I love this bike!

I’ve put over 22,000km on this bike in the last 4 years, and it has been rock solid.

What tours have I done with it?

• Our 2020 European road trip
• My 2021 Camino Portuguese tour
• My 2022 Via Francigena Italy tour.
• My 2023 Bordeaux to Paris to Mont St. Michel tour

Plus, all my day-to-day rides. I’ve taken it on gravel as much as possible and done some pretty insane routes through fields and forests on tours.

The back hub did crack slightly last year. The Tout Terrain guys said there was a structural problem with the design, and I bought a much stronger replacement from them. Otherwise, it has been problem-free.

I got it equipped with a Pinion P1.18 (internal gearing), and I hope never to use a chain again. Internal gearing is the best! I just have to swap the oil once a year, and it is such an easy setup. I’ve used the same Kevlar belt for 4 years, and it might have another 4 years in it.

The only thing I’ve changed is added a Thudbuster ST seat post, swapped in new puncture-resistant tires, removed the front rack, and switched the seat a few times.

I highly recommend their bikes; pretty amazing touring bikes.

For 2023:

• I did 453+ hours of tracked workouts (a new record 🥳!).
• I worked out on 274 days in some form.

How do I feel about this year?

On the health front, this year was lightyears better than 2022.

I started 2023 with some health worries, and I was recovering from a long bought of sickness and other weirdness in December. I shifted my diet heavily, and after a few months, everything looks good (and I’ve felt good).

Even better, I haven’t gotten sick much in 2023. I have done better at keeping my stress levels healthy, which helps my immune system. When Calico first started school I got a few bad bugs through him, but nothing major since then (knock on wood).

Biking

• I rode 277+ hours on my bike (just barely a new record 🥳!).
• I biked 137 days of the year (tied for 3rd highest on record).
• I covered 5,491km (the 2nd-highest year on record).

I did my longest bike tour this year in France. I rode 1,269km, and it was a fun route. I did a good job training for this tour (as good or better than 2022). I still have room for improvement with training and the tour pace. I struggled to take a day off in that initial 10-day tour because I was so excited. Given how busy Shepherd was this year, I did an excellent job fitting this into my life.

Strength Training

• I did 95+ hours of strength training over 106 days this year (shy of my goal of 3 a week). I averaged ~53 minutes per workout (I sometimes cut them short if I am not feeling the energy or something is off).
• I did 25+ hours of yoga over 67 days (my new goal is twice a week). I do a simple 22-minute yoga session on YouTube with a guy I like.

I haven’t broken this out before, but I’ve started doing strength training ever since I injured my back. This is due to Jeff in Boulder; he is an awesome dude and my trainer (one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I wish I had done it 10 years earlier). As Jeff taught me more and more, I realized how much fun it is to move your body in different ways. I find it relaxing, and I’ve been pretty good at doing three ST sessions a week, each about 60 to 90 minutes (mix of stretching, lifting, etc). I need to keep my core strong so my back stays happy.

What else?

Sick / Not 100%
I was sick for 4% of the year. That is much better than 2022, where I was sick for 11% of the year (and 2021 was 13%). The worst month was April, when I marked myself sick for 30% of the month. And I haven’t been sick since then, which is excellent.

For 2023, I was “not 100%” 13% of the year. I just started marking this in 2023. I wanted to know how often I am sick, if my energy is off, or if I am super tired. This is a vague metric, but I was curious if I could learn anything from it (for example, I marked myself “not 100%” after staying up with Calico all night because he had a high fever).

Sleep
This year, 76% of my sleep was rated as good sleep versus 75% last year. And I got “enough sleep” 67% as “enough” sleep versus 60% last year (7.5+ hours). I want to get both in the 80% range.

Back
My back felt great 92% of the time this year. That is solid; it mostly hurts if I work too long in my office chair.

What are my health/workout goals for 2024?

1. Continue to improve energy/stress management so that I don’t red line.
2. Maintain a good base on my bike so I can do long bike tours.
3. Do ST 3x a week for 60+ minutes (keeps back happy + its fun).
4. Do Yoga 2x a week (keeps back happy + its fun).
5. Aim for at least 30 min indoor bike ever day I don’t do a longer ride.
6. I want to shift some food habits by about 20 degrees. Specifically, I want to hit a 160g daily protein goal, shed some extra fat I am carrying, and change some bad habits around portion size & speed.
7. And a fun goal of being able to do 20 dips in a row by EOY (and if that is easy, go for 30).

