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I’ve recently been reading Carl Sagan’s classic book “Pale Blue Dot”.  Right off the bat, in the very first pages of the introduction, Sagan so clearly and succinctly summed up the significance of our day-to-day minutiae and even our struggles as a species compared to our relative size in the universe.  While describing the image above, in just a few sentences Sagan dismantled all of the posturing and pettiness that we engage in day after day, year after year, and generation after generation.  If we could all read these words and understand that our lifetimes are too short and our significance so minor in the grand scheme of things, maybe we would be able to be more at peace with ourselves, our lives, and each other.  Here’s an excerpt from Pale Blue Dot.  I hope you find it as thought provoking as I did, and maybe, just maybe, the next time life’s trials and tribulations seem inconceivably large to you, this might help you put things into a little perspective:

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves…There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

If Sagan’s words and the image above don’t put our place in the universe into perspective for you, take a look at this amazing video from the American Museum of Natural History which illustrates in perfect scale, just how small we all really are:

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I have a 3 year old son who seems to have some amazing clarity and insight into life. It never fails to surprise me when he says something that stops me in my tracks and makes me reconsider everything. Maybe it’s because the mind of a 3 year old is uncluttered and unfettered by the ingrained biases and rules that we “grown ups” live with. Anyway, this weekend was Valentine’s Day and my little guy was eating a box of Sweethearts (you know…the little candy hearts with catchy sayings on them). Well, he got one that said “Dream Big”. He thought about it for a moment and then said “Actually, I dream little. That’s why all my dreams come true”. SLAM! In two short seconds he hit the “grown up” idea of dreaming big in the solar plexus. Almost as soon as he said it, he was on to the next thing and smiling and enjoying his life.

But, those few simple words dove deep inside of me and got me really thinking. We were always told as kids to dream big. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact my little guy dreams of being the first person to walk on Mars. But I think that we get so hung up on our big dreams that we forget or lose sight of those little ones. And by getting caught up in our big dreams, we usually set ourselves up for disappointment of some kind or another. If we’d focus more on those smaller goals (our “little dreams”) we’d find out that we accomplish amazing things every day, just in small increments. By recognizing these smaller goals we’d feel a sense of constant accomplishment and that leads to a sense of happiness on a very frequent basis. So, maybe my little guy is on to something. As far as I can tell, he’s the happiest person I know. So go ahead, dream small and make your dreams come true!Similar Posts:

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So, there you have it, some sage advice from the climbing master!

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So, now that I have a good long term goal looming out there at the end of July, I’ll have to start setting some short term goals to keep myself on track.  That should help me stay focused on the task ahead.  Well, that and a printout of the race profile that will be hanging in front of me in my home office and in my training cave!  So, that’s my main goal for 2010.  What’s yours and how are you staying motivated to reach it?

Here’s the route profile for the hill climb:

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1. My very old LOOK Kevlar 2000 Carbon fiber bike.  The bike fit and gearing exactly match my current road bike.  I still love this bike!  It’s old but it’s so comfortable.

2. Cateye Cyclosimulator CS-1000.  This is another oldie but goodie.  This trainer is so stable.  I love it because I can really do some good sprint workouts on it and never feel the slightest wobble.

3. The weight room.  The people who lived in our house before us left these here (guess they didn’t want to try moving it…I don’t blame them!). It has just about everything I need for some basic weight training.

4. The big blue exercise ball.  This was originally my wife’s but I’ve commandeered it for doing core training and lower back extensions.

5. Yoga mat.  I do lots of stretching, yoga and core work on here and it makes the floor much more comfortable to be on during those tough core training days.

6. Yes, those are tiny weights.  You can stop laughing now! I actually used those during my recovery from a ruptured disc last year, but now my three year-old uses them when he “works out” with daddy.

7. Power fan. An absolute necessity for indoor cycling!  Even here in bone dry Colorado you’d be dripping wet doing indoor rides without one of these bad boys.

