Year in Review
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2025 in Books: Myth, Growth, and Reckoning
Similar to last year, in 2025 I read books whenever spare moments allowed. Unlike last year, where most of my reading was digital, I read more real paper books (all part of my “live more analog” life goals), listened to more books on audio, and peppered in e-reads along the way. When I wasn’t listening… Continue reading
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2025 in Photos: Fraught & Rumpled, Glints of Sun
Regular readers know that I am committed to the annual retrospective. I like the exercise of looking back, though I admit that 2025 is another one that I’m doing with my hands half-covering my eyeballs. It was a topsy turvy time with a gut punch here and there. I hate gut punches! Someone said to… Continue reading
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2024 in Books: My Fave 15 Reads
It may not have been a big year in the feats of human strength department, but in place of long rides and runs I started reading lots. In 2024, I finished 96 books, a personal record. As I wrote in my other wrap-up post, books became a balm to manage my experiences in a way… Continue reading
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Year in Review: 2024
It’s a bit hard to reflect and write about this year, mostly because of the mean way it started. Still, I have generally liked the practice of the wrap-up post. It gives me a sense of where I’ve been and helps me think about what to look forward to in the coming year. So let’s… Continue reading
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Year in Review: 2023
If 2023 were a bike ride, I would describe it as one filled with spectacular climbing. Steady long climbs at manageable grades. Vistas on all sides. Tough in patches, especially toward the summits, but not painfully so. Equally scenic pedal-free descents. No hairpin turns. No crosswinds! Few headwinds! Sunshine! Some of the best downhills I’ve… Continue reading
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Forward: 2022 in Photos
We’re down to the wire, but with a sliver of time remaining I’m putting out a year-end wrap-up in photos. Much of 2022 happened outside the picture frames. Studies. Work. Other stuff. Stuff I can’t really photograph. Still, these roundups help me mark time, reflect on what has passed as well as what caught my… Continue reading
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2021 in Photos: Beauty’s Where You Find It
Thoughts about this last year are a jangly jumble, but to roll them all into one phrase I quote Madonna in saying: “beauty’s where you find it, not just where you bump and grind it.” This has been a year of embracing change, accepting our impermanence, and seeing opportunity in each day even on days… Continue reading
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2020 on Two Feet
Running is what I do when I want to sift thoughts through my head. A run helps me believe that life is manageable. I ran steadily in 2020 and ended up with 1,280 miles. I walked, too – 614 miles – because walking is a good tool for not only doing errands around town, but also… Continue reading
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2020 on Two Wheels
Nothing like waiting until the last day of the year to put together the year end posts! I lost a lot of motivation for writing this year because all my thoughts and activities felt frivolous in light of current events. Still, I love doing the wrap-up and seeing what the year in photos looked like… Continue reading
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2019 in Photos: Charging Forward
Much of 2019 has been a year of charging forward without looking back, compared to previous years where I took time to do so throughout the months. With one day remaining in 2019, I thought I’d walk through my favorite photos from the past year, and reflect on the months gone by. January January brought… Continue reading
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2018 in Photos: Focus and Flame
Before 2018 slips completely into yesterday, I am sifting through my memories of the last 12 months. As regular readers will know, I have not blogged much this year, but I did keep on living life and taking photos here and there. While I’ve missed the writing, time away from the computer screen has been healthy.… Continue reading
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Try Harder, Calm Down: Final Thoughts on 2017
At the beginning of each year, I like to set an intention to carry me with me over the next 12 months. These are usually developed as a way to address some aspect of life I’m wrestling with. For 2017 my intention was “Try harder, calm down.” Stuffed with anxiety about 2017, I resolved to somehow… Continue reading
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2017: A Fine Year to Ride Bikes – And the Photos to Prove It
Around this time last year, I was 90 percent blah about cycling. I appreciated the bike for how it improved my quality of life and distanced me from driving and other transportation options, but I was not enjoying the rides. Blah, time to go get groceries on my bike. Blah my boring commute awaits. Blah… Continue reading
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2016: Bike as Backbone
My year in cycling was another surprise when I compare how I felt about it versus the story reflected in photos and miles. The story was far better than perception during a period when time on the bike was – like my running in 2016 – inconsistent from month to month, making for a herky jerky year.… Continue reading
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Running Down the Hits: 12 Months on 2 Feet
The year winds down, and the lull in normal activity opens up time for reflection. The last 12 months have signified intense growth for me, but not in the areas that I write about here. I tried some new things I wanted to do, and learned a lot about the importance of incremental progress and a good sense… Continue reading
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Forward: Run Goals Unlocked
Normally around this time of year, I find myself in a state of contemplation, reflecting on the year behind me. I thought I’d post a summary or two about 2015 running and cycling, but when I sat down to write, it didn’t work. This year I devoted a lot of time to “big thoughts,” sad thoughts, fears. I reflected on how I can… Continue reading
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12 Months By the Potomac River
Ever since I moved near the D.C. waterfront, the Potomac River has silently shaped my movement. I sidle along it to leave the city and head into Maryland. I must cross it by way of one of two or three bridges to reach Virginia. Continue reading
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BikeDC Commutes 2014: The Months in Photos
As I was assembling my recent post about 12 months of running in D.C., I realized that I wanted a memory of the past year’s bike commutes in the city. Considering I spent much of the year feeling blasé about the urban bike experience, my photos make it seem like it wasn’t so bad. As if I enjoyed… Continue reading
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RunDC: 12 Months of Running in Washington, D.C.
