Well, Happy New Year, dear blog. I realize my blogging audience -- both of you -- are eagerly awaiting my observations and resolutions. Here goes:

- Like 92% of the US population, I have a weight-loss resolution this New Years. I'm not going to let that deter me, nor am I going to let the premature end of previous resolutions sabotage this one. If we dwell on our failures, changing ourselves is harder. And this is hard enough, so I will get things back on track. Of course, weight loss mind games are highly personal, so I won't bore you with mine (like I just did).

- I'm going to have the best bicycling year ever. I've included a chart that shows how many miles I bicycled in the years 2002-2005 and 2010. So, bicycling is my exercise of choice. In 2002, I lost 70 pounds doing mostly biking and Weight Watchers. My "planned" line in light green is based on several centuries and short biking vacations I plan to take in the coming year. In January and February, for example, I plan to do at least one weekend where it's warm. That will help to overcome the winter "shutdown" that we all experience in this region (and the Northern marches -- where winter lasts much longer!).

As you can see from the chart, last month was the best December I had accomplished in my bicycling history. I took two trips to Sebring, FL to catch some warm weather, and rode over 120 miles on each trip. Sebring is a great biking location because it has quiet, traffic-free roads and pretty reliable weather.