8. My 2000 Ride for the Roses poster. This poster gives me so much inspiration when I’m riding.  The 2000 Ride for the Roses was the first time I met Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain, and Eddy Merckx.  It was amazing meeting these three legends all together (17 Tour de France victories between them) and it was even cooler doing the Ride for the Roses with Lance and Big Mig back in 2000!

9. The essential DVD/DVR combo.  I couldn’t train without these.  Although, thanks to a dispute with Comcast, DirecTV (and hence my DVR) doesn’t get Versus anymore!  So much for recording the spring classics and the Grand Tours!

10. Reduce, reuse, recycle right? Well, this is my contribution.  I used to work out in front of a nice big flatscreen, but when I moved my training cave to this spot in the basement, it seemed like a good thing to use this old TV as my video monitor.

11. Training videos. Again, I couldn’t train indoors without these.  I wrote a post recently about my favorite training DVDs and these ones on the shelf are some of my favorites from Spinervals and EpicPlanet.

12. Another fan.  Yes…I sweat…A LOT!

13. The Nordic Track.  Yet another item commandeered from my wife’s fitness collection.  I use this in the off-season to do some cross training.  Can you tell I don’t like the cold? I even cross-country ski indoors!

14. Smart Cycle. My little guy loves doing workouts with me. He often gets on this little Smart Cycle and rides along with me.  He always reminds me when I need to drink and when I need to soft pedal.  Check out this video of him training with me.

15. My training log.  I record everything in here.  Workouts, heart rates, sleep, diet…you name it, it’s in there (well, almost everything anyway).

16. Bananas, bananas, and more bananas.  I do a lot of my indoor workouts first thing in the morning when I wake up.  That means no heavy foods before  I work out, so I keep an endless supply of bananas at the ready for an easy-to-digest pre-workout snack.

17. HEED.  It’s my favorite drink during workouts.  All natural, hi-carb, low sugar and great electrolyte mix.  The only thing I can’t get past is the name.  Every time I look at it, all I can think of is Mike Meyers as Stuart Mackenzie in “So I Married an Axe Murderer”…”HEED!  PANTS!  NOW!”

18. Towel stack…again with the sweating thing.  Towels are essential.  I go through at least two every workout.  YUCK!  And yes, my wife won’t touch them or my jerseys/shorts when I’m done.  Can you blame her?

19. My trusty Polar heart rate monitor.  Between this and the power meter on the Cateye trainer, I’m always able to work at just the right intensity level.Similar Posts:

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Me and my friends at Abvio are teaming up this week to give away 10 FREE copies of their latest iPhone app for cycling, Cyclemeter 2.0.  Cyclemeter is iPhone-centric. No Web site logins, no uploads, no ads. Your iPhone has all the cycling data you want, right when you want it.  Click on the button above to take the full Cyclemeter Tour.

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win, just head over to Abvio’s Cyclemeter website and take the Cyclemeter Tour.  Then come back here to Zen on Two Wheels and leave a comment on this post telling us what you liked most about the app before midnight PST on February 7. We’ll randomly select 10 winners from the comments we receive here on Zen on Two Wheels.

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Abvio and Zen on Two Wheels employees and their families are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, February 7, 2010 at midnight PST will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older.

Your information is safe with Zen on Two Wheels! Here’s why.

At Zen on Two Wheels, I have strict policies about Ethical Blogging and your privacy so that whether you are a loyal reader, a sponsor, or a company or product we are reviewing, you can feel comfortable, safe and secure with all of us at the Five Hens. Please click here to see all of my policies.

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“Biking on Ice” Creative Commons by HectorHannibal

Right around this time last year, I ruptured a disc in my neck and it kept me sidelined for over 5 months while we worked on different non-surgical solutions.  I was bummed out, but eventually things got back to normal…mostly (I still have numbness in two of my fingers).  Then I went the rest of the year injury free.  I almost started taking my healthy state for granted when earlier this week I woke up with some pretty severe neck and back pains.  My thoughts immediately flashed back to last year’s ruptured disc incident. “Oh crap! Not again!” was actually more what was going through my mind.  Luckily for me, I only tweaked a rib out of place and between a quick visit to my chiropractor and another to my massage therapist, I was back on the bike in no time at all.

