2010 was my first year back on the bike after a long time off. It felt good to be a bit more "selfish" now that the boys were 6 and 4, and take some time to do some riding just for me.
Without a doubt, the best purchase I made this year was my little blue friend: a Garmin Edge 500 bike computer. It's an ANT+ compatible device that records data from a number of different channels:
- Heart rate
- Cadence
- Speed
- Temperature
- Location
- Power
For a fantastic review, check out Ray Maker's write-up on the Edge 500. The Garmin software is pretty good (I've re-implemented a good chunk of it on my own as well - look for details in the new year). It makes it really easy to analyze your rides after you're done.
My goals this year were pretty simple: 1) get out and have fun, and 2) ride up as many hills as I could find to force myself to get into some kind of shape. I didn't have any well-defined goals this year, since that would have defeated the get out and have fun goal. Looking back on my training logs on Garmin Connect, I can see that I:
- Rode over 2000 miles
- Climbed over 115K vertical feet
- Completed the Seattle LIVESTRONG century in abysmal conditions
- Rode up my first mountain pass (I spent most of my life in Toronto) when I rode up to Johnston Ridge.
- Recorded an FTP of 207W on one of my loops around Lake Sammamish.
Next year I'll follow a much more structured training plan to see what I can pull off. Looking forward to it!
