On the one hand Im quite sad, as I got pretty cheated this year. It rained sooo much this spring I only put about 2/3 the miles I normally ride each year on. But on the other hand this year was one of the most enjoyable seasons of riding I've ridden in a while.
As most of you know last season Pretty Wife and I had it off early on in the season on the way out to the BC rally, and I spent the rest of the year struggling with myself to get out of my own head. The season, while quite memorable and eventful for good, bad and heartbreakingly tragic reasons, wasn't my favorite. I ended up quite frustrated with myself.
This year I still had some issues at the start, but after re-focusing myself and teaching myself some new "tricks" and by the time we pulled out of BC this year I was feeling back to my old self. As the season wore on I was feeling better and better and finally felt like I progressed in my riding way more than I had in previous seasons. I feel faster, smoother, seeing things better, etc. I also regained the satisfaction of just riding. Ive enjoyed simply taking a ride with pretty wife out in the country as much as riding bleary eyed screaming fast through the twistiest roads I could find.
I also had the wonderful experience of riding quite a bit with my closest riding mates this year. Well, most of em. (miss ya Mikey!!)
Brown County was fantastic, as was West Virginia. Rob Dale Rose and I found quite possibly the longest twistiest single road I've ever ridden in WV16.
And it was a great close to a fantastic season with the lot of us making tracks to ride OH555. So far, in my humble opinion, the single most fun road I've ridden to date. Seriously...if you haven't, RIDE IT. You won't be disappointed.
I got to ride with our Aussie friends again, ride with some new friends and swap stories and see new and wonderful sights.
All in all a season to remember for sure.
So, to all of you, and to my fantastic riding mates: Brett, Jimmy, Rob, Dale, Steve and others, thank you for a great 2011 season, and I look forward to more outstanding rides and experiences with all of you next year.
TCK
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