While I was riding this morning, I got to thinking about what happened this week and just how fragile everything in life is.  Our health, our jobs, our homes.  Nothing is rock solid.  In fact, most of the time, we’re walking or riding through life on pretty thin ice.  It can break at any time.  Unfortunately, most of the time we go through our lives not giving much thought to just how thin that ice might be.  And when it breaks, it can have a devastating effect on us.  But we usually recover from our ice breaking incidents.  And, when things get better we start to forget about that thin ice and start taking our health, our loved ones, and our lives for granted again. I think that what I experienced this week has put things into a little perspective for me and made me commit to myself that I won’t let another moment in my life pass by in which I take any of the blessings in my life for granted.  I’ll be much more aware and appreciative of every moment of good health that I have, every moment I can smile and play with my kids.  So, maybe falling through the ice once in a while is a good thing if it reminds us every now and then just how thin it really is.Similar Posts:

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Spinervals

Aero Base Builder Five Pack: This is a great set of 5 DVDs, each containing different aerobic base building workouts that really do the trick. Four of the videos in this set run a little over an hour and one of the videos is a two hour compilation of great aerobic interval training. If you’re looking to build your aero base in your pre-season ramp up, definitely grab this series and hop on your trainer with them.

Strength Builder 5 Pack: Another great 5 pack of DVDs, these 5 move you past your aerobic base and get into increasing your sustainable power output by helping you build your leg strength and increasing your anaerobic threshold.  My favorite DVD of the bunch is called Bending Crank Arms.  I love the name of it and I love the intense 50 minutes of strength building it offers.

Climbing: For some good indoor climbing workouts, my favorite Spinervals DVDs are The Uphill Grind and Hillacious.  They both do a good job of giving you some tough climb-simulation intervals that really work you hard.  It’s no replacement for doing real climbs on real roads, but these will get you some good climb training on those days where your favorite climb is still covered in ice and snow!

Anaerobic training: For some flat out anaerobic training, the two videos I end up training to most are Have Mercy and Muscle Breakdown.  I don’t do these more than once or twice a week and I’d recommend that if you do either of these, plan on doing a recovery ride the next day.  These are tough workouts that you should do during the strength building phase in your training schedule.

General fitness training:  For my quick fitness type training, I usually use the Fitness 2.0 DVD and when I’m really short on time I fall back on the Time Savers DVD.  I don’t use either of these much, but I usually take them with me when I’m traveling for business and I know I won’t have much time to train.  Fitness 2.0 is a short session of about 45 minutes, and the Time Savers DVD is a series of 3 30-minute workouts.  Good focused workouts if you’re super short on time.

Here’s a sample of what Spinverals DVDs look like:

Carmichael Training Systems Train Right DVDs

I own four of CTS’s Train Right DVDs and I use each one of them for specific training needs.  My favorite two are the Time Trial and Climbing DVDs.  They’re pretty focused and relatively intense.  Both DVDs are all about improving your steady state/climbing lactate threshold and time trialing and climbing cadence.  Chris Carmichael does a good job in both videos and offers some good advice during the interval sets.  I use both of these DVD’s regularly during my climbing phase of my training season even when I have the opportunity to get out on the road.  They’re a great supplement to road training.

The other two CTS DVDs that I use to varying degrees are Cycling for Fitness and Criterium.  Being that I’m not really racing crits these days, I barely use the Criterium one anymore.  But it is really good at getting your legs used to lots of pace changes and building repeatable high power efforts.  I use Cycling for Fitness in conjunction with the Spinervals Aero Base Builder series during my aerobic base building phase.  It’s a good steady state workout that is pretty easy to fit into your aero base phase.

