Monday, January 3, 2011

What a year


2010 was a hard year for us which was a main reason for the very small amount of blog posts during the year. Who really wants to hear me complain on this blog all the time?

But, the year was not all bad. I was able to buy Rachael's 29er and it definitely made me a better rider. I could ride things that I could not before and the 1x9 made me a stronger rider. I did nine mountainbike races and did well in most of them and also participated in the WORS women's spring fling as well as helped lead beginner women's rides. I rode over Rachael's Log and finally made it up the hill on Garden Grove on the 1x9 in the fall. Christopher loved the trips to the races and keeps asking when we can go to another race. Yes, I have a wonderfully odd little boy. = )

I did do a couple of ABD's indoor time trial series but not all of them and skipped the outdoor time trial to do the Sylvan Stampede. The only other road events I did was the Gapers Block crit series Half Acre put on in March. How could I turn down doing five races for less than $20?

Cyclocross season started great. I did five cross races at the beginning of the season. I was riding well, won a pair of gloves and a little $ and actually earned my first upgrade point. = ) I had offered to volunteer for the Chicago cross series so I could race for $5 a day but only got Jackson Park in before I broke my ankle at the start of the second lap of my sixth race. That obviously sucked.

For 2010, I had a total of 3,235 miles on the bike and nearly 125 miles of running -- not bad since I was off the bike awhile with the broken ankle and, obviously, have not run since it happened Oct. 2.

Work went well to as I now get to do more writing/communications for the League of Illinois Bicyclists -- as well as still being able to work from home and pick my hours, which is an awesome perk.

Otherwise, holy crap was it a difficult year. My Grandpa Welch died at the beginning of the year, after my Grandpa Oudsteyn had died almost exactly a year earlier. Our pet rabbit, Buttercup, also died. Christopher did not know his grandfathers that well so the death of our rabbit is the first death he has really had to deal with. He still tells people -- including random strangers -- that she died and occasionally asks us when she is coming back.

Tom lost his job. Part of his group went with a new firm but things have not been going well at all. His pay was sporadic and his last paycheck was on Sept. 1. The stress has been huge, obviously. I have not been healthy for the entire year -- first, Christopher and I had some type of infection, then I had recurring sinus infections and I broke my ankle on Oct. 1, which I'm still recovering from.

I would love to think this year will be better but it has not been off to a good start. So, I likely will not be blogging much this year either but do hope to ride a lot, even if I don't get any racing in.

1 comment:

Julie said...

I'm sorry you've had to endure such a tough year, but chin up... things have to get better, right? Looking forward to seeing you & the family out there in 2011!