Keeping One Streak Alive (At Least)

With my cyclocross bike I averaged 17.4 mph and topped out at 32.6 mph on today’s 26-mile ride.

Today I reached 4,000 miles of cycling. This is the fifth consecutive year in which I have reached that milestone, and the sixth time in my 10 years as a cyclist.

Year  Miles
2013  4,001
2012  5,005
2011  5,113
2010  4,650
2009  4,800
2008  3,787
2007  4,410
2006  3,161
2005  3,050
2004  1,454

Back in 2008, I was certainly on my way to a 4,000-mile season when I crashed and broke my collarbone on Aug. 20. I didn’t ride again until 17 days later. Daylight waned and temperatures grew cold. I wasn’t as well prepared then as I am now, and I did my last ride of that season on Nov. 2.

This year I crashed and broke my collarbone on Sep. 8 and I didn’t ride again until 30 days later. Having the right clothing is allowing me to push deeper into the fall than I could five years ago, but working from home is the more important difference. Every day now comes with at least a chance for a lunch-hour ride. Today’s ride was my 12th on a weekday since resuming my season on Oct. 8. Getting to 4,000 miles became a worthy goal when I started riding again. I was stuck on 3,547 while I waited for the doctors to decide whether I would need surgery.

What’s left before the end of 2013? There’s a chance that I will break personal records for miles in November and December, but I’m not very motivated by those. If I come up short, then this will be the first season in which I didn’t establish any new monthly standards. Here are my existing records:

Month  Year     Miles
01     2012      117
02     2012      137
03     2012      516
04     2010      650
05     2009      750
06     2007      772
07     2011  1020
08     2011      756
09     2009      800
10     2010      532 (Tied in 2011)
11     2012      330
12     2012      175

As much as my non-cycling friends think I overdo it already, just imagine the numbers I could put up if I didn’t feel so restricted by bad weather …