want to see the Vuelta
91. Kind of want to see Le Tour
92. Want to see Tour of Utah
1. Missed half the stage in 2008
2. Missed half the stage in 2009
93. 2 years over 3,000 km each
94. FredCast
95. Spokesmen
96. Twitter fan of pros
97. VeloCast
98. I have biking blog (surprise)
99.  Fatcyclist
100. Finally sold a bike

Hurt so Good

Yesterday it was my ankles. Right now it's my lower abs. I'm pretty sure I'll feel it in my arms soon. And, I may not be able to walk stairs at some point in the next 24 hours. It's true: I have all the tell-tale symptoms of a horrifically out-of-shape, cyclist who gets fat in the off-season. I don't know what muscle groups are still in tact after my last, three-week hiatus, I don't think there are any.

For Christmas we got a Wii and Wii fit. These were mostly for my wife, but I figured I'd try them just for kicks, or possibly to throw scorn at the "exercise" that game offers. However, I realized after two days of using it that it really does make exercise more fun, and therefore makes me want to do something for the fun more than the eventual reward. I discovered on the third day that if I combined the Wii with my regular workout that I could get a nicely balanced effort in the morning. However, after that third day our television died; the day after that I went on a break. I (obviously) didn't use the Wii since then, and didn't do my regular exercise until Saturday. (More on the Wii and television repair after they're finally running again.)

So, Saturday I actually got up the discipline to get back onto my schedule and do something active. Thirty minutes of cardio and some toning / strength training to accompany it. I felt pretty good about myself. That afternoon, my daughter -- remember this blog is about her too? -- wanted to walk to a neighbor's house to bake cookies. The cookies were pre-arranged, but the mode of transport was not. So, we put on coats, went out into the semi-cold, and walked to the neighbor's house. Google maps puts it at just under a half-mile. We went at her fast pace over there, which meant I got a brisk walk. On my way home, alone, I decided to pick it up a bit an jog. I know, I don't jog. I think that I figured out why. The shoes I had on had no heel padding, so I had to run on the balls of my feet. It felt fine while I was doing it.

Then, a few hours after finishing that massive run, my ankles hurt. Wow. I finally figured out that it was a muscular pain, not something serious.

So, today, after another morning workout, it hurts so good.

Private Idaho

I've learned about a pro-cycling bill being discussed in the Utah Legislature this year, HB 91, that would allow cyclists to make rolling stops when safe. Idaho has had this same type of legislation for years and it has been safely implemented there. I just wrote to my legislators in favor of this bill. You can too, if you live in Utah, by entering your address on the Legislator finder. Here is what I said in my letter:

Dear Representative / Senator,

I am a voting citizen in your district. I am writing in support of House Bill 91, Traffic Control Signs for Bicycles. I have been an active cyclist for several years, commuting to work when weather permits, participating in organized group rides, and cycling for fun and fitness. I have ridden my bicycle in excess of 1,000 miles for the past three years.

During the time I’ve been riding there have been several times when the provisions of HB91 would have been very helpful to me, and increased safety. Let me cite a few examples of how this bill would actually increase safety for a cylsist like me.

A few years ago I was on a group ride and approached an intersection. Another rider recognized that the light at  this intersection would only change when an automobile activiated the magnetic sensor. That cyclist went through the red light. I, however, wanting to obey the law, left the lane of through traffic, crossed the right turn lane perpendicular to traffic, and activated a pedestrian crossing on the sidewalk. I than had to cross the turn lane again to return to the through lane. This actually put me at higher risk than crossing the intersection against the light would have because I had less control of my bike in those strange maneuvers, and there was no cross traffic approaching. I have had similar experiences in various areas of Salt Lake County.

There is an intersection at 1300 West and 5400 South that I regularly cross as part of my commute where the light triggers only with an automobile on the sensor. I have waited at this intersection for several minutes awaiting a vehicle to activate the light. At this intersection the only access to a pedestrian button is across on-coming / right turning traffic. I contravene the law by crossing to activate the button, or by going through the intersection.

I will admit that I have, at times, treated a stop sign at a “T” intersection as a yield when I am passing through the side with no cross street. Doing this allows me to remain in control of my bicycle without putting any other people or vehicles at risk. While I realize that this allows me to maintain control of the bicycle by maintaining momentum, I don’t know that others understand this as well. I do worry about the perception of other drivers when I have done this. However, by making this type of maneuver a legal activity, it will let me – and other cyclists – safely negotiate this type of intersection as well as sign controlled intersectiosn on quiet roadways more efficiently and safely.

I understand there may be concerns about safety. In this regard I submit that a cyclist does need to be aware of pedestrians, but also has great reason to be aware of automobiles in the area. In any automobile to bicycle collision, the cyclist will lose, whether legally in the right or wrong. For this reason, I believe that cyclists will continue to approach intersections with care, and avail themselves of the increased latitude only when doing so will not lead to personal harm.

I appreciate your taking the time to read my views on this bill, and strongly encourage you to vote in favor of HB91.

Happy New Year

Yes, there is a song with the name, "Happy New Year." It's by ABBA. Don't ask how I know these things. I even found this one without help from cddb.com. Anyway, it's a new year, and I realized it's now been two months without a post. That practically qualifies this as a dormant blog. Sorry to anyone out there who was actually looking for updates from me.

I have decided this year that new year resolutions are overwhelming. Not because you're striving for improvement, but because you're going for total makeover improvement - in the middle of winter. So, instead, I've decided to implement monthly life improvements. Each month I will implement one thing into my life that will improve me. Just one thing. It can be a physical improvement goal, something related to family, a personal issue, work related, anything. The point is that I want to make one thing a habit during that month, then hopefully find that it will continue as I move on to the next area of improvement.

So, what is my great start to monthly improvements? I have selected that to be the implementation of the monthly improvements! Wow! I've already accomplished the first one! Now, I know that's a weak start, but I didn't actually decide to do this until halfway through January. So, I'll really begin in February. Some of these improvements I'll mention here and provide updates. Others may not fit this forum. I'm sure some will relate to weight loss, some to cycling, others to waterskiing, maybe some to getting my family outside and active. Whatever they are, having these monthly improvement goals will give me something to aim for even after the health clubs have emptied in February.