Wrapping Up January 2025

Garmin Connect rewarded me with 15 badges and 25 points.

How was your January? If you made any resolutions for the new year, then how are those going? I didn’t make any resolutions—I never do—and yet I have developed healthy new habits and reinforced a few others that began to emerge organically back in December. This month I walked on the treadmill for at least 1 hour every day, finishing the first 31 days of 2025 with 34:25 of fitness walking and covering the equivalent of 104 miles. Along the way, I have become one of those 10,000 steps a day people: today was my 25th consecutive day above that popular threshold. On a typical day, most of my steps are coming from my treadmill walk, but I am consciously increasing my step count off the treadmill too. Working from home makes it too easy to sit for several hours at a time. That always has been bad for me, and it became very obviously bad after my hip replacement surgery. Since early December, I have been much more deliberate about getting up periodically to take a couple of laps of the house to avoid stiffness and soreness. These incidental steps add up more quickly than you might think, and they contributed significantly to some of the Garmin Connect badges I earned this month.

I made dietary changes in January too, but so far the combination of more walking and less junk food has not moved the bathroom scale. While that is disappointing, I don’t consider January to be a lost month. My treadmill workouts have returned to almost a pre-injury level of effort. Rehab has gone well. As February begins, I will mix things up to get off the current plateau and reach for something higher. I plan to incorporate high-incline treadmill workouts again. I got a taste of those in October, but only for a couple of weeks before the bike crash that sent me to the operating room. And, weather permitting, some outdoor walks would be good for me, particularly if I take my weighted rucksack.

I’m still taking a long view of cycling-specific training. I plan to resume turbo trainer workouts at the beginning of March and to continue with them until the end of April. I expect to spend the entire month of May in Pennsylvania, where I should be able to rack up several hundred miles of outdoor riding. If I race at all in 2025, then it probably won’t be until the cyclocross season begins. I won’t be fit when spring returns to Wisconsin—I may not be fit when summer returns—but I don’t need to be.

In January, I hosted the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Cycling Association and I completed some of the preliminaries for this year’s Cheesehead Roubaix, but mostly I worked, I walked, I watched hockey games on TV, and I read. A little ashamed to have read only 10 books last year, I have begun 2025 by reading 5 novels before February 1. I’m progressing nicely through No. 6 already, but don’t expect that pace to last the whole year!

Presenting The 2025 Cheesehead Roubaix

Cheesehead Roubaix XIV will begin at Newburg Fireman’s Park on Saturday, April 26, at 9 a.m. CDT. Inspired by Spring Classics like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, Cheesehead Roubaix is a 63-mile ride that features almost 10 miles of gravel roads. The ride will test your fitness with rough road conditions and about 1,600 feet of climbing.

Cheesehead Roubaix is free of charge, but please consider making a voluntary contribution to the Newburg Fire Department to show your appreciation for the use of its facility. Donations will be accepted at the concessions stand before and after the ride. NFD is a small, all-volunteer department. Your generosity will make a big difference!

Enjoy the free mid-ride rest stop at Community Park in Belgium! On the Facebook event page, please confirm your attendance to help us ensure adequate quantities of food and drink.

Cheesehead Roubaix is designed for self-sufficient cyclists. Be prepared to handle your own flat tires and other minor mechanical issues. The ride uses only open public roads and park paths. You are responsible for your own safety and conduct, and you are expressly not exempt from Wisconsin traffic laws. Represent the sport well. Please visit the Cheesehead Roubaix website and print out your own copy of the cuesheet and map. The website also offers data files for GPS devices.

See you on April 26!

One Year With My XTERRA Treadmill

On this date in 2024, I fired up my XTERRA treadmill for the first time. It has been a great addition to my home gym. Counting today’s walk, I have used the treadmill 156 times and have covered the equivalent of 477 miles. I also did a lot of outdoor walking in 2024, but all of my walks in 2025 have been on the treadmill. Actually, my last outdoor walk was way back on October 11 … unless you want to count my 2.5-mile, broken leg death march on November 4, for which I didn’t capture any statistics. The treadmill has been an indispensable tool in my recovery, allowing for a gradual ramping up of my effort in a controlled environment. No icy sidewalks for me, thank you very much! I have been on the treadmill every day since December 13 and I’m starting to crank out 10,000-step days regularly. That gives me a chance to pick up some of the Garmin Connect badges that award consistency over long periods, badges I thought might be out of reach for me.

So, what about the investments I have made in my indoor cycling setup? Right now, the smart trainer is collecting dust and the Zwift account is on hold. Surgery repaired my broken bone but I’m still living with low-level soreness as the soft tissue continues to heal. I am not yet confident that I could sit on a bike saddle for more than a few minutes without discomfort.

Walking will remain my training focus for a while longer. That’s OK, but the calorie burn just isn’t enough. I have gained weight this winter, as usual. I have not yet hit the same peak of fatness I reached during the offseason last year, but I’m close. I need to make some adjustments to my diet if I want to stop the weight gain. Despite my satisfaction with my treadmill, I don’t think walking will be enough by itself.

Peaceful Transfer Of Power

Earlier today the Wisconsin Cycling Association held its annual meeting, so my time as its president has come to an end. I was honored to serve for the last year, but I am happy to hand the reins to someone else. I was not elected in 2024; I was, apparently, the only person willing to volunteer when other leaders within our cycling community realized there was nobody in charge. During the last year I had a mission to restore order to the WCA, and I did that. But from my earliest days in the job I made clear that I would not serve more than one term. I hope it was obvious that everything I did in service of the WCA was for its sake only; I took nothing for myself, my team, or my friends.

The accomplishments of the 2024 WCA Board of Directors were many:

• Filled the vacant Board of Directors positions.
• Ensured all Board members received SafeSport certification as required by USA Cycling.
• Re-established a website and a social media presence (Facebook).
• Published the WCA bylaws and financials for review by the public as required by USA Cycling.
• Organized WCA criteriums into a Wisconsin Cup series and incentivized participation with a $1,000 team award.
• Hired a contractor to provide finish line camera services for the 2024 road season, helping to ensure the accuracy of the race results and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of contracting for these services individually.
• Partnered with the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) and with Midwest Youth Cycling League to award state championships in cross-country Olympic mountain bike racing. Prior to 2024, USA Cycling recognized WORS as the state championship organization for this discipline. Beginning in 2024, this responsibility rests with the WCA.
• Established road racing and mountain bike racing committees intended to function similarly to the already established cyclocross committee.
• Supported Hampshire Cycle Club’s application to hold USA Cycling Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships in 2025.
• Hired a contractor to provide registration services at all WCA events in 2025, ensuring consistency of the process and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of providing these services individually.
• Exercised careful stewardship of WCA funds, spending money where necessary and saving it where possible. We entered 2025 with a bank account balance that was larger than the one we inherited a year ago.
• Revised the bylaws (1) to provide for a fifth Board member, thereby eliminating the possibility of deadlocks on issues that require a vote, (2) to extend the terms of Board members from one year to two years and to stagger the elections of Board members in a way that ensures continuity from year to year as a safeguard against wholesale changes, (3) to replace outdated references to the United States Cycling Federation, now recognizing USA Cycling as the national governing body, and (4) to remove gender-specific language.

It truly was a productive year that put the WCA back on the right course. I’m glad I did it, I’m glad I’m done, and I wish nothing but the best for the new people who have stepped into leadership roles for 2025 and beyond.

The 2025 ToAD Schedule