Can’t ride? Think about cycling.
Having ticked “Ride a century” off the list last week, I’ve begun thinking about what’s next. Thinking about cycling is something I can do when off the bike, and Sunday is my usual rest day.
(Although, if I owned one of these, I’d move my rest day to another day. Donations accepted. Remember, Christmas is coming. Shipping address here.)
This is especially so today since I’ve been sick for the latter part of the week. After riding 102¾ miles on Monday with no real problem at all, riding the two miles home from work yesterday afternoon was one of the major challenges I’ve faced this year.
Today is the first day I’m feeling better. It’s been a real challenge to stay inside and off the bikes.
Anyway, before looking ahead, it’s best to determine where you are.
Goal Update
BikeJournal.com is a great tool for me.
By logging all my rides, not only does it keep me honest, but I can track improvements. This keeps me motivated for riding beyond commuting.
It’s also been a great tool to learn achievable goal setting. I’ve never been able to set goals. I’ve never known how to do it. It was a guessing game and I’ve always been wildly off the mark.
Last year I sort of figured out how much riding I could do while still maintaining an off-bike life. I used the monthly figures in my log to project the amount of riding for each month this year, then rounded to the nearest 100 miles. Conveniently, they summed to 4,000, just 15 miles short of an average of 11 miles per day.
With 12 weeks left to go in the year, at 3,520 miles, I am within 12% of my 2007 goal of 4,000 miles. In order to achieve the goal, I need to ride only 40 miles per week. Unless I crash mightily or all my bikes are stolen, its a done deal.
My secondary goal is to finish in the top 15% overall at BikeJournal. As of this writing, I’m 1,050 of 7,059 riders (counting outdoor miles only), or at 14.87%. Also a done deal.
A tertiary goal is to finish in the top 1,000. This was one I didn’t think I’d do, but by midsummer, I ranked 939. I slipped to below 1,100 as I missed monthly targets in August and September. I’ve been creeping back up. As northern hemisphere riders end their seasons, and provided southern hemisphere riders don’t hammer me, I should be able to achieve this one too.
As for Rochester Bicycling Club members who log their miles at BikeJournal, I’m 819 miles ahead of number two. I started the year in first place and have maintained it throughout. Of course, I’m the only four-season rider in the club who also logs on BikeJournal.
Along the way this year, I’ve ridden three metric centuries (62.137 miles or more), my first imperial (full) century (100 miles or more), had my first crash, first encounter with a dog, and graduated to being a roadie.
I’m on my third bike, having acquired two more this year. I rode all winter in the snow. I learned how to fix a flat. And I learned how to build a bike and how to do my own repairs and maintenance.
I rode my bikes in two countries last year. I rode in my first all-weekend event at the BikeJournal Reunion (BJRU) which was held at the Great Finger Lakes Bicycle Tour (GFLBT) in Watkins Glen. I led my first club ride and even organized one, even if only three people showed up and one had a better route than I’d proposed.
So what about next year?
Looking ahead
First, I feel comfortable in bumping-up my mileage goal by 10% to 4,400 miles. Conveniently, this is eight miles more than a 12 mile average per day. It sounds easy, just one more mile a day, but I’ve also learned the challenges.
The purchase of the Portland has changed many plans for acquiring bikes. I just didn’t think it would be as nice as it’s turned out to be. At my current rate, I’m due for another bike in May or June. I even have my eye on one. But three things are causing me to question this.
First, the Portland is such a nice bike, I’m not sure I need another one. Second, I would have to thin the herd. Would I dump the hybrid since becoming a true roadie, or would I dump Yellow Bike? Too difficult a question. Third, spending more money on bikes conflicts with another goal.
I really enjoyed the BJRU07 at the GFLBT. I want to go back next year. To both. The GFLBT will be without the BJRU, because BJRU08 will be in Colorado, hosted by Club Hypoxia, (Motto: Oxygen or Altitude–Pick One).
Near as I can tell, the trip to BJRU08CO will be about $2,000 between airfare, motel, car rental and spending money. That’s the cost of a bike.
(Going to BJRU08CO also means joining AARP for the discounts on airfare, motel and car rental. I never thought I’d make it this far and I’m kinda diggin’ it. I like hanging out on the Fifty Plus Forum at BikeForums.net and never thought twice about buying the jersey. But joining AARP? That just makes me feel old.)
So if I want go to BJRU08CO, I’ll have to curb my appetite for bikes and bike shit. (Except maybe for this Republic of Anaerobia jersey. And the bib shorts. Hypoxia, meet Anaerobia.)
Decisions, decisions…
Do I take my bike to Denver and ride with 53 (as of this writing) of my online cycling friends? And if I do that, do I sign up for Saturday’s “Epic Century” ride that includes 55 miles along the Continental Divide on the Peak-to-Peak Highway?
Peak-to-Peak is rated as one of the ten best rides in the US. It would be a shame to go all that way and miss out on a Ten Best ride. And I suppose it would be a real high-water mark to go from being a sedentary couch potato and smoker to riding the Continental Divide in only 27 months. On the other hand, just riding at 5,000 feet will be challenge enough without throwing in another 9,000.
Or do I drop a few bucks on some fine Italian racing steel with Campagnolo components? (Or maybe an Orbea Orca, only with normal wheels instead of those Zipps.)
Can’t afford both.
Meanwhile, I do want to return to GFLBT, (and this year without injuries), so I can do the “big ride” on Saturday and also do the Sunday ride that I missed this year.
I want to return to my parents place in Ontario and do some more riding. With the Portland, all I have to do is change the tires and the one bike will handle both the paved and unpaved roads with equal aplomb.
And I’d like to do some of the other rides I missed this year because I couldn’t find a ride to the rides.
Even so, there’s still this winter to get through. I got a flat Tuesday night on the TNUA. It was a rim tape failure. To protect the new tube, I had to put in new rim tape. Fortunately, I had some in the basement. While there, I brought up a snow tire to test fit on the Portland’s wheel.
Everything fits, but boy is it hard to get on and off the rim. This confirmed for me that buying a wider set of rims for my snow tires (and for cyclocross tires for off-road riding in the summer) is a good decision.
So there are new wheels to buy. Plus I want to get some cycling-specific winter clothing. I rode to work this week in jeans for the first time since April. I’ve gotten spoiled by cycling shorts. And of course there are the Lake winter cycling boots I want to buy.
Then I just have to make it through another long, cold, dreary winter…
