Happy New Gear! Welcome to 2025!
January means new beginnings bicycle-wise. Many of you will start riding your new Christmas presents, the two of you getting to know each other. Many of you will begin looking to improve your two-wheeled talents, logging more rides and miles, upping averages and exploring special destination rides.
Best of luck to all!
January means many will resolve to drop weight. As a professional courtesy, I include my annual Cycle Guy’s five-step Guide to Weight Loss in the New Year:
1. Get professional help with managing caloric input (your health plan, Weight Watchers, et al), but avoid gimmicks and miracle fixes.
2. Employ a low-impact, calorie-burning, fun form of exercise. (Hint: your bicycle.)
3. Ask a friend to join you, even if it’s just to ride. Keep each other honest.
4. Stay flexible, honest and keep riding!
5. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
January 2001 will always hold special meaning for this columnist. Approximately six months earlier, Sylvia Myrvold and Kris McDonough had introduced Out & About Magazine, a wonderful publication featuring the best of what the southern Santa Clara County had to offer.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I did let them know (playfully) that their “Running Man” column was great for runners, but they totally needed a column for cyclists. My first “Spoking My Mind” column debuted in the new year.
Friends, 2025 will represent a quarter century of writing bicycle columns for you, and I have decided to make it my last. You’ll have me for the next 11 months, so let’s make it an incredible year together!
(Did you read the column title? Told you there would be tears.)
Save the Dates
Anytime: Gilroy/Morgan Hill Bike Match, https://bit.ly/BikeMatch
Various: Too Many to Mention, santacruzrandonneurs.org
Feb. 22: Pedaling Paths to Independence, Linden, pedalingpaths.com
Curt “Cycle Guy” Hentschke is a cyclist, seeker, song farmer, and scribe. Send your cycle celebrations and cerebration to he*********@gm***.com
