Well I hope everyone is doing well this January 1! Speaking for myself, I can't say how much I have been looking forward to '21!
Instead of talking about the highlights of 2020 that has affected each and every one of us on this planet, I'm going to approach this "2020 in summary" in a different way. Instead of looking at things like the pandemic, politics, and disasters, I am going to look back on the previous year and share the high- and low-points of the year in my personal life.
Wedding anniversary: The first notable event occurred in March. My wife and I were going to be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on Pi day (3/14) and we had booked a Mexican cruise that was going leave from the Los Angeles area. It was going to be a great get-away for both of us. The plan was to drive from Wyoming to southern California, and have family take us to the port. That way we got to see a few of our family before embarking on the cruise. As we drove across Wyoming and down Utah, we kept hearing more and more about the closures related to a virus making the rounds, COVID19. On our second day of driving, we got word that the cruise line had cancelled our cruise and they would be issuing a full rebate. It was time to rethink our celebration!
As we drove through the southern end of Utah, we talked about our options. From what we were reading online, we knew that Las Vegas wasn't closed (yet). If we couldn't take the sea cruise, we could get a couple of nights in Las Vegas. We did some research and we picked the hotel we wanted to stay in. My wife called our hotel of choice and was able to secure a room for our stay.
As you can tell from these photos, we had a great time in Sin City. We were there for one full day, and during that day we visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and took a guided tour of the city from the top of an open air double decker bus. That evening we spent the evening checking out some of the great sights on Las Vegas Blvd. and enjoyed a delectable dinner at one of the restaurants in our hotel. The best part of the day was the fact that we got to spent our 5th wedding anniversary together. It wasn't what we planned but we were together.
After staying one night in California, we decided to cut our visit short and head home. Things were being locked down and we didn't know what the immediate future was going to be like. It was horrible to have been in California and to have not seen any family or friends, but looking at it back now, it was a good call.
I just have to share a few "sights" I encountered during the drive home! Can't resist to take a photo (and a selfie) whenever I see cool VWs!
Our Colorado getaway: As the summer was coming to an end and the pandemic wore on, my wife and I decided we need to get away and self-isolate somewhere besides home. She found out about this great resort near Georgetown, Colorado that was open and they were carefully providing COVID19 safe accommodations. We booked a few nights stay and spent a few days exploring the beautiful area.
We were able to spend a few days in a quaint cabin in the woods, explored the quaint town of Georgetown, and even took a railroad tour (socially distanced obviously) abroad the Georgetown Train Loop. It was so refreshing to be outside, soaking up the sunshine, and being able to relax before the students return for the 2020-2021 school year. Both of us needed the escape.
Thin Air Dub Club: This was a project that I have been wanting to do since it became clear I was going to move to Laramie. It was clear from the time I had visited Laramie that there wasn't much going on up here with regards to the Volkswagen car scene. I wanted to foster interest in my hobby and cultivate a community of VW enthusiasts in the Laramie area. Shortly after moving here, my wife found out about a VW club in neighboring Cheyenne, but winter weather made driving over the pass quite dangerous for almost half of the year. It was obvious that we needed to create a VW club focussed here in Laramie.
Since I had some spare time on my hands in late spring and early summer, I announced my idea with some local VW owners here in Laramie and in Cheyenne. Everyone was excited with the prospect of the new club. Using Facebook, we decided on the club name "Thin Air Dub Club" and worked with a local graphic designer to create our club logo. I was very excited to see the project was so well received.
So in the early fall, as the COVID19 restrictions were starting to ease up, we arranged monthly meetings. The October one was the largest one with a variety of VWs from Laramie and Cheyenne in attendance. We were able to organize a cruise around downtown Laramie that day, including a stop at the Wyoming Territorial Prison, and then back across town to wrap it up at the parking lot fo the University of Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium parking lot. It was so great to see the line of VWs snake its way across town and to get to know everyone. With the winter weather upon us, we've decided to hold off on the meetings until the warmer late spring weather is upon us. I am looking forward to seeing where this club goes!
Aquabike: The plan for 2020 was going to be my multisport debut by doing an "aquabike" event in Colorado at the end of July. If you don't know, aquabike is an event offered at some triathlon races that the competitors are only doing the swim and bicycling portions. There are four different length triathlons (which include aquabike): Ironman, half-Ironman, Olympic, and Sprint. Since I am new to the sport and using it to lose weight and get healthier, my plan was to do the sprint distance aquabike. The event I was planning on doing was the Steamboat Lake Triathlon. The race was going to start with a ½ mile(800 yards) swim in Steamboat Lake and then a 12 mile bicycle ride around the perimeter of the lake and back.
I had carefully laid out a training plan for the winter/spring/summer so that I would be ready to finish the race in July. Many of hours were put into researching training plans and using that knowledge of my swim skills (which is the usual weakness area for triathletes) and I formulated a day by day training schedule tailored to me. I had little doubt that I'd have little issue with the ½ mile swim, as I was routinely swim 2,000 yard pool workouts. I just needed to get my bicycling fitness up to par so that when I emerged from the water, I would be able to get on the bicycle and be able to go "strong" for 12 miles.
I was working on acquiring the equipment needed. The big item I was in need of was a bicycle. RIght now, my only road worthy bicycle in my 1993 Cannondale M700 mountain bike. I was prepared to install some narrower tires and use it for the first time, at least until I was talking with my brother. He had come across an older triathlon bike (for cheap) that was in need of some loving. He bought it and using the parts that he has stashed in his collection, he was able to make it a fully functioning bicycle. The bicycle is a 1998 Cannondale Multisport 1000. It turned out to be too small for him, but it was my size, so he said it was his contribution to my aquabike journey! I just had a few final touches to get her ready for regular use, including handlebar tape, pedals, and water bottle cages. He also threw in an original set of Profile clip on "aerobars" to make it transition to being a triathlon (or in this an aquabike) ready ride. I teamed up with a small local bike shop and got the parts I would need. Of course the best laid out plans rarely go as planned. Am I right?
As with most everything in 2020, the COVID19 pandemic changed the plans. In order to keep us safe, the city closed the recreation center and there went my access to the swimming pool. With the pandemic becoming increasingly clear that I was going to away from the pool for a while, my hope for competing was dwindling. Along with the rest of the things going on, my mental motivation took a serious nose dive and I gave up on my training plan. July came and the event was actually cancelled.
So for 2021, I am going to be cautiously optimistic that I will be able to train for an aquabike event this summer. The pool is currently open and I an going to be purchasing some new cycle-wear, as my recent weight loss (more about this below) has made most of my clothes just too big to wear! So stay tuned in the upcoming months for updates related to the aquabike aspiration!
My health: After returning from California in March, I soon found out when I was to report back to work (I was on spring break vacation that week), I was going to be working from home. Of course without having to go out and walk to the office and generally getting exercise by moving about, I was going to be spending my work days, in my home office and in front of my work computer. So a sedentary work day, along with the impending depression of where this pandemic was going to go, many people experienced weight gain.
For whatever reason, I bucked that trend. I started to eat less (subconsciously) and soon I started to notice that I was losing weight on the bathroom scale. Soon I was making a conscious effort to really watch what (and how much) I was eating. By October I had lost almost 40 pounds! In the following months to today, I regained a few of those pounds, but overall I had a net loss for the calendar year. So in this respect, 2020 had an upside!
So for 2021, one of my goals is to get to my goal weight, which is about 60 pounds away. The target weight, which was determined by my doctor, will place me close to my weight when I graduated from high school over 30 years ago!
Needless to say, I have some high hopes for 2021!!
I think the next blog post will be about what I am planning for in 2021!
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