Is it Christmas already?

Where has the year gone? We are already all shopped out for Christmas. New Years plans are made. It will be 2010 before I know it.

So while this is not a full year in retrospect post thing, a bit of surfing other folks blog musings got me thinking about how, in some ways, the year fell short of my expectations. To sum up... I 'don't get out much'. I had plans and intentions to ride a whole lot more in far away lands then I ended up doing. There were some highlights: Camp Lynda 2.0 in January, Vision Quest, The Paunsagaunt Enduro, some semi local semi epic stuff, but that was about it. I actually rode a lot, but it was mostly mundane saddle time. And, I am uncertain to know how to feel about that.

Any time you can get out on a bike is a good time. I am fortunate to have stuff I can ride right out my front door that is, maybe not world class, hardly that, but uncrowded and open to riding pretty much year round. I could be stuck in some city somewhere with only concrete pavement and stucco houses for miles. Or, it could be worse than that. I could be in Texas.

So I am enchanted by the promise of new trails and long days spent pedaling yet I am constrained by the realities of life that often do not allow for distant adventures. I can chalk some of it up to poor planning. Some of it is financial and some is the feeling of abandonment of family if I head out for weekends in the woods without them. Then there is fear and doubt. Can't forget about them. That big ride or race can be intimidating. Staying in familiar territory can be so comforting that way. Not much to risk or lose and I still look like a mountain biker to those who know me.

But I know better. I am diminished by what I do not risk to accomplish. It seems that, if I am to have a more complete peace about myself as a mountain bike rider, 2010 needs to come up a notch or two.

My Idol, The Kirkster, gettin' it done.