I am on my way to Kindergarten. My mom has packed my lunch for me. I stuff it in my backpack, shrug on my coat, and point my two little feet toward school. It’s three blocks away– three country blocks and I have five-year-old legs, but still… it’s three blocks. And I have 30 minutes… Continue reading
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Dig Deep. Flow Like Water: Goals Met and Unmet in 2014
As each calendar year begins, I consider the activities I’d like to accomplish and how I want to go about them. I record my intended approach as a theme. The emergence of a year’s theme is based partly on anticipation, a bit on what’s transpired in the past, and my mood at the time. I usually flesh it out in… Continue reading
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2014: Bike Rides (Mostly) and Photos
As December approaches its final days, I find myself in a reflective mood. As in previous years, I’ve put together a set of Year in Review photos to summarize many of the year’s activities. This is my image-centric summary of 2014. Continue reading
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2013 in Review: Bike Rides (Mostly) and Photos
I’m back with the second part of my year-end post, a month-by-month set of photos. For nine of the 12 months I feature one photo that best represented the month, but three months warranted more than one. As this is a personal glimpse at how I saw the 12 months of 2013, all photos that follow… Continue reading
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2013 in Review: Goals, Mileage, Rides, and Runs
At the beginning of this year I committed to having a different kind of year than I had in 2012. At the end of last year I had started to feel burned out, as though I had been doing the same thing over and over and not enjoying it. Felkerino and I agreed to back… Continue reading
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Looking Ahead Without a Spreadsheet
As mentioned in a previous post, I track the miles I run and ride. I keep tabs on the number of days I do each activity. Bike ride? Check. Trip to the gym? Check. Miles ridden or run? Write them down. I usually take great pleasure watching the trips and miles add up over the… Continue reading
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2012 in Review: Variety is the Spice of Life
Another December passes, the sun sets on 2012, and I find myself reflecting about the activities of the past year. While Felkerino and I focused on preparing for and completing Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011, our 2012 cycling proved more varied. We commuted, completed a Super Randonneur series with the D.C. Randonneurs, trained to ride the Colorado… Continue reading
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Randonneur Rewind: Another Take on my First Year of Randonneuring
It’s hard for me to believe that I completed my first Super Randonneur series in 2005. That seems so long ago, yet it doesn’t feel like I’ve been randonneuring for that many years. Time is flying! As the brevet season kicked off for Felkerino and me this past weekend, I started feeling a little nostalgic and… Continue reading
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More 2011 in Review: The Rides and the Photos
The past couple of years, I started photographing more of my rides. I like having the tangible memory of an outing. I’ve always written ride stories, but this year, I enjoyed capturing commutes, weekend touring rides, brevets, meetups with friends, and miscellaneous errand running. I spent a fair amount of time cycling in 2011, in… Continue reading
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2011 in Review: The Rides and Photos
January Our neck of the woods did not receive much snow this year, making January a rideable month. We did have below-average temperatures, though, so some rides were chilly. These two shots are from a sub-freezing sunny century Felkerino and I did in early January. My ankles felt so cold that I thought they could… Continue reading
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2011 in Review: All Rides Lead to Paris-Brest-Paris
Now that 2011 is coming to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the year, as many people do. For me, 2011 was all about Paris Brest Paris, not just because of the event itself, but also because of all the careful planning and diligent pedaling it took to get there. In early 2010, Felkerino and… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 