Past years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 workout summary.

I’ve been wanting to take Calico on some longer bike rides, and we made it happen this weekend!

After school on Friday, we headed North to Ponte De Lima. It was so much fun to have some time just me and him. We cooked together, ate outside, and had adventures. And Lindsey enjoyed a lovely quiet solo weekend

The routes we did were 99% gravel/dirt, 100% car-free, and relatively flat next to a beautiful river.

Day 1  – 22km

He wanted to keep going and going! I was amazed as I expected to hit ~8km, and he would be tired. I had to force him to turn around at 11km so we would return in time for lunch.

Tota time biking – 2 hours 7 minutes.

Total time – 4 hours 13 minutes.

We stopped for a long time to play in a waterfall. And plenty of stops to explore and eat a snack. He has a single-speed and isn’t totally comfortable with some terrain, so we walked a lot of the uphills. He got a lot more comfortable by day two.

Short video here…

(one of his his first pedal biking!!!)

(funny picture of below with Calico being very hungry and trying to be patient for food)

Day 2  – 25km!!!

He was really excited to go again, so we packed up our Airbnb and headed to the trails. He was insistent on beating his day 1 record, and I convinced him to turn around at 13km (in time for lunch).

Tota time biking – 2 hours 15 minutes.

Total time – 3 hours 37 minutes.

There wasn’t as much to explore this way, and we started later. So we kept moving pretty well.

For 2022:

• I did a total of 370+ hours of tracked workouts.
• I worked out 227 days in some form.

How do I feel about this year?

I think this year was a minor miracle.

We went on a slightly insane journey in the first six months of the year, and I managed to keep my workout routine. I am proud of that, as that shit isn’t easy. I am much better at maintaining workout routines than I was ten years ago.

On the less proud front, I will start with this quote…

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow what a ride!” – Hunter S. Thompson

This describes my December as I didn’t end the year well.

It has been a rough month. I got hit with a weird depression (super unlike me), followed by exhaustion and brain fog. Then I got nasty food poisoning and immense fatigue. I ended up at the hospital last week (I wanted to make sure it wasn’t Chron’s). The doctors think it was a nasty bacterial food infection, which is “good” news. I am feeling better now, but my energy is still low. I am hoping it recovers after some more rest.

As the chief mechanic of Ben, I probably need a vacation where I do nothing for a few weeks. I need adventure in my life and bike trips to deliver that. But they are also intense, and when combined with work, there isn’t much “rest” happening. And eventually, my body says, “fuck you,” and my motorcycle tips over, and I slide through a wall… then all the king’s men have to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I work best when I can balance intense creative work, adventures (biking trips), and vacations (resting on a beach or mountain cabin). But when you add life to the mix, that is hard to achieve. I’ve seen similar patterns with my wife, family, and friends. I am going to get better at this…

Biking

• I rode 259+ hours on my bike.
• I biked on 116 days.
• I covered 4,936km (the second-highest year on record).

I am most proud of the training I did for my big bike tour this year. Unlike previous years I was prepared for the ride. I hope to keep that up for the next one. I also did well, considering how busy Shepherd and life were.

Sick / Not 100%
I was sick, injured, or not at a hundred percent for ~11% of the year. That is about the same as last year. The main impact was this December mess, a cold/sinus thing in November in Dublin, and some flu thing in Croatia in May (I never tested positive for Covid). The interesting thing is those all came after feelings of being overwhelmed and exhausted. I need to listen better.

Sleep
This year 75% of my sleep was rated as good sleep and 60% as “enough” sleep (7.5+ hours). That is similar to last year.

Strength / Rehab / Back
My back felt great 93% of the time this year. That is awesome!

Fun stats:

• I set a new ride ascent record with a 1,249m gain one day.
• My longest ride was 94km (per Garmin)
• I ascended a total of 34,759 meters this year.
• I biked 57+ hours in October on my big bike tour.
• I did 122 strength training sessions this year for 92 hours. That hits my goal of 3 a week, but my average session was 45 minutes when I aim for 60.

