99,000 Lifetime Miles

Summer in Washington County is a shorter season than the calendar would have you believe. Already we have reached the time of year when 80° is warmer than average, and already you can see leaves beginning to change from a robust green to a sickly yellow. Wednesday will be our last day this year with an 8 p.m. sunset. Let me have the next seven weeks. That’s all I ask. When October arrives, you can have your sweaters and your pumpkin spice lattes and your yards full of trashy Halloween decorations.

On today’s bike ride I surpassed 99,000 lifetime miles. I want to reach 100,000 lifetime miles by the end of September. I will reach my goal before the end of 2026, even if I have to travel somewhere warmer to get the last miles. September 30, though, is my self-imposed deadline because I want October 1 to be the start of a new chapter in my life. On that day I want to feel free to do whatever I want for my fitness. That might be mountain biking: same time commitment, but fewer miles. That might be hiking. That might be some combination of exercises in my home gym. With 100,000 lifetime cycling miles behind me, I won’t be chasing every last mile anymore. If you care at all when I get to 100,000, then surely you won’t care when I get to 100,001. We love our round numbers, don’t we? Getting to 100,001 will be a greater achievement than getting to 100,000, but no one will look at it that way.

With the big mileage goal and summer behind me, you can count on me not to fight very hard against cold weather. In October, I plan to spend 2-3 weeks back in Pennsylvania, where the average daytime high should be 7° warmer than it is in West Bend. Those are 7 precious degrees at that time of year! And sometime around November 1, I will fill the kitchen pantry with supplies for the winter. By December 1, grocery shopping might be nothing more than a weekly order of perishables delivered to my front door. I’m not dealing with winter anymore. I will shovel my sidewalks – municipal code demands they be kept clear – but otherwise I’m done. This week I purchased a battery charger to keep my car from dying during the long periods of disuse I predict for it. I kid you not: full hermit mode this winter.

Offseason cycling goals have always been tricky for me. There will be turbo trainer sessions, but probably not Zwift sessions. I still have three very worthwhile Garmin Connect challenges to attempt: the Tacx 75K Ride (75 km / 46.61 miles), the Tacx 100K Ride (100 km / 62.14 miles), and the Indoor 4-Hour Ride. All sound terrible while the weather is still fair, but we’ll see what depths of desperation I reach in winter. Hey, with just 16 more hours of indoor riding before January 1, this year would be a Top 10 season on the trainer!

I legitimately want to get into a new strength training program in the home gym. That will happen. And I am committing to try each of the seven preset walking workouts on my treadmill. I have had the machine for 2.5 years now and still haven’t pressed those buttons! The last big walking challenge on Garmin Connect is Stepping Up 50K: 50,000 steps in one day. My current PR is 41,635 steps. Completing the challenge would take something like 7.5 hours. That’s an insane amount of walking in a single day, and it’s probably something I would attempt indoors only if there were a full day of sports on TV.

Cycling has never been my only tool for fitness, but for more than two decades it has been the most dominant. Starting this autumn, I will try to find a better balance. I don’t want to feel guilty for doing other things and “neglecting” the bike. The focus isn’t competition anymore. I haven’t done a bike race in almost two years. The focus is now longevity. To be on the bike for years to come, I need to pay more attention to other activities that can support my overall fitness.