Mileage

Our club president distributed a friendly email blast to club members the other day. He wanted to report how he’s doing, mileage-wise, for the first quarter of the year.

“March racked up 859.3 miles and 40,991′ of climbing,” he wrote. “2,381 miles ridden year to date: That is 57 road rides, 12 gym ‘rides’ and a few swims and some weight lifting. Some day soon the benefits of all that exercise should start to pay off!”

Yipes! I know I don’t have anywhere near that many miles. In fact, a quick check shows I’m right. I’ve done a whopping 847 miles in the first three months of 2013.

Well, Joe is a special case. He works from his house, so he gets in a lot of weekday rides. An easy ride for him is about 25 miles. His weekend rides usually go over 50 miles, on both Saturday and Sunday. Of course, he’s going to rack up lots of miles.

It’s fun to find out what kind of totals my friends are achieving, even if I know I have no chance to approaching them. I don’t consider my cycling a competitive event. In fact, I know Joe doesn’t, either. He puts a lot of miles on the board because he rides a lot, not because he’s trying to out-ride everyone else in the club. But still, I can’t help but feel that I have to try harder when I look at numbers like those.

Actually, I feel that my mileage is down, because it’s only well below last year’s mark at this time. And that was because we had a mild January in 2012 and I rode over 400 miles in a month where I’m usually lucky to do 200. When I look back to 2011, I see I had done only 704 miles in the first quarter. 2010 was even less, with 681, and in 2009, I hadn’t even reached the 600 mile mark by the end of March.

So, I guess I’m doing okay, even if it feels like I’m not up to snuff yet. I’ll keep turning the pedals, but I won’t make an extra effort to turn a 19-mile ride into 20 miles, and so forth. If anything, I’ll build on the mileage I’ve already put down and try to improve my hill work and overall speed. I’m pretty content with where my biking is right now, for a guy of 62.

Oh, there’s only one thing: Joe is 62 as well.

A Look Back at 2012

My wife and I decided a ride today was a must. She wanted the exercise, since she hadn’t been out for several days. I wanted to get in one last ride this year, since the forecast for the 31st calls for rain, and the combination of chilly and wet doesn’t appeal to me. So off we went.

It was only 40 degrees (4C) when we left home. That’s about the coldest temperature I care to ride in. What’s that old line — “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes” — when it gets chilly around here, we don’t have much in the way of really warm cycling gear.

So we bundled up as best we could, and did some laps at the Veloway. It was nice to run into our friends, Rick and Penny, who were also cramming in one last ride. Rick figured 30 miles would bring him up to the same mileage he rode last year. After 15 miles today, I just wanted to go home and sit in front of the fire, but decided to do one more lap with the two of them, while Pat said she’d had enough, and headed for home alone.

I’m glad I got out today, even though I’m still cold as I write this. The ride gave me a chance to mull over the past year — what I accomplished, and where I came up short. On last year’s last post, I indicated some things I’d try to do this year, although I was careful not to consider them full-blown goals.

First, riding longer. I had mostly short rides in 2011, with just a few over 40 miles. I decided to correct that this year, and go for more long rides. One way to do that: train for centuries. I wanted to do at least two centuries this year. I did one, and concluded that rides of that length are no longer appealing to me.

Likewise, randonneuring. I thought about trying a brevet this year, but since I won’t be doing centuries, I certainly won’t be doing rides even longer than that.

I wanted to try out some new routes, since my riding had gotten predictable. I’m afraid it’s still predictable.

I also wanted to do more organized rides, simply because I like the atmosphere, and it’s one way to treat oneself to new routes. Didn’t happen. I did three organized rides this year.

Then there’s the weight thing. Luckily, I didn’t pledge to lose more weight this year, although I intended to see if I could maybe get it down a little (waffling enough?). I did finish this year at my lowest weight since I started riding. However, since I’m on of those guys who gains weight during winter, I’m still heavier than I am in mid-summer. Lots of room for improvement there.

One area where I did show marked improvement over previous years — total miles ridden. I finished the year with 4,519 miles — almost 500 more than my previous best. I probably won’t ride on the 31st, because of the afore-mentioned rain, so that’s my final total for the year. It’s also 2,000 miles more than my first full year of “serious” riding, back in 2008.

What does the coming year hold? I have no idea. If more miles come, they come — I won’t try to improve on this year. I’m going to try once again to ride more and different routes, just to add some spice to cycling. I’ll have to give some thought to organized rides — which ones to shoot for, what distances to ride. But I’m going to keep riding for the sheer enjoyment of it. See you on the road.

New Personal Mileage Record

I reached 4,000 miles for the year last week.

