Recently

January in one word? Eventful.

On the one hand, it is already February. Where did last month go? On the other hand, with so many things happening, it felt like three months instead of one.

We came back home—after spending almost four weeks visiting family and friends in Panama—to find out that the worst ice storm in years was coming our way. So the first days back were a bit hectic, trying to unpack, get back into our routines, and prepare for the incoming weather all at once. In the end, we were among the lucky ones and nothing bad happened to us. A few days later, while we were in Orlando visiting friends, we got another winter storm, this time with the biggest snowfall since we moved here three years ago. Bummer.

Doing

Over the holidays, I managed to play with coding agents and hack together a crude prototype of a riding dashboard.¹ The whole thing isn’t exactly what I would have done, but there is no arguing, I got something done this time vs my previous attempts sans LLMs. Working on this was a ton of fun, I learned a few tricks, and it showed me how the limiting factor now (besides time) is my imagination more than my skills. More on this later.

Reading

I finished Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. I will call that a success, considering how busy I was the month before.

Riding

Not a fun month, this one. Between traveling, the weather, and other obligations, I didn’t get a single ride outside (sad trombone). I did over 100 miles on the trainer, though. Still trying to figure out a consistent schedule where I can spend at least 10 hrs/week on the bike.

I have been wanting to do another ultra for a while, but the logistics of multi-day events with a toddler at home are an unnecessary complication, so instead I signed up for a couple of big single-day races later this year. The training required for those, along with a big riding trip I have scheduled for December, should keep me busy for the rest of the year.

Watching

Watching Bikepacking The Colorado Trail by PNW Bikepacking made me jealous. I need to do more of those things, but they will have to wait until next year at least.

Looking forward to calmer (and warmer) days the rest of the year.