What are my health/workout goals for 2023?

1. Maintain a good base on my bike so I can do long bike tours.
2. Do ST 3x a week for 60 minutes to keep my back happy.
3. Continue to improve energy management so that I don’t red line. This is hugely important as I want to do a better job with health/stress in 2023.
4. I want to shift some food habits by about 20 degrees. Specifically I want to shed some extra weight I am carrying, eat less meat, and change some bad habits around screens + food.

I am also adding in speed workouts, but still playing with that.

Past years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 workout summary.

I cycled the Parenzana trail over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

What is it? It is a converted rail trail and the first two days were some of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever done. Day 3 was along the coast and a bit more urban/busy. The trail is ~123km in length and goes from Istria Croatia to Trieste, Italy. It spends around 13km in Italy, 32km in Slovenia, and 78km in Croatia.

Istria, Croatia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. This is my 3rd time visiting Croatia, and I can’t wait to return. It is one of my favorite countries in the world. 

Lindsey and Calico were my support crew and met me every day around lunchtime (or after). It was nice not to bike with a full load of bags. Huge thanks to them! We stayed in a really nice B&B in Slovenia and did a tasting menu which was a blast. I’ve never done a fancy tasing menu and I really enjoyed it (Calico did a great job as well and did his own kid’s tasting menu).

Rough itinerary?

• Day 1 – ~38km and 440m elevation over 2 hours 25 minutes
• Day 2 – ~30km and 374m elevation over 1 hour 55 minutes
• Day 3 – ~60km and 300m elevation over 3 hours 7 minutes
• Day 4 – We explored Trieste Italy a little but didn’t see much. It was Sunday and very hot. We saw a fort, a restaurant, and some gelato :). I hope one day I can go back and walk around it more. It is hard with a 5-year-old as they can do more but don’t walk the same distances as when they are in a stroller.
• Day 5 – I woke up at 6 am to do a 25km bike ride around beautiful Slovenia and then we drove home. I would love to ride more of Slovenia one day.

Rough map of where we were exploring:

From my trip to Parenzana:

Day 1

I snapped my bike tool, probably going the wrong way when I got a flat on my front tire. Luckily some nice Austrians saved me (especially as I embarrassingly packed my wrong pump as well). My support team picked up a new tool and pump for me :).

Day 2

Day 3

From my bonus ride in Slovenia:

Very fun!

Montpellier is a beautiful town, I hope to come back when it is a bit warmer. We’ve had a nice stay here this week, and it has been nice to have some bread treats here. It was also cool to see real flamingos out in the water!

I did not get as much training in as I would like for this upcoming September bike tour.

Part of that is because I didn’t know when Lindsey and Calico were heading for a grandparent visit and partially work. Work was very intense as I tried to get everything in place and it is always hard to leave when you are a small team of 2. I also hurt my back about 10 days before leaving… and had to get a lot of rest in (partly due to a huge screw up by a bike shop, they installed a part backward… and partly me as I had a fun day at the beach and was throwing Calico and his friend Benjamin in a way that was bad for my back injury).

I do think that I am better prepared than on my first bike tour though. This is good as this is going to be a MUCH harder route with a ton of climbing.

I am planning to bike up a Camino Interior route to Santiago, then back down along the Camino coast route, and then a “quick” hop over to Viseu. The route is around 900km, not counting the missed turns, and kilometers to find a hotel or campsite depending on what I do. The route also has 15,000 meters of altitude gain. Most of that is in the first stage. The Camino Interior route is known to be rough, so there will be times I’ll have to walk my bike up 20% grades, and hopefully, the path isn’t so overgrown. It will be an adventure which is what I am after :)

On the bike tour I did in 2018 I averaged 65km a day at a pace of 3 hours and 20 minutes of ride time (over 18 days with 2 break days). But, I also didn’t have much climbing as a huge part of the ride was on a canal path. I only climbed 2,800m versus 15,000m on this upcoming trip…

On this trip, I am blocking out 21 days and seeing how it goes. My little Komoot bike planning tool estimates if I spend 4 hours in the saddle it will take 19 days… if I bump my rating up to “Athletic” on their little tool it goes to 15 days. So we shall see :)

Training plan?