It’s not the first time I’ve ridden that far — I finished 2010 with 4,100 miles. But it came more than a month sooner this year, and I’m guessing I’ll finish around 4,500 for the year this time around.

It sounds like a monumental achievement. It’s not. In fact, finishing the year with over 4,000 miles is relatively painless. Consider: There are 52 weeks in a year. If you ride 100 miles a week, you’ll have gone 5,200 miles in a year.

Now, living where I do, I have an advantage over many of this blog’s readers. Just this morning, for example, I rode in shorts and a short-sleeved jersey — no base layer, no arm warmers, none of that stuff. Temperatures were in the mid-70s (low 20sC) and the biggest problem I had to contend with was the stiff wind from the southeast. So I have a better shot at racking up 100-mile weeks throughout the year than most.

I don’t do it, of course. Stuff happens, like my ridiculous month of October this year. But even with a setback like that, I find that if I make an effort to stick to some sort of routine, I can get in the miles I need.

I try to ride Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Tuesday ride will likely be around 15 miles — just an hour on the bike after work. With the return to Standard time, that might be cut out soon. My Friday route is about 20 miles, Saturday 25-28, and Sunday 30-50. Add those all up, and it gives me about 100 miles, give or take. Realistically, it’s more like 85-90. Still, that’ll get you over 4,000 for the year.

I don’t set a mileage target at the beginning of the year. I just let the miles pile up as they will. This year, I dabbled with the idea of doing a metric century ride every month, not to add to my total mileage, but to increase my tolerance for longer distances. That lasted four months, then I lapsed back to a 30-45 miler for my long ride of the week.

I suspect next year’s riding will be a lot like this year’s. No big plans, just steady pedaling. And if I find I wind up with even more miles than this year, well, it’ll just be something that happens.

Getting to 3,000

Since I posted on Twitter the other day that I’ve now passed the 3,000 mile mark for 2012, I’ve had some inquiries from Bike Noob readers about my mileage goals. Had I planned at the beginning of the year to ride 3,000, 4,000, or 5,000 miles?

Actually, no. My high mileage year is just happening. I just ride.

Now, it’s not quite that simple. I was helped by the fact that as an academic, I get the first 2 1/2 weeks of January off. That let me rack up well over 400 miles in a month when lots of folks are cocooned in front of their fireplaces with steaming cups of hot chocolate.

In May, spring semester ends, and I could start riding more often for the next four weeks. I pedaled more than 550 miles that month — my highest monthly total ever.

But I think the main thing that helped me get as many miles as I have is following a more or less regular riding schedule. here’s how mine usually shakes out:

I ride Tuesday evening, for the shortest mileage of the week. Often, I’ll do fast laps around the Veloway. Sometimes, I’ll opt for easy laps instead. In either case, I’ll wind up with only 15-18 miles. I don’t often ride on Wednesdays or Thursdays, because I’m on campus later those days. Friday, I usually ride 20 miles; Saturday, 27-29 miles; and on Sunday, it’s the club ride. That could mean a distance of anywhere from 30-60 miles, most often 35-45. That routine gets me in the neighborhood of 100 miles a week on a regular basis. Heck, I should be riding 5,200 miles a year at that rate.

Of course, that won’t happen. Shorter days and colder weather in the winter months means I cut back on my weekly totals. I’ve ridden a 4,000-mile year only once, in 2010. It looks like I’ll do it again this year.

That pales next to the mileage totals some of my fellow club members post. Several are over 5,000 miles for the year already. Of course, they ride 30-40 miles on weekday evenings, and both of their weekend rides are long — anywhere from 60-100 miles.

Well, I don’t even have any desire to churn out that many miles. If anything, rather than piling up my mileage totals, I should concentrate on getting better. There’s lots of room for improvement. I could be faster; I need to build my endurance; I ought to spend more time riding hills than I do.

What I’ll probably be doing is the same old thing I’ve been doing all along. Just riding.

But I did some figuring the other day, and calculated that if I keep up my 100-mile weeks for the rest of the year, I have a good shot at reaching 5,000. Hmmmmm……

 

Highlights of 2011

Well, here we are again — at the end of another year. I suppose it’s as good a time as any to take stock of my biking, where it is, and where I want it to go from here.

It looks like I’ll finish the year with about 3,750 miles. I thought I would fall well short of the 4,000 I rode last year, but it turns out that if you ride a lot, even if the rides aren’t all that long, the miles do pile up. And since I hadn’t set a mileage goal at the beginning of the year, I have to be satisfied with what I’ve done.