Epic Planet

Allen Jones from Epic Planet recently sent me three DVDs from their Epic Rides series.  These are a little different from the coached training DVDs from Spinervals and CTS, but I liked them a lot.  The video portion of the presentation is some well shot video out on the road on some of the most well known and scenic rides in the U.S.  The three that I got to check out were in Vermont (climbing the Appalachian Gap), Acadia (Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park in Maine) and Tuscon (Mt. Lemmon Climb and Saguaro National Park).  The three virtual rides vary in training time from 45 minutes for the Vermont ride, 60 minutes for the Acadia ride, and 115 for the Tuscon rides.  All three videos livened up my training sessions with some really nice scenery and the feeling of really riding on the road.  Plus, if you go to the Epic Planet website, you can download training guides for each of the videos.  The training guides offer pretty good workouts, but you’ll have to coach yourself.  I’ve actually worked it out where I can play the CTS or Spinervals audio to go along with the pleasant video from Epic Planet to have the best of both worlds…a good audio coached session and nice visual scenery.

Another way I’ve used the Epic Planet videos is during my indoor lactate threshold sessions.  To measure my lactate threshold, I do about a 15 minute warm up followed by an all out 30 minute ride. I take my average heart rate from the last 20 minutes of my 30-minute all out and use that as my LTHR for my next two weeks of training.  During the early season, I do these tests indoors on my trainer and they are BORING! But, I’ve put the Epic Planet DVDs on during these sessions and it makes them slightly more bearable!

Here’s a sample of the Epic Rides DVDs featuring the Tucson ride:

The Sufferfest

The guys at The Sufferfest also sent me a video recently and I’d have to say, it’s interesting.  This one is not quite like any of the others I’ve described.  The video they sent me, The Downward Spiral,  is basically  a compilation of different cycling events from classics like Paris-Roubaix to things like bolting down a downhill mountain bike course.  The video is quirky at times but interesting (and truth be told, I’m not huge on MTB at all, so the MTB sections were kind of lost on me).  But, it was a good change of pace from the usual gang of folks sitting on their bikes on indoor trainers.  The video also includes a decent interval workout that’ll get your heart pumping.  I’ve use this one a few times this year just to break up the monotony of doing the same few videos every week.  The thing that this one really has going for is a pumping soundtrack.  If you’re into the harder side of the alt-rock world, you’ll dig this soundtrack.  It includes bands like Phantom Black, Deatheletric, the Watermarks and more.

Here’s a sampling of what The Sufferfest looks like:

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Happy New Year Everyone! First and foremost, I hope 2010 brings you and our troubled world peace, calm, and serenity and a path in your life that you can be happy to ride along on.

As for me, I can’t believe it’s almost 2010 already! This year has certainly flown by. It’s been an “interesting” year for me. It started off with a herniated disc in my neck that sidelined me for almost 6 months. Just when I was hitting my stride and feeling good again, I lost my “job”. Then, I had the opportunity to learn valuable lessons about appreciating life and family time more. Although it’ going to be nice to say farewell to 2009, I’m also really grateful for the past year and all of the things I’ve learned about myself and life in general. It was certainly a year of growing in unexpected ways!

So, what’s in store for 2010? Who knows for sure? As for life off the bike, I’ve learned to stop trying to plan it all out. In fact, I’m not big on making resolutions, but this year, I’m vowing to stop trying to plan my life, stop trying to control it all, and just go with the flow. Wherever life takes me is fine with me. I’ve realized that I can find happiness in just about everything. So for 2010, I’m hopeful for a year filled with peace and happiness for a change!

On the bike, I guess I still need to do a little planning right? So, I just penned my 2010 training plan and hopefully, barring injuries like last year, I should be racing sometime in late June and early July. I also have plans to possibly be part of Team Will’s ride across the U.S. to raise funds and awareness for children’s cancer. And, if the training goes well, I’ll more than likely be doing the Mt. Evans Hill Climb race in mid-July…that’s going to be FUN! It’s 27 miles with 6900+ feet of climbing…yippeee!!! Hope to see you all out there on the roads again this year. Happy riding!Similar Posts:

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“Imperial Cutbacks” Image © Mike Stimpson 2009

“I’ve Got You Now” Image © Mike Stimpson 2009

If you like these, check out the rest of Mike’s work at http://www.mikestimpson.com/ or on Flickr.  He’s also on Twitter as @balakov.

