2011 was my first full year of bicycle commuting full-time. It was a very satisfying year of cycling, and I learned a lot. Very few of my total miles were non-commuting. Just south of 90% of my miles were what I call replacement miles - miles for which I rode my bike for a purpose: commuting to work, getting groceries, visiting a friend, etc. Looking at the spreadsheet, there was really only one long ride that I did for pleasure, not book-ending a day at work. This was a 63 mile ride sometime in June (okay, the 25th). I thought I was going to do a lot of long rides like that one, but that was it. I ended the year with 3,004 miles.
2012 was a much different year. Because of a recent move and job change, my commute went from 12.8 miles round trip to 1.29. Initially I set a mileage goal for the year of 2,500 miles. Based on the first two months (220 miles combined), this seemed pretty realistic. Then I did over 600 miles in each of the next two months. I didn't do 600 miles/month for the rest of the year, but did finish the year with 4,225 miles. The makeup of these miles were very different than 2011. Beginning in April, I really increased my long distances frequency. From April to August, I averaged 34, 45, 64, 52, and 41 miles per ride in each month respectively. Only 11.5% of my total miles were replacement.
I ended up with 17 rides greater than 50 miles (after two ever previously), including three rides 70+ miles and one century. Additionally, 42 rides between 30 and 50 miles. I was very happy with these numbers. I had exceeded all my expectations for mileage and learned a lot along the way. But I want more for 2013.
Goals for 2013 are as follows.
- 5,200 total miles. I really like the idea of 100 miles/week,.
- Century-a-Month Challenge.
- All-gravel trip to the Pawnee Buttes.
- Ride to and get a card at every library within 50 miles.
- At least one other multiple day, self-sustained tour.
I don't really see having a problem with getting 5,200 miles, based on what I did (and didn't do) last year. January, February, and December were weak last year (306 total miles). August was pretty weak at only 203 miles. Now that I think about it, the entire summer was just okay. Although I did a lot of long rides, I didn't ride with much frequency. Between June, July, and August, I totaled 17 rides. During the three prime months of the year I only rode 887 miles, when I could have easily done double that. Because I left so much on the table during so much of the year, I should be able to hit 5,200 pretty easily. The other goals we will see about. But no matter what happens, this will again be a landmark year of cycling for me.
