flipping the page on my mayan calendar

Maybe that's all the Mayans meant, flip the page. Or buy a new calendar. Anyway, it wouldn't have made sense for me to review 2012 as a cyclist if the world was ending anyway. But now.....here's a look back at my year in cycling.

One pleasant part of 2012 was the mild winter. Several rides in January and February were comfortable with little more than long sleeves. And I even got in some hill repeats and a 50+mile ride by the end of March.

In June I returned to South Dakota for my third Tour de Kota. This year was a loop beginning and ending in Dell Rapids. It turned into a tri-state affair when we spent part of one morning in Iowa, and most of another day in Minnesota. This TdK featured the first overnight outside of South Dakota when we were hosted by Marshall, MN. It was a fun tour with lots of rolling hills and lots of miles for six days in June.

In addition to lots of solo rides in July, I spent Saturday mornings riding with Brad, Roger, Bill and Rodney. And when everyone else had other commitments, Roger was ready to ride as he was training for the MS150 in September. It helped me continue to pile up the miles prior to my next tour, the CRMBT.

When August arrived I was excited to get back to the mountains of Colorado once again. I couldn't even wait for the tour to start, heading towards the New Mexico border to ride La Manga and Cumbres Passes before going south to Chama, NM and northwest to Pagosa Springs.

My fifth Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour was filled with old friends. It was great to see the organizers, volunteers, and riders who keep coming back to this tour, as well as meeting new friends.

The route covered some ground I had ridden before, but in the other direction. It was still beautiful to ride Wolf Creek, Slumgullion, and Dallas Divide. Then I explored some new roads when we headed to Telluride for a rest day, and on to Lizard Head Pass and Hesperus Hill before returning to Pagosa Springs.

September and October felt a little anti-climatic pedaling around eastern Kansas after climbing the peaks of Colorado, but the weather was great and I still got lots of good rides in. Since then the weather, and feeling under it, have kept me off the bike. But I'm already signed up for next August. And if it ever warms up, I'll be back on the road. In the meantime, I guess I have to get on the trainer. It's not the same.

Happy New Year to you and your families!