I guess I’m a little late in posting this but better late then never, right?

2015 was certainly an interesting year. The biggest news was another crash on the bike. This time it wasn’t my fault. There was a couple riding side by side on the bike path close to home. I came around a blind corner (I was doing around 30 km/h) and there she was – on my side of the path. No time to react and down we went. I got off relatively well I guess with one broken finger on my right hand (multiple fractures) as well as a stress fracture in the wrist.

So about four weeks off the bike in the height of summer. 😦 I also missed the 2015 Ottawa GranFondo as the crash happened three days before! Once I got back on the bike it took a little while to get back in shape but I still managed to beat 2014.

Yes, that means I beat my goal of 10,000km! I was very happy with that. Here are the details for 2015:

• Count:                      178 Activities
• Distance:                  10,282.30 km
• Avg Distance:           57.77 km
• Time:                         361:50:26 h:m:s
• Avg Time:                  2:01:58 h:m:s
• Elevation Gain:         34,248 m
• Avg Speed:               28.4 km/h
• Avg HR:                     141 bpm
• Avg Bike Cadence:   72 rpm
• Max Bike Cadence:   124 rpm
• Calories:                     205,099 C

So you can see from the graph above where it flatlines (due to the crash) that I think there is room for improvement. So my goal for 2016 was/is 11,000km. I think I’m pretty well on track as I’m right around 7,000 as of today. The other change last year that made a difference is that almost all of my winter riding in late 2015/early 2016 was outside. I got myself a fat bike and rode around in the snow.

That has proven to be a lot of fun. The snow makes all the difference since too much and it’s a slog but that is rarely an issue around here. I ended up doing about 900km on the fat bike. I hope to do more this winter. The one issue was that I almost always took the bike by car to the starting point since I don’t want to ride in the street in winter. That won’t be an issue next winter as I’ll be living across the street from the start of the bike path. Another thing to note is that my average speed is down for the year as the 900km was done at under 20km/h on average. Not a problem but just with noting.

I think I’m actually stronger/faster this year than I have ever been. My average speed for the last 30 days is actually 29.3km/h so pretty happy with that too. It seems to easier keeping up with the fast Bushtukah Tuesday rides as well.

I did both the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour and the Ottawa GranFondo this year and aside from lousy weather for the RLCT (rain on Saturday and wind/cold on Sunday) both rides went very well. We have another long ride in August (MEC Century) and possibly the Perth Cyclosportif in September. We did the Perth ride in 2015 and it was cold so we’re still unsure if we’ll attempt it this year.

Outside of riding, the big news for this year is my move. The house is now…

So all that’s left is the move itself. Closing is December 6th and the condo is supposed to be ready the week before. I won’t know the exact date until it’s closer. REALLY looking forward to it. My only concerns is if I will find it cramped since I work from home so much and how Stormy will react.

Speaking of Stormy, she is doing very well. She turned 11 this year and looks like she will outlive Parker and Peanut (knock on wood). Here is a recent pic:

That’s it for now. I should really try and update this more often. Too busy riding!