Today was a good example. Nice day, 67 degrees (19C), sunny, moderate wind from the south. My wife wanted to go for a ride, and suggested a Mopac loop. That’s a tad over 13 miles round trip from our house — a good ride for her, but not enough for me. (Funny story about today’s ride: Before we left the house, she noted it was 66 outside, and was anxious to get going. I was a little surprised when she wore her new long sleeved jersey with the windstopper panels and the brushed insides. Then, about five miles into the ride, she asked to stop so she could shed her neck gaiter and her full-fingered gloves. I suggested that when temps are in the 60s, she can get by with a short-sleeved jersey and arm warmers, and maybe shed the arm warmers halfway through the ride.)

However, as we were wrapping up, we got into an involved conversation about her work, and the next thing you know, I’m pulling into our garage and putting the bike away. I hadn’t even realized that I was supposed to take off and do another 10 miles or so. Okay, today will be my easy day, and I’ll ride a little stronger Friday and maybe Saturday.

I’ve already blogged about my relatively short rides this year compared to 2010. And looking back, it seems I had planned to ride longer this year. One resolution by the wayside.

In addition to not riding long, I realized that except for a metric century way back in March, I never really pushed myself on the bike this year. I never felt really done in after a ride. The rationale for that is that I’m a recreational rider, and I’m not out to kill myself by training hard. But no training means no improvement. I do enjoy riding for riding’s sake, and not pushing really hard, but it’s obvious I have to do more.

So, what are my resolutions for the New Year? I don’t do formal resolutions as a rule, but I think we all have to have some idea of accomplishments we’d like to pursue during the year. So here’s what I’m thinking:

  • Some century rides. At least two. I did none this year. Targeting a goal like that will force me to train more.
  • Randonneuring? The shortest brevet is 200 kilometers (about 125 miles). I’d like to try one once, to see if it’s something I’d like to do regularly.
  • New routes. My riding is predictable. I need to get out and ride in areas I haven’t been to before. I can do that and still stay reasonably close to home.
  • More organized rides. There’s a 180 for you. I decided I’d do fewer this year, and I did. But I found that I missed them. I always enjoy myself on these things, and they often provide the exposure to routes I haven’t ridden before. My wife and I will be doing one on New Year’s Day.
My weight is exactly where it was last year at this time, and two years ago at this time, and…you get the idea. So is weight loss a goal for the coming year? Nah. If I say it is, then don’t do it, it will be another unachieved goal. If, by some stroke of good fortune, I do lose some weight — well, then I’m ahead of the game.
So, that’s where I’m headed in 2012 — more time in the saddle. I hope you’re able to ride a lot, too. Have a happy and prosperous new year.

The Mileage Obsession

Barbara on a ride earlier this year.

On an almost summer-like Hill Country ride this morning, I caught up to my friend Barbara with several miles to go.

“I want to do 100 miles this weekend,” she said. “I’m at 91 right now. It’ll be close.”

I knew she had done a 60-mile organized ride the previous day. I thought our ride today would finish at something less than 40 miles.

With about a mile to go, I was in front of the group. I turned into the circle drive in a park where we start our rides, and stopped at my parked car. Our ride leader, Debra, was right behind me.

As I loaded the bike into the back, it occurred to me that something was odd.

“Where’s Barbara?” I asked Debra. Then I saw her.

She had ridden past the circle drive entrance and headed out to the highway. Then she turned around and headed back. Once again, I watched her ride past the circle drive.

“She’s trying to get her 100 miles,” said Debra.

Barbara came back to our circle drive, but rode past our cars and did another lap. Then, with thumbs up and a smile on her face, she pulled up to her car and dismounted.

“Got it,” she said.

She showed me her computer. It read 40.6 miles for the day’s ride. My computer showed 39.6. She squeezed one more mile out of the ride to reach her goal.

“I wanted to ride 5,200 miles this year,” she said, “but I’m out of town several weeks, so that’s not realistic. I’ve got 2,500. I want to see if I can get to 4,000 by March 1st. I think I can do it.”

I looked at Debra. “She’s mileage obsessed,” I said.

We all went out to lunch together after the ride. Barbara and Jerry, another member of the day’s group, compared ride data from their smart phones. She uses an app called My Tracks. Both were upset that they had forgotten to turn off the app at the end of the ride, and it was still registering data during their drive to the restaurant.

“Top speed, 51 mph,” Barbara said with a grimace. “That’s no help.”

I asked if they log their mileage apart from their phone apps.

“Well, it’s on the cyclocomputer,” she said. “That’s how I know what I rode this weekend, and how I’m doing at reaching my yearly goal.”

