Cycling goals for 2008

It's that time of year again... New Year's cycling resolutions! In the coming year I plan to concentrate on two main cycling goals: becoming a kickass climbing machine and doing more multi-day touring.

Climbing

1. Climb to the summit of each of the three major peaks in the bay area.
I've already got a head start on this one, having done Mt. Hamilton this past fall, and getting closer to the summit of Diablo each time up. I feel pretty good about being able to check off the Diablo summit sometime in the early spring, but Mt. Tam is going to be a challenge.

2. Complete 3 passes in the Death Ride.
I think I mentioned that I signed up for the Death Ride lottery drawing, but I won't know if I've been selected for participation until sometime in February. When I first heard about this ride, I thought it sounded crazy. But I'm pretty sure that if it were held today I could do one pass. Since I have 6 months to train, it seems reasonable that I could do 3 passes by the time July comes along.

Touring

In 2007 I did my second multi-day credit card tour, a 5 day trip down the California coast. It was a really exhilerating ride and made me want to spend a lot more time touring in 2008. First up will be 4 days of riding around Maui in late January, with R and J. Should be great fun, and a great way to experience the island. There are also plans to do a ride back east in July, again with R and J (hope they don't get sick of me!). And then I'd like to squeeze in one more short tour in the fall, if possible.

Centuries

I'm not really going to focus on centuries this season, but there are always events on the calendar that look like too much fun to pass up. This year I definitely plan on doing:

1. Cinderella Century - the classic women-only metric, right here in the bay area. Always a blast, provided the weather holds up.
2. Wine Country Century - a beautiful ride with great rest stops
3. Sequoia Century - I did the 40 mile route of this one year, and it was pretty hilly. But I'm thinking I can at least do the metric this year.
4. Death Ride
5. Moonlight Magic Century - This is a night ride through Death Valley that looks awesome. It would be an ordeal to get out there, but I think it would be an unforgettable experience.
6. CFGFC - on hiatus in 2007, but if I can find a better route for the last 30 miles, I'll resurrect it for 2008