My schedule for this year is now finalized. Guess what? I’ll be spending a lot of time in the mountains. I am thus far registered for eight mountain events and a couple smaller, local events.
This year is a little different from last in that I am skipping a lot of the smaller century rides to focus on training for the larger, more challenging events. Last year when I was figuring myself out, I used these smaller rides as training (and a way to accumulate lots of T-shirts). I have since found that I train better on my own and prefer the flexibility to choose my rides. I’ll still probably ride in a few of them, but I am not going to bother registering in advance.
The four target rides are the same. Assault on Mount Mitchell is still my key ride, which I have been training for all winter and will continue throughout the spring. Blood, Sweat & Gears will be my summer challenge. I’ll end the season in the fall with Bridge to Bridge and then Six Gap Century within three weeks of each other.
2012 SCHEDULE
Colon Cancer Challenge
Tour de Lure*
Assault on the Carolinas*
Tour de Lake
Issaqueena’s Last Ride*
Tour de Cashiers*
Tour de Midlands
Assault on Mount Mitchell
Blood, Sweat & Gears
Copper Triangle*
Blue Ridge Breakaway*
Bridge to Bridge
Six Gap Century
SteepClimbs.com 
March 22nd, 2012 at 3:12 am
“I am skipping a lot of the smaller century rides to focus on training for the larger, more challenging events”.
That’s awesome and funny at the same time.
March 22nd, 2012 at 5:59 am
LOL. That came out a little wrong. Last year I participated in almost every century known to man, but this year I am going to slow that down. This time I only want to ride when there’s climbing.
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:18 am
It’s all good my friend, reads great to me.
March 23rd, 2012 at 11:22 am
If you didn’t spend your time in the mountains, you would need to rename the blog to something like “Rollingontheflats.com.” I also enjoyed the notion that centuries can be considered “smaller rides!”
Good luck on what promises to be a great year for you. Looking forward to the tales in this space.
March 23rd, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Thanks, Steve. I made a joke once after a tough climb that I should have registered boringflats.com. But I do enjoy my mountains.
And trust me, I would never categorize one of your brevets as “smaller rides.”
March 30th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Looks like I won’t run into you this year. Planning on doing the Roan Moan near the end of August. Check it out if you’re free!
April 1st, 2012 at 9:34 am
Too bad we’ll miss each other. I’ll be in Denver for this year’s Roan Moan, but I hear it is a great ride. Roan is a beautiful mountain. It is on my bucket list.