“I enter my ride data on Bike Journal,” I said.

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” she replied. “Then, if my cyclocomputer goes haywire, I still have the data.”

“And then I enter it into a separate Excel spreadsheet,” I added, “because Bike Journal doesn’t record everything I want.”

Everyone around the table looked at me.

Who’s mileage obsessed?” Barbara asked.

 

A Look at the Numbers

Guest poster Don Blount has been looking back at the year through his riding figures.

Lies, damn lies and statistics.

Can you really trust those numbers that you download from our bike computer?

I recently reviewed my biking stats for the year and discovered that I am well ahead of last year’s pace for total mileage.

Impressive?

Not really. I should have more miles in considering that I lost riding time last year because of a broken arm and fractured wrist suffered in a fall.

From May through June of 2010 I rode just under 539 miles, which includes time I spent on a trainer while injured. During that same period this year I rode nearly 1,071 miles. That 532 mile difference accounts for most of the 703 miles I am ahead of last year’s pace through October. For that matter, I have exceeded last year’s total by nearly 133 miles and still have two months of riding left. I may be able to reach 4,500 miles for the year.

Two numbers stand out at me and one may have affected the other: Elevation Gain and Calories.

Through October of last year I climbed 50,147 feet and burned 192,598 calories, according to my Garmin.

For all of 2010 I climbed 56,820 feet and burned 228,927 calories.

By comparison, through October of this year, I have climbed 60,428 feet and burned 495,620 calories. That is double the amount of calories burned in 2010, and nearly triple the amount through October 2010.

If I had to guess, I would attribute this year’s increase largely in part to riding more hills, they do make me work harder, burn more fat and become a stronger rider. So no matter how much they hate me, and I them, I will have to continue riding them.

Sometimes statistics can help us understand what we’re doing on the bike. I have tried to ride more often and to ride harder. These numbers show that I am accomplishing that. But even after all of the number crunching, the most important thing to do is enjoy your riding.

Jan-Oct. 2011
No. of Rides: 180
Distance: 3,633.83 mi
Time: 220 hrs 41 mins 07 secs
Elevation Gain: 60,428 ft
Calories: 495,620

Jan-Oct 2010
No. of Rides: 154
Distance: 2,931.13 mi
Time: 177 hrs 50 mins 43 secs
Elevation Gain: 50,147 ft
Calories: 192,598

Jan-Dec 2010
No. of Rides: 185
Distance: 3,501.28 mi
Time: 213 hrs 09 mins15 secs
Elevation Gain: 56,820 ft
Calories: 228,927

Change Those Computer Batteries!

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife and I are participating in training rides for the Mamma Jamma ride to support breast cancer research. Sunday’s ride was in San Marcos, Texas, the town where I work, about 30 miles south of Austin. We were both looking forward to the ride, because it would be on new roads for both of us.

But while bowling Saturday, I pulled a muscle in my hip. Walking around was painful. I wasn’t sure if riding would be smart.

Pat said she would do the 17-mile ride. There were also options for 37 and 49 miles. I wanted to do the 37, but when I walked outside to get the paper at 5:15 Sunday morning, the heat and humidity were already oppressive.

“I’m going to do the 17 with you,” I said. “It’s going to be rough out there today.”

She was glad to hear that, because it meant she wouldn’t be on her own. Not that she would be anyway, because Mamma Jamma rides always have ride leaders. Today’s were from Tough Cookies, an Austin-based women’s bike and triathlon team.

At the start, I watched enviously as the 49 and 37-milers took off. The weather wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. It was about 80 degrees, and humid like Florida (yech!), but enough clouds moved through the sky that the sun was mostly blocked. Still, I was going to favor my hip.

The 17-mile riders, as you might imagine, were the slow group. Within minutes of the start, one had tire problems. A sag car with a floor pump caught up to us, and the sweep rider started to pump up the tube. But it had a bent valve, and looked like it would take some time before it was ready. Four of us, including the Tough Cookies leader, decided we’d leave on our own.

The ride was slow, but nice. My hip didn’t hurt at all — I think the flexing did it some good. We rode some quiet country roads east of town, then crossed I-35 and traveled some more quiet country roads I’d never seen before.

I looked at my computer to check distance. Nine-point-something, it said (I have a heckuva time reading the thing without bifocals). Two or three miles later, I glanced at the computer again. Oh-oh.

Speed measured zero. Cadence measured zero. Mileage was still 9-point-something. I didn’t think we’d bounced around enough to knock the sensors off kilter. At a convenience store, we stopped to refill water bottles. The computer was blank. I checked the sensors, and they still lined up closely to the magnets. My batteries had died.