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In all of the busy-ness and chaos of our daily lives, sometimes it’s very hard to just stop, breathe, and take a second to relax. That makes it difficult to be in the moment and really be open to the goodness that surrounds you everywhere. Losing touch with stillness and the “now” of things can make us really unbalanced and I think we miss so much of the good in our own lives just because we’re missing this moment as it passes us by.

So, how can you stop the frantic world we live in and become more in the moment? I like to use a short, simple meditation that I found in a great book called Ten Zen Seconds by Eric Maisel. Very easily, I close my eyes and repeat the following while I am deep breathing:

(Deep 5 second breath in) “I am completely”
(Slow 5 second breath out) “Stopping”

Believe it or not, this simple little ten second exercise and meditation really calms things down and re-centers you here and now, in the moment. I’ve used this while working, cycling, running, and especially at home to just slow things down for a moment to allow me to focus on the goodness that is happening right now. It can mean the difference in noticing the good ideas of my colleagues, the beauty of the mountains that I cycle and run in, or the laughter and happiness of my children. It doesn’t take long meditations and lots of time to relax and be present in your life. The next time you’re feeling frantic or disconnected, breathe in, breathe out and try completely stopping for ten seconds.Similar Posts:

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Last week I encouraged everyone not to be Jan Ullrich and to find a way to stay fit through the wintery cycling off-season in the northern hemisphere. It’s always hard staying in shape in the off-season with snowy roads and cold temperatures, not to mention all of the holiday celebrations and the great food that goes along with them! Not that I am a guru on staying in shape during the off-season, but here’s a list of things that have worked for me in the past and that I have committed myself to this winter.

