Last year I decided to log every ride, something I had never done before. (Why no, I am not on Strava!) Inside a tiny Rhodia notebook (orange cover and grid pages, of course) I wrote down the date, the bike, a quick description of the ride, and how many miles, down to tenth of a mile. Over the course of 2022 I rode a hair under 1,800 miles. While it’s not the “baseline” of about 3,000 miles I would do in the years I lived in the Woodlawn house, it’s a lot better than I thought it would be.
I’ll keep on logging the rides in 2023. My big goal is to “ride more”. But I’m not going to quantify what that will look like, just something more than 1,800 miles.
No, I’m not making any lofty goals for my riding this year, because I know that will get me into trouble. (How ’bout that “Will my 2022 look like my 2012” business from last year?) I know that I want to increase the amount of bike overnights and tours in 2023, especially since 2022 saw a paltry amount. But I know that I want to do something this year. Maybe the lack of touring makes me want it more?
If that’s going to happen, it comes down to my overarching goal of 2023: Make time. One reason why I didn’t camp/tour as much as hoped in 2022 was because I distracted myself with other travels. If I want to do more, I’m going to have to make the time for it to happen. And in reality, I have a lot of time in my schedule. I just need to be more efficient.
As for where to go, I don’t have any lofty goals. This won’t be a year of cross-country or overseas adventures. I’ll keep it close to home, and thankfully there’s a lot that can be done nearby. I wouldn’t mind doing overnights and tours of various lengths in the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Gorge, Central Oregon, the Oregon/Washington Coast, the Puget Sound area, and the Cascades to Palouse trail in Washington (especially since they finally got the car-free bridge across the Columbia open!) Of course I won’t be able to do it all, but if I can hit up a fraction of all that, I’d be happy.
So there it is, folks. What does your 2023 look like for cycling?
Urban Adventure League 
Humble goals are yet worthy goals. This year I am hoping to continue getting around primarily by bike, but I am wanting to add some pleasure rides into the mix, maybe even some weekend dirt touring. Additionally I will be learning how to braze so that I can modify vintage bikes and eventually build a couple for me without any compromises.
Definitely a return trip to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mt St Helens. So much to see. So epic.
Yeah, that’s a great area, and I don’t get there enough despite its proximity.
I don’t use Strava. The activity app on my Apple Watch records all the necessary data bits and I have one bicycle. I’m focused more on increasing how often I ride.
Cycling goals for me 2023 is simply to get out more. I miss the “solo tweed” rides I did back in 2020, dressing up, packing a picnic and just roam around looking for a nice spot to sit down and enjoy the early hours of the day.
Perhaps more adventures, take the bicycle by train to unknown destinations for a ride? But mostly, getting out more.