For my first bike tour here are the 3 months leading up to it:

Apr – 9 biking days / 173 km / 11 Hours / 0 rides over 30 Miles
May – 12 biking days / 400 km / 25 Hours / 3 rides over 30 Miles
Jun – 13 biking days / 508 km / 26 Hours / 5 rides over 30 Miles

Here are the 3 months leading up to this current tour:

Jun – 18 Biking Days / 320km / ~28 Hours / 3 rides over 50km
Jul – 17 Biking Days / 324 km / ~28 Hours / 3 rides over 50km
Aug – 13 Biking Days / 554 km / ~32 Hours / 7 rides over 50km.

I feel pretty good about the long rides, as I ride much further than I did for the first tour which is going to help. For example, here were my long rides in those months:

Jul- 67km, 70km, 81km…
Aug – 47km, 63km, 70km, 50km, 71k , 72km

What would I change if I could go back? (and for next time)

In June/July I would have like to have been doing 3 rides a week, each 3+ hours long. That would have helped get more time in the seat. And, then in August, I could have bumped that up to 4 rides a week, each 3 to 4.5 hours long (as then the leap to aiming for 6 to 7 days in the seat doing 3 to 4 hours would have felt easier). Oh well, that is also part of the adventure :)…

Background… Calico calls breast bobos.

At some point when he was little he got to watch some animated music video and saw this one with Dwayne Johnson in Moana (this video cracks me up). Anyway, because of this, Calico has a deep-seated belief that being able to move your bobos like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the epitome of strength :). I work out a fair bit and he usually likes to join in, and the end of each workout is a question “can you move your bobos yet?” One day buddy… one day… :).

For 2020, I did a total of 386 hours of tracked workouts. I worked out 280 days out of 365 days in some form. This was a fantastic year and I set an all-time record for the number of days I worked out. And, 2nd highest on hours ever.

Biking
I rode 274 hours on my bike and biked 144 days out of 365. I covered around 5,675km. A fantastic year that shatters all my previous years :).

Strength / Rehab / Back
I’ve been tracking how well my back did this year and 94% of the time it was great. It got a little worse over the last few months. I think this was because I could not bike for 7 weeks. And, with us moving around Portugal doing ST was a little tougher mentally. I am working to get back to three strength training sessions a week.

Fun stats:

I rode 5,676km this year on my bike. My highest year ever!!!

My longest bike ride this year was ~146m over 6 hours and 42 minutes (longest ever). I did a 111km ride a few days later which is my 3rd highest.

In July I biked 46 hours while on our European road trip. The only month I’ve done higher was 51 hours in July 2018 (when I did an amazing bike tour in France).

I did 176 strength training rehab sessions this year. An average of 3 a week.

My average strength training session was 33 minutes. Last year it was 45 minutes. It was lower as I tried to do a 15-minute workout every morning, and longer workouts 3x a week.

What are my workout goals for 2021?
I am hoping to do several bike tours this year. But, I am waiting to see what Covid looks like. I am hoping to do the Camino Portuguese in the Spring and maybe another Camino or Canal route over the summer/fall. And, I want to stay strong and pain-free.

1. Maintain a good base on my bike so I can do long bike tours. Right now that means riding 3x to 4x a week with s long ride on the weekend.

2. Do strength training 3x a week habit to keep my back happy and strong.

3. Do Yoga 2x a week to keep my back happy and flexible.

4. Trying to figure out how to do some sprinting workouts to get the heart rate higher instead of just endurance. I am going to try some bike sprints in Zwift once I get it hooked up.

Past years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 workout summary.

146km in 6 hours 42 minutes (~91 miles). Average speed a little under 22kph and 600 to 960m elevation gain (maps differ in estimate).

It was a beautiful ride near the Atlantic coast in South West France. I was on the EV1 route and I hope to do it one day as the cycle path was fantastic. I planned it with Komoot and apart from a weird hour on a semi-busy road it was great (they make it easy to export to Garmin gear). The last hour was HARD, and the last 30 minutes even harder.