1. Get out and ride whenever you can! When the weather allows, try to do some riding out on the road. My goal is to get in at least 2 hours on the road each week. I usually try for about 4 hours in the off-season, but 2 should be an easy enough goal to achieve.
2. Indoor training. If you’re like me, indoor training isn’t on your list of exciting training options. But, you can really take advantage of the controlled environment of indoor training sessions to focus your workouts on specific muscle groups, skills, spinning and technique. If you really focus your indoor training sessions, you can get a lot done in about an hour. I vary my indoor workouts from about 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the intensity, focus, and goal of each session. You can either spin at your local gym or get a good indoor trainer for use at home (that’s what I do). I’m not a big fan of rollers for workouts, but I do like them for improving bike handling skills and riding technique.
3. Spin with a friend. It gets kind of boring spinning alone so whenever you can, find a buddy to spin with. The time will pass more quickly and you’ll have someone to workout against if you need that competitive drive in your sessions. Here’s a video of me and my little training buddy on an indoor session. Believe it or not, even having my three year old “ride” with me makes the time pass faster (and he keeps me smiling too!).
4. Get some training DVD’s. I’m not super creative when it comes to making up my own spinning workouts so I really like the idea of getting a few DVD’s that have pre-built workouts and a coach that’ll keep you motivated while you’re spinning away in your house. My favorite series by far is Spinervals featuring Coach Troy Jacobson followed closely by the series by Chris Carmichael and Carmichael Training Systems. Both of these offer a good variety of workouts, each with a different focus and good coaching.
5. Strengthen that core. Your core muscles are so important in cycling because a lot of the power in your pedal stroke actually originates from your core muscles. I do core exercises 2-3 times per week in the winter. They’re simple exercises and I do anywhere from 20-50 reps of each, depending on where I’m at in the off-season. My favorites are crunches, ab twists, leg lifts, and back extensions. I also have a weak lower back so I work on that a lot in the winter with an exercise ball. The exercise is simple: lay your stomach on the ball and face downward, supporting yourself with your hands in a push-up position. Slowly raise your legs from the floor until they are parallel to the floor. Hold that position for 10 seconds, then lower your legs but don’t touch the floor. Do about 20 reps of that and you’ll be feeling the effect!
6. Strength training. The off-season is a great time to build up some strength. I’m not big on going to a gym to train, so most of these things can be done at home. I also have a full gym at home with the machines I need for some of the training, but if you don’t you can do most of these with simple free weights. I do three sets of 10 reps of each of these: squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, bench press, tricep push downs, and bicep curls. It’s important not to overdo the arms and chest, you’re not looking to get huge. Keep everything in your strength training at an aerobic level, so that means fast reps, lighter weights, and not too much rest between sets.
7. Cross training. Take some time off. Off the bike that is. This may sound counter-intuitive, but at the end of your long active season, take some time off the bike. Your body and your mind will appreciate it. My two favorites in the off-season are running and yoga. They keep my legs fresh and yoga really helps me with my flexibility and balance (and believe me, at 42, I can use all the help I can get with increased flexibility). Other great off-season cross training activities are skiing (cross-country or downhill), snowboarding, snowshoeing, and swimming. I’m not huge on mountain biking or cyclocross, but if you’re into that, those are both awesome off-season cross-training activities.
8. Set some goals. The off-season is the best time to start thinking about your long-term goals for the upcoming season. But make sure you set some short-term goals to keep your off-season training focused and sharp. Without goals, training programs fall into routines that don’t produce results.  Goals can be as simple as “I want to maintain my weight at 158 pounds in the next 4 weeks” or “I want to increase my average cadence to 105 during my spin workouts”.  Just give yourself something to work towards.
9. OK, I saved the Captain Obvious tip for last: DIET! Well, let’s make that diet and nutrition. I don’t know about you but I have a bad habit of falling for every holiday sweet and desert on the table. Bad Chris! So, I have to be super disciplined in the off-season in order to avoid the late winter bulge. I keep a daily journal of calories in and calories out. It’s a simple enough equation. I actually really trim down my caloric intake in the off-season, sometimes to only 1600 calories per day. But, when I do that, I also make sure that every calorie in has a high nutritional value. What does that mean? I try to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, unsaturated fats, and whole grain foods for complex carbohydrates.  And, living in the dry climate of Colorado, I try to stay well hydrated.  This requires a lot of discipline and planning, but it’s worth it when spring time rolls around and you’re fit and trim.

I hope you find something in this list that’s useful to your winter training. And please, if you have other ideas or tips, share them here so we can all benefit from each other’s collective wisdom on staying fit through the winter.Similar Posts:

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Every year, I seem to struggle with keeping my weight and fitness level in check over the holidays and winter months. I’m pretty sure lots of you do as well. Now, none of us are going to race in the Tour de France this year so I guess that’s where our common thread with Jan falls apart. But, maybe if we didn’t let ourselves go in the winter, we’d be so much more competitive next spring or summer. Think of how great it would be to hit the road in shape in March and April! Spring rides would be much more enjoyable. So, before New Year’s even comes close this year, I’m making my own resolution not to be Jan Ullrich this winter. How about you?

And, if you needed some inspiration not to be Jan, check out this hilarious parody of Jan’s winter training for the 2010 Tour de France. You know you DON’T want to be that guy right?!?!?

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Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have to be thankful for this year. One of the things that makes big list of things I’m thankful for is that I live in Fort Collins, Colorado, a city that has consistently been ranked in the top ten bike friendly communities by the League of American Bicyclists (not to mention the home of the New Belgium Brewing). And for the second year, the League is moving beyond communities and ranking the Top Bike Friendly States. Colorado is #13 (up 9 slots from last year) and I’m pretty thankful for that too.

