I’ve not done an update on this for a while, but since I hit a milestone last night I thought I should. Yesterday I passed the 500 miles cycled so far this year mark!
OK, so I managed 200 miles in the first month, then took 3.5 times that long to go just 1.5 times that far, but bear with me and my excuses. Firstly, I have tried to go out – honest. Nearly every week I’ve at least gone out a few times, although the glory days of a daily ride are long gone. However, I have generally been cycling further and faster when I have been out, so that makes up for it a bit.
The problems I’ve had include the weather (in particular, half of February was dreadful), my bike (the rear axle snapped, so I was without it a week while it was repaired) and two bouts of illness (including a lengthy spell of labyrinthitis – which wasn’t nice). However, where I couldn’t get out and it was practical, I did hit the exercise bike instead. Sure, it’s not the same, and I opted to not let the mileage from that count towards my goal, but had I done so then I could add another 120 or so miles to that 500, making it around 120 miles a month rather than 85-ish.
Anyway! Excuses are excuses.
Some good news: the weather is (generally) improving now, so I’m getting out a bit more often again. As I said, I’m also riding further – in January I’d usually go 4-5 miles a day, now it’s 8-10. I’ve also cycled 12 and 15 miles a few more times, and last Saturday I really went for it and managed 25.7. I was very pleased with myself. My general fitness has really improved too, with my “recovery time” after a ride now being virtually nil, and I’m able to maintain average speeds of 13.5mph+ rather than 11.5/12. Yes, it’s still not fast, but these are comfortable rides, not races. I’m also coping much better with hills.
Finally, there’s the fact that this Sunday I’m doing a charity cycle ride. It’s 19 miles, and even though I did 25 last weekend, I’m still not sure it’s going to be easy. Not least because the forecast is wind and rain, but also because I suspect the 25 miles one was a bit of a fluke. We’ll see!
In terms of “spending” my miles, I’m doing well. As in, I’ve only spent half of them. At the time of writing this means I have £250 in the cycle bank for my Wii U, if it comes out this year. Unfortunately, my Xbox 360 is slowly dying a painful death so I might need a new one of them sooner than that!
Good for you buddy, keep the riding going… I don’t quite get the £1 a mile thing though!
I started riding a commute of 13.7miles each way at the beginning of the month; I ride on a cyclo cross bike, and averaging around 18-19mph. I aim to complete this at least 3 times a week and with the better weather of late I’m on course for my first 4 times in a week this week! This month I’ve done about 200miles, maybe a few more so I’m happy with that but next month I’m aiming for the big 500 miles in a month!
Good to see everyone has their own personal goals; mine is to get fit and loose a few pounds (aiming for a stone over 2 months) and good for you for getting out on the bike, it’s good fun and it’s a good bit of time to have a good think about stuff, enjoy the countryside and get a good bit of fresh air!