Year in Review - Part 2: Accomplishments

So I set a few goals for 2007 and I'm happy to say I hit all of them. I rode 2,700 miles which was 700 miles more than my goal. I also wanted to get better at technical riding and downhill riding and I feel like I hit that goal as well.

The final set of goals involved a few races and I'm happy to say I did well on all three. I beat my goal of under 6 hours for Counting Coup and I got third in my class for The Traverse. Also Matt and I took third (THIRD NOT FOURTH) at 12 Hours of Temecula in the duo category.

I wanted to make a brief list of climbs and descents I was excited to ride from 2007 ...

Climbs (only listing stuff I cleared 100% of):

- Poles in El Moro
- Canyon Acres near Aliso
- Cougar Pass (recent)
- "Hell" hill in Malibu (not that bad)
- Every climb in Weir Canyon (a few are pretty tough)

SS Climbs:

- Big Red in Peter's
- Gate to gate at Blackstar
- All of Skyline
- Climb to "the ball" on Main Divide
- Tough climb in Limestone (I think they had their own 3 B's)
- Mustard in Whiting

Descents:

- Old and New San Juan (this was scary at the start of 2007)
- Viejo Tie
- Joplin
- Noble Canyon in San Diego
- Los Pinos
- Bell Ridge
- T&A or Laguna Ridge (rode ~90%)
- Stair Steps (rode ~90%)
- Chiquito
- Clearing 100% of Weir Canyon
- Rattlesnake in El Moro

I basically listed anything that was an accomplishment for me. I was pretty scared of technical riding at the start of 2007, but I've grown to enjoy technical riding and have made some good progress.

Some trails I've improved on time wise (getting good personal bests):

- Beek's gate to gate.
- Harding gate to gate.
- Old Camp & Luge.
- Luge (short lap)
- Whiting, Live Oak
- Coto Valley Loop
- Coto, West Ridge
- Blackstar to Sierra
- Blackstar to Skyline
- Blackstar to Motorway

Only reason I mention these trails is that I ride them quite a bit and for each ride I really tried to push hard to get a good time. I was proud of being able to knock off big minutes for each ride.