Many years ago I thought I was really cool if I rode 5 miles at one time. I would cycle around the neighborhood with a baby or a bag of groceries in the little baby seat on the back. Finally, I graduated to more than 10 speeds and even got a mountain bike. Well, to justify all that bike power I needed to up my mileage so I developed several strategies to do this. The easiest thing to do was to ride the same route once a week, noticing certain markers (mile markers in the case of Molt Road and Rimrock). I started just riding out to the base of the Molt hills (the hogbacks are pretty intimidating for a beginner). One day I made the commitment to myself to make it to the top of the first hill, with a reward of a sweet snack if I made it. Each week or so it was pushing to the next hill, then mile markers, then, there was Molt! Always with that reward to work for. This works well for our wonderful trail system.

Next came riding with someone else who I didn’t want to think I was a sissy! The miles seem to fly by when you are talking to someone, but it kind of puts a damper on things when one of you decides to turn around before the mutually agreed upon destination. Who wants to be that person? My group of riders has grown over the years as well as our destinations. Make the destination fun (like a stop for lunch or a snack, or a dip in the creek), still upping the distance from time to time.

Last December I made a New Year’s resolution to ride my bike every month of the year. To make that happen, the right clothing was a must. Wind Stopper gloves, tights and jacket made a huge difference in the lowest temperature in which I was willing to ride. You can improvise, but cutting the wind is most important. I don’t always do a long ride but a trip to the store counts in my mind and achievement of the goal is within reach now. Hmm, how will I reward myself??

What I’d like the “bicycle riders” to take from this little blog essay is to set achievable goals for yourselves then REWARD yourself! Happy trails.