A calendar for the year ahead

January 1, 2020

We’re excited to be rolling in to a new decade, but before crossing the line let’s stop for a brief reflection on the year just passing. This has been one of the best years we’ve shared, which is saying a lot. We’ve covered a lot of ground this year: six countries (Taiwan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada and the US); six months in Europe; almost nine months on tour; over 10,000 kilometers.

We have so much to be thankful for. Above all, I’m thankful for having a life partner who will share this great adventure with me; but we’re both also deeply grateful to those of you who’ve followed along so faithfully, giving us encouragement and company along the way. It’s humbling to know that some of you start many of your days by checking in on Team Anderson over your morning coffee. Thank you so much.

When we still worked in the office, one of our treats at the end of the year was to select a set thirteen photos from the passing year’s highlights and use them to print off a calendar for the new year: one for each month, and one for the cover. I’ve kept all of these in storage back home, one of the few souvenirs that survived the Great Purge when we sold our condo and severely downsized to a small storage unit.

Sadly, my beloved office cubicle is long gone now, but if I were assembling a calendar for the coming year it might look like this:

On the cover: climbing through Odeceixe, in Southern Portugal.

January: New Years Day in Taichung, Taiwan

February: at Spielman’s Bagels, on a coffee date with Bruce on a frosty morning.

March: First day of Spring. Mount Hood from the east bank of the Willamette.

April: in Sicily, en route from Scicli to Noto.

May: in Basilicata, a few miles west of Matera.

June: in Basilicata again, south of Venosa

July: on Summit Ridge, on a day ride from Dufur.

August: On top of the world on Hurricane Ridge, on our way home from Victoria.

September: approaching Pontevedra, in northern Portugal.

October: in Castille y Leon, on a day ride from Toro.

November: on one of my favorite rides of the year, our day ride from Cordoba.

December: in the Almeria Desert, on a loop ride from Tavernas. Rachael’s favorite ride of the year.

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Gregory GarceauThat's one hell of a fine calendar! It's sort of like a greatest hits album. Like all great ideas, I wish I had thought of it first.
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4 years ago

Bruce LellmanWhat a great idea! And what great photos! I am, of course, quite honored to have made it onto the calendar. Thank you. I do cherish our time together having coffee at Spielman's and am looking forward to many more. This year they probably will be pushed back into March however, since we leave Bangkok on Feb. 29th.

Here's to another wonderful year of cycling, Scott and Rachael!!
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4 years ago

Jen RahnA year of happy memories, many captured in beautiful images.

What a great way to look back!

One of the things we look forward to with the move go Silverton is having space for a wall calendar .. so we might just adopt your great idea!
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanMarch! Not so far away now, really. I can almost smell the coffee now. Oh, wait. I can’t smell.

2/29? Leaping home on Leap Day? When are the twins due to see the light?
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnYeah, yeah, yeah. Rub it in. I sure wish we still had walls! I guess I could hang them on the inside of the storage unit, but we’d only see them a couple of time a year. Sigh.
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4 years ago

Jen RahnUm, I'd say a blog post with your top 13 and all the stories that go with 10,000km of footloose living are a pretty decent substitute for walls.

The walls will be there for you and your calendar when it's time to turn that page.
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4 years ago

Bruce LellmanTo Scott AndersonYou could hang one in the Jetta from the rear view mirror. It would be no problem.
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4 years ago

Bruce LellmanTo Scott AndersonThe twins are due April 4th but Molly is tiny and there is no doctor that will let them go that long. If we don't have to go home early it will be pretty amazing.
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4 years ago

Patrick O'HaraThanks for the calendar re-cap. Really have been enjoying reading and following Team Anderson trips for a few years now! Keep em' coming!
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4 years ago