This year was easily the worst of my life. Numerous people passed away, lots of health issues for others, and every time there was a possibility of something going wrong, it would. Farewell, 2014. GTFO.

Goals

Umm. It seems I didn’t set any. I said I would, but that was in the midst of home buying so I must have just not gotten around to it. Regardless, I got a good bit done. Maybe goals aren’t required once you’ve good habits formed?

Of all the measurable things I do, I only seemed to have done more so I’m happy.

• Running took a hit as I sprained my ankle and kind of lost interest for a few months following it. My total will be a handful of miles below 200 (down from 400).
• Biked just below 4000 miles (up from 3500) and greatly increased the quality of those miles; my fitness today compared to the start of the year is night and day. No crashes this year (down from 2), but bike repairs were $1000 anyway (up from $0) – carbon fiber is more expensive than bone.
• Didn’t swim once. That’s sad.
• Dropped a solid 5-10lbs (I fluctuate daily).
• Burned roughly 220,000 calories through measurable exercise, which is identical to last year. Interesting.
• Read 26 books (up from 18) and 8100 pages (up from 5700) so that’s cool. I highly recommend (my 5-stars) Unbroken, Why We Ride, The Big Short, and Ready Player One.
• Reviewed 39 place on Yelp (down from 65). Meh.

Events

• January – Mom became a 3-year survivor of Grade IV brain cancer. That’s pretty much unheard of. We also bought our first house.
• February – Suddenly lost Heather’s Aunt Betsy. Heather’s mother visited for a short bit afterward. I turned 32, but don’t feel a day over 14 as long as I look past the grays in the morning. Heather also began her new job!
• March – Suddenly lost a good friend, Edward Johns.
• April – Bought a “new” 2009 Audi A4 Avant – great driving car, but what a turd. Celebrated our 2-year anniversary – went to the coast to celebrate. Also spent a day in the Columbia Gorge.
• May – Paid a visit to Bend to visit Molly and the East Coast for the Race For Hope.
• June – Mom passed away from complications with her cancer treatment. Had some visitors from out of town, did some wine touring, and visited The Gorge again. Competed in the Mount Tabor racing series – did alright and won a beer.
• July – Rode my bike from Seattle to Portland in a single day with Michelle. Also took part in the 1st Annual Flabapalooza.  Competed in the Portland Trail Series – did alright and sprained the heck out of my ankle.
• August – Made a quick trip to Seattle. My family visited – went to The Gorge yet again (never gets old).
• September – A whole bunch of cyclocross racing.
• October – Adopted two cats at the Oregon Humane Society – look for a post regarding them soon. Believe it or not, also did a whole bunch of cyclocross racing.
• November – Another good personal trip (I had a number of work trips that aren’t really worth mentioning) to the East Coast. Spent a week with Dad just kind of hanging out. Cyclocross racing also ended with a doubleheader weekend in Bend – got to hang out with Molly again. Oh, wait, that’s a lie; there was one final race just before Thanksgiving that I crushed – 4th place.
• December – A quiet month. I spent Christmas alone, but had the cats to keep me warm. Delivered a bunch of care packages to the homeless via bike the morning of – wore a santa hat and had a speaker blaring holiday tunes.

We’ve begun to really settle into Portland life and love it possibly more than when we first arrived. We have a solid number of friends now and Heather has hit her stride at work. I’m still unsure of remote work, but it has been working out and I’m starting to figure out what works and what does not. It’s lonely and has been a slow process, but I think I’m getting it.

I won’t promise a post on goals and instead give you the gist of what’s coming next year – a lot more biking, a fair bit more running, some more blogging, the same amount of reading, no crashes, no broken bones, maybe another few pounds lost, and I don’t want anyone to die. Okay?

2015, it’s not gonna be hard to beat the previous year. Let’s go.

Previous years in review: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006.