Hi, I’m Dan — and this is Pedal & Shoot, my personal cycling journal.

This is a place for ride stories, routes, gear notes, and the little things I notice out on the road.

It’s never about racing. Sometimes it’s about the fitness and health that come with riding. But most of all, it’s about the joy of being on a bike — discovering new roads, grinding up quiet climbs, putting in long gravel miles, getting a little lost now and then, and simply enjoying the ride.

Because for me, it’s not always about where the road takes me. Sometimes it’s just about being out there.

I bought this bike on March 29 — the evening before my father’s birthday — and it was delivered that same night. The photo above was taken the next morning, in the wee hours of March 30, just before my first ride. I didn’t plan any of it that way; it just happened to land on his birthday. Looking back, it’s a small reminder of how the things we don’t plan for are sometimes the ones that end up shaping us the most.