A Rush And A Push

This charming man and his entourage would have been a little under-dressed today.

Earlier today I did my 6th ride of the new year. I have covered 125 outdoor miles already, a personal record that surpasses the 117 miles I rode in January 2012. Due to extremely cold temperatures, last January was a complete shutout. February was rough too. I didn’t do my 6th ride of 2014 until March 18!

My mileage goal this year is 5,234, which would get me to 50,000 lifetime miles. (I like round numbers.) This is how I planned to get there:

050 January

050 February

500 March

500 April

500 May

750 June

750 July

750 August

500 September

500 October

250 November

134 December

As you can see, I didn’t expect a lot from January but I expected something. I had to concede that we were not likely to have a repeat of last winter’s exceptional cold.

Today was the end of Week 1 of my 12-week winter plan. It was supposed to be a rest day, but the weather was nice enough to permit an outdoor ride and I have to take advantage of such opportunities. With 4 outdoor rides and 2 indoor trainer rides in the last 7 days, I logged 8 hours in the saddle. And though my body weight is up significantly from where it was during the cyclocross season, I’m lighter than I was at this time last year.

Not a bad start … and January isn’t over yet. Being so aware of the numbers makes me want to extend my January record. Perhaps the bar was set low, but I am happy to be ahead of schedule.