My previous record was 117km in 5 hours 28 minutes that I did on a bike tour in France in 2018 (fully loaded bags).

I just finished a 60-day self-challenge to do a daily warmup every day except Sunday. It usually took about 15 to 20 minutes and it def made me less stiff. I didn’t always do it in the morning, but I could tell a difference when I did (less stiff/sore).

As part of this, I did 72 medicine ball pushups every day (not in a row). I was still trying to work out 3 times a week, so there were days the pushups were harder and I was sore. And, by the end, I was bored with pushups and not looking forward to them. I am going to keep it going, try to get it done first thing in the morning, and switch up the exercises a bit. The goal is just to warm up my body every morning with some stretches / usage.

[Update] Going on a trip July 1st, so stopping this a little early. I lost about 12lb, and been a bit flat the last month at around 220. That seems to be my normal weight with the added muscle. I def played with macros and felt lost. The coach was useless as it was just a service to cheer weight loss and not teach you about how to make sure you know what you are eating. When I get back from this trip I plan to play more with the balance between carbs/protein/fat. I hit some low points where I had no energy through this and I want to figure out how to do that better.

I am doing a 90-day challenge to lose weight, maintain muscle, and learn more about nutrition. This will run from April 13th through Sunday, July 12th. I am going to work with a nutritionist at Stronger U and read some books.

Why am I doing this?

#1 – I want to learn more about nutrition and the ratios of what I should be eating (carb/fat/protein). I want to understand the science behind increasing and decreasing my meals while ramping up workouts because I sometimes crash. And, I want to see if I can eat less meat while getting enough protein on my AIP diet (ongoing concern).

#2 – I want to lose weight but without losing muscle. I currently weigh 232lb and that is the heaviest I’ve ever been. A big chunk of that is the muscle I’ve gained from rehab/ST over the last couple of years. But, I am sure a good chunk of that is fat too.

I got a Tout Terrain Outback Xplore 29! I wanted a touring bike that could do a LOT of trail and gravel roads here in Spain/Europe.

I’ve done 3 rides on it so far and the 4-hour ride was amazing. The internal gearing is so quiet and smooth and I am so impressed. The geometry is better than the other touring bikes I’ve ridden and I like being a little more upright.

Valencia has some great trails and one of my favorites goes along the river up into the mountains. I had a fantastic 75km ride in 71-degree weather this week. I love riding on trails as you are surrounded by nature, nobody is around, and it is super relaxing. I can let my thoughts roam while riding and just untangle the thoughts in my head. This was my 3rd longest ride (per Garmin so at least in top 10 ever)!

I don’t take pictures too often, but here are a few before I turned around to head back. I cycle through lots of orange fields around here :)

And, from a few weeks later:

For 2019, I did a total of ~316 hours of tracked workouts. I worked out 236 days out of 365 days in some form. Another good year… although I did not break my last two years’ records on hours or days (they tracked stroller walks w/ Calico which I dropped this year).

Biking
I rode 132+ hours on my bike and biked 115 days out of 365. I covered around 2,252km. About 60 hours less than 2018 but a very good year.

Strength / Rehab
I am stronger than I have ever been in my life which is cool. I’ve never really done strength training and Jeff has taught me a ton. It keeps my back pain free – and hopefully, my body better ready to handle adventures.

Fun stats:

I rode 2,252km this year on my bike. My 2nd highest year (only counting outdoor rides).

My longest bike ride this year was ~61km over 3 hours and 6 minutes (6th longest ever).

I did 119 strength training rehab sessions this year. That is about 2.2x a week (good habit).

My average strength training session was 45 minutes.

What are my workout goals for 2020?
I am living in Europe and I ordered a new touring bike so I am hoping to do a ton of adventures on it! And, I want to stay strong and pain-free.

1. Build a good base on my bike so I can do repeated 4 to 6 hours no problem. Right now that means riding 3x to 4x a week with one or two long rides on the weekend. Regardless just explore as much as I am able with work and family.

2. Keep doing my strength training and build a ~3x a week habit to keep my back healthy and get stronger.

3. Throw in some fun challenges here and there. I’ve been doing soccer juggling and I am thinking of trying a 30-day pushup challenge or something.

Past years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 workout summary.