Welcome to the year 2015! A new year is a time to plan goals, ambitions, desires and resolutions, if you will, into a calendar of sorts. Whether a continued new year resolution addict, or someone who prefers to set a couple of goals to achieve for the year, many take the calendar flicking over as a good time to try something new, get excited about changes, or seek out more good times than the previous year.
New year鈥檚 resolutions are quite amusing. Many hit them hard for January, sometimes making it a couple of weeks into February, but few make it through the year 鈥� let alone the first quarter. Head down to any of the local gyms and bear witness to it in the wild, or ask the staff about it; every turning of the calendar sees an influx of 鈥榥ew years resolutioners,鈥� as they鈥檝e been affectionately coined. It鈥檚 quite the sight and definitely the busiest four to six weeks that gyms see all year. But mountain bikers seem to be a little different in their approach to the new year.
For a start, many have already set their goals for the year and are likely training for said goals already. Judging from experience, it seems we are more goal oriented and don鈥檛 tend to fixate on a quick idea. Sure, a resolution or two related to bikes may be set for the new year, however these will likely be placed as goals to achieve with a more strategic approach of reaching them set to be taken, at least for the competitive rider.
Whether it鈥檚 to have more fun out on rides, perform better in races, tick off a number of personal nemeses, or check off mileage and vertical goals on Strava, they all come in more of a longer form. Rather than seeing a sudden influx of riders battling it out in the depths of winter, we鈥檙e more likely to acknowledge that the goals or ambitions in mind are going to take time before they come to fruition. For sure some will hit the stationary bikes and trainers harder after the holiday season hoedown, with some needing to set a date to get after it, and why not the first of a new year?聽Some will be on it simply to get back to the physical condition that once was, prior to the holiday binge.
Nah, mountain bikers are more likely to set a goal, or simply continue riding, with an emphasis on getting more joy out of their free time on two wheels. Thoughts of this are likely embedded in the skull already, removing the majority of riders from any bright ideas that come up on a whim while the clock counts down another year on the blue and green marble we call home. With the first day of the year granting more free time, you can bet these wheels will be seeking joy right from the get-go 鈥� then again, they鈥檇 be provoking smiles regardless of what day the calendar states.