So, how did the League arrive at these rankings? They scored all 50 states on more than 70 factors. The states were scored on responses to a questionnaire evaluating their commitment to bicycling and covering 6 key areas: legislation, policies and programs, infrastructure, education and encouragement, evaluation and planning, and enforcement. If you want to know more about how your state or community stacks up for bike friendliness, check out the League’s Bike Friendly America interactive map right here. You can also download PDF’s of the Bike Friendly State List and the Bike Friendly Community List.

Here’s the complete Bike Friendly State List. Agree? Disagree? Do rankings like this mean anything to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your community and state’s level of bike friendliness.

2009 Bike Friendly State Ranking

1. Washington
2. Wisconsin
3. Maine
4. Oregon
5. Minnesota
6. Iowa
7. Arizona
8. New Hampshire
9. Delaware
10. New Jersey
11. Wyoming
12. Illinois
13. Colorado
14. California
15. Michigan
16. Maryland
17. Missouri
18. Utah
19. Massachusetts
20. North Carolina
21. Vermont
22. Hawaii
23. Virginia
24. Mississippi
25. Nevada
26. South Carolina
27. Kentucky
28. South Dakota
29. Indiana
30. Louisiana
31. Georgia
32. Florida
33. Kansas
34. Idaho
35. Rhode Island
36. Texas
37. Nebraska
38. Arkansas
39. Ohio
40. Pennsylvania
41. New York
42. West Virginia
43. Tennessee
44. Connecticut
45. North Dakota
46. New Mexico
47. Alaska
48. Oklahoma
49. Montana
50. Alabama

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Hi and welcome to my new blog Zen on Two Wheels. This blog has been a few years in the making…I just didn’t know it. I spent a lot of time in the past few years blogging about technology, software development, presentations, and the business world. It was interesting stuff to be sure, but it wasn’t the kind of stuff that represented the real me…the person inside. It was about all of the things I was paid to do. You know…it was part of my job. And for a long time I was confusing my job with my life.

Then something very interesting happened. I lost my job, and that changed everything. For the first time in my life (excluding my childhood), I didn’t have a job! I didn’t have “work” to do. Sure, there was the initial shock of the moment and the typical “Oh my God, what next!” kind of reaction. But after a week of reeling, I began to calm down. Instead of worrying every waking moment about finding my next job, I started to open my eyes and realize that an entire universe, a whole other life, was happening every day while I was busy toiling away at my “job“.

That simple aha-moment changed my life. I decided to take the loss of my job as a blessing in disguise. I decided that I’d open my eyes and explore this unbelievable world around me for a change. Now, that doesn’t mean I ran off to Thailand or Bali, or some other exotic place (although that would have been OK too). It means I realized that my two little boys were growing up before my eyes. That they laughed and smiled and played every day. That my wife had a much busier day as a stay-at-home-mom than I ever expected. That the sun shines every day on the beautiful Front Range of Colorado. And that I needed to be a part of all of these things much more than I needed a job. That was it…a simple decision to become a part of my life again. To find a certain sense of balance in my life. To be happy.

It’s been almost four months since that fateful day when I lost my job and I’d have to say, I’ve never been happier in my life. In the past four months I’ve enjoyed the simple things in life. Spending time with family, enjoying home time, enjoying the natural beauty that surrounds me, and getting my body back into good physical condition through cycling, running, and meditation.

What does this all have to do with blogging? Well, I decided that I didn’t feel like writing about the things I used to write about. So, I’ll be putting my old blog, Chris Spagnuolo’s EdgeHopper, on permanent hiatus. It will still be up for anyone to read. I just won’t be writing on it for the forseeable future. Instead, I’m going start doing one more thing that makes me happy. Instead of writing about things that define my job, I’m going to start writing about things that define my life. That’s what Zen on Two Wheels is all about. Life. Cycling. Running. Zen. And the pursuit of happiness. Simple and to the the point. I hope you like what you find here and that it helps you, informs you, or just makes you smile.Similar Posts:

• Happy Thanksgiving from Zen on Two Wheels
• Zen on Two Wheels goes live tomorrow
• 2010’s Goal or What Did I Get Myself Into?

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