BEEHAG….

Many years ago, I read one of those success books targeted at helping you and your company succeed. In it, the authors discussed the term BHAG (pronounced bee-hag) which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

The premise is really about setting outrageous goals which in turn force you to rise to the occasion. There was some other stuff about the goals needing to be strategic and compelling and helping to build team spirit and yada yada yada...

None of that really sunk in but I do remember the idea that if you set large goals and can stay focused on them then you have a good chance of succeeding. It also stated that the goals had to have a finish line since without a finish line, people won’t be able to measure their success (or failure)

Well, this year, I’ve done this exact thing with my riding. I’ve gone out my comfort zone and have set a major BHAG. In August of this year, I and several of my friends are going to ride our mt bikes from Telluride CO to Moab UT on a hut to hut trip through the San Juan Mountains. (www.sanjuanhuts.com)

Now, since I tend to have an extremely short attention span, I have real trouble focusing on long term goals. Add to this my usual tendency to procrastinate and anything past lunch today is really a long way off.

So, to help with this one major BHAG, I’ve set up several intermediate BHAGs. As a matter of fact, I have one pretty much every month between now and August just to help me stay on track.

So, although it’s now February, and I’m fat and lazy and really enjoying the quality time I spend on the couch, I’ve registered for the Solvang century in about 4 weeks. Yes, I know I haven’t ridden 100 miles in almost a year, but that’s what BHAGs are for right?

About 5 weeks after that, I’m entered in the Single Speed XC race at Sea Otter Classic. A week after that Deb and I are doing a 30 mile ride on the tandem, followed 2 weeks later by another 25 mile ride on the tandem, followed in June by the Mendocino Monster century which is 107 miles with 9,000ft of climbing.

This all leads up to my July BHAG which is the Death Ride. Completing the Death Ride should have me pretty well prepared for the Major BHAG of the hut trip.

So, as you can see, I’ve pretty well got it all figured out. Starting with the Solvang Century and continuing on through the summer. There's no need to focus on long term training goals as I'll just be going from one event to the next and using the actual events as training.

The only real problem I see in my whole plan is getting out on the bike and getting ready for the Solvang Century. But, I have over 4 weeks to prepare for that so in the meantime I think I’ll head over to In-n-Out for lunch...