Now, this shouldn’t be a big deal, but when you’re an OCD record-keeper like I am, it can be catastrophic. I calmed down though, reminding myself that I would just take the data from the ride leader’s computer at the end.

We wound through seemingly endless rows of apartment complexes, which house students from the nearby university. Back out in the country, we made good time and reached our starting point quickly. The sun was just starting to come out from behind the clouds. I was drenched in sweat, but the breeze had cooled me during the ride, and I was quite comfortable. I walked over to Kathleen, the ride leader.

“So, what was the mileage and time?” I asked.

She looked at her computer. “Nine-point-six-eight miles,” she said. I grimaced.

“Which is wrong,” she added.

Her computer had died, too.

An acquaintance of mine makes it a point to change his computer batteries on New Year’s Day each year, “Whether they need it or not,” he says.

My batteries had died just a year after I got the computer, but these replacements were still going strong (I thought) a year and a half later. Now I know better, and I’ll be replacing them annually, too — say, on the Fourth of July.

So instead, I logged onto Map My Ride and mapped out the route. 17.8 miles. We were out there for about an hour and 50 minutes, but that included a 15-minute convenience store stop while we waited for the slower riders — who never did catch up. The average speed worked out to 13.4 mph. Okay, that’s close enough.

But I’m not going to let that happen again. Later Sunday afternoon, I hit the supermarket for some new batteries. The computer was running like a champ on my Monday morning ride.

Year-ender

We’re at the end of another year.  Bike-wise, it was a good year for me.  Among my personal highlights:

  • A new yearly mileage record: 4,100 miles.
  • Two century rides
  • Completion of the full two-day MS 150 from Houston to Austin
  • Improved fitness – lost girth, if not much weight – I like wearing smaller pants
  • Improved hill climbing.  Not where I want to be yet, but I can now climb my personal nemesis – as long as I rest to catch my breath at the top

Happy New Year, y'all!

I’m undecided about where my biking will go in 2011.  Both distance riding and more training appeal to me.  Right now, I’m leaning toward doing more long rides – rides of over 60 miles.

I’m also debating whether to back away somewhat from the social aspect of cycling.  I enjoy riding with friends, and one of the highlights of 2010 was meeting and riding with folks I’d only known online.  But I do most of my riding alone, and I think I enjoy that more.  I look forward to our Sunday morning club rides, but it doesn’t kill me to pass one up.

I do enjoy organized rides, and will probably do more in the new year than I did this year.  I’ve missed lots of good ones in this area, and I’d like to try them out.

But I think the emphasis will be on biking as fun, rather than biking as work.  Best of everything to each of you.

Four Grand

My wife said, “Hey, let’s go out for a bike ride.  I don’t want to go long – I have to get back and do some cleaning.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’m not up for a long ride today, anyway.”

We set off on one of her favorite neighborhood routes.  It’s got some easy hills, and I can get in a quick workout, then wait for her at the tops and bottoms.  On a mid-December 54-degree day (12ºC), we had a good ride.  And when we got home, I was able to confirm what I had expected:

I had 4,002 miles for the year.

Three years ago, when I was just getting into riding, a new riding friend told me he had ridden 2,200 miles the year before.  Based on the riding I was doing at the time, I projected I’d end the year with 1200-1500 miles.  The mileage he was talking about seemed out of reach.

But that year, I wound up with over 2,500 miles.  Last year, I topped 3,000.  Now this.

It wasn’t hard.

I have never set out expecting to ride a certain number of miles in a year.  Based on my experience, I could project what I might end with, but each time I’ve done that, I’ve been off.  The miles accumulate at a faster rate than I can imagine.

I’m a record-keeping type of person, and I have records of my rides going back to my first year on the bike: 2007.  That year, I averaged just over 17 miles per ride.  The next year, it jumped to 21, then 21.5.  This year, I’m averaging 23.6 miles per ride.

My usual weekly riding goes something like this: I’ll get in a quick 15-18 miles on a weekday.  During the summer, it might be more, but most often, not.  On Saturday, I have a 26-mile route in my neighborhood, and on Sunday, I’ll either do a club ride or another longer ride in the area, anything from 30-60 miles.

Keep doing that week after week, and take advantage of nice weather during those temperate months, and the miles pile up in no time.  You don’t need to constantly strive for 100-plus mile weeks to hit 4,000.

I have a feeling that in the coming year, I’ll be concentrating a lot more on improving my cycling skills than building my mileage.  But it’s nice to know that I’ve hit a number that most non-cyclers – and even some who do bike – have trouble imagining.