Weeks ago, a coworker asked a couple people in our department on whether or not we write down resolutions each year.

I immediately word-vomited some sort of explanation as to why I don’t. But that got me thinking – why not? And on Jan. 2, I knew exactly what to write down – so here it is.

You guessed it, it’s cycling-related.

New Year’s Day, we arrived in Kingsport to pre-ride the next day’s race course (which was a real treat because we normally have to do this race morning since we both have day jobs). The Kingsport course incorporates a large log that most riders (including Spencer) were hopping over while staying on the bike (called bunny-hopping).

I’ve failed tremendously (at least twice) while trying to bunny-hop on my mtn bike – there was no way I was attempting the log now. So, I had to dismount and jump over it – which wouldn’t be so terrible if I could jump back on my bike with correct form.

So, two things I want to be able to do by 2017:

• remount my bike correctly
• bunny-hop with my bike
• I’ll throw in wheelies for a third thing

Practice won’t make perfect but I’ll do it anyway.

I don’t typically have a strong sense of fear, but I have to admit it’s probably what’s kept me from achieving these things already. And I guess some of that comes with being relatively new to cycling. Spencer tells me stories of practicing these sort of tricks as a kid. Well, I didn’t start road cycling until a few summers ago, and I’ve just started dipping my toes into mountain biking. But somewhere in between, I’ve started racing cyclocross consistently, so I need to let go of that fear and make it happen.

Needless to say, I’ve already started using my off season to practice. Spencer showed me a few videos and put flat pedals on my mtn bike so I could practice pulling up my front and rear wheel without being clipped in. Funny what just a little bit of practice can do…but there’s still a long way to go.

I took a few moments after a short trail run/walk to practice wheelies and bunny-hopping in the greenway next to our house.