A Little Retail Therapy To Get 2026 Started

This week, I added some new kit for the new year. And it may be months before I wear it, because this is definitely warm weather stuff. The bibs should look familiar; I’ve been wearing Louis Garneau bibs and shorts for years. Love the chamois. The orange jersey is from Sugoi, a brand with which I have a limited but positive history. The greenish-yellow jerseys are from Santic, a brand with which I have no history. I took a chance on Santic in part because of many positive reviews but also because the price was so good. In cycling, you don’t always get what you paid for. Sometimes a big name brand is a big disappointment and a smaller name is a better value. We’ll see where Santic belongs. I had to replace some worn-out articles in my cycling wardrobe, but now I’d like to be done buying kit for 2026, no matter how inexpensive it is.

2025: A Statistical Review

This year, for the first time ever, I recorded at least one exercise activity every single day. On a couple of occasions, that activity was only a 1-mile walk. And perhaps on those occasions that 1-mile walk was done simply to keep the streak alive. But I kept the streak alive. That’s the important thing. I plan to keep the streak going in 2026: at least 1 mile of walking expressly for exercise, every day. Since May 19, I have hit 10,000 steps every day. I intend to continue that streak into the new year as well, which will force me to walk more than 1 mile per day as it has for the last 227 days of this year. All of this walking resulted in a personal record of 1,141 miles in 2025, which obliterated my old PR of 554 miles, set in 2024. I’m setting no exact goal for walking mileage in 2026, but getting at least 10,000 steps per day should ensure that I finish with something like 1,000 miles again.

If it seems strange that I’m leading with my walking statistics instead of my cycling statistics, then my explanation is that my walking statistics were remarkable while my cycling statistics were – if you can forgive the pun – pedestrian. I rode outside 122 times for a grand total of 3,246 miles, an average of 26.6 miles per ride. My longest ride in terms of both distance and duration was only 47 miles in 3:11:35. None of this is breathtaking stuff, but at least I beat my target of 3,161 miles. Here’s the month-by-month breakdown:

My outdoor mileage goal for the new year is 3,075. That will get me to 100,000 lifetime miles. To be ready for the outdoor season, I plan to spend 50 hours on the trainer before May 1. There will be some outdoor riding before May 1, of course, but the indoor sessions will be more important until then. And I will be looking for at least 25 hours of mountain biking in 2026, after doing none this year.

Aside from walking mileage, there was one other personal record this year. It came from a statistical category I never really tracked before: total exercise volume from all sources. I started tracking bike ride distance way back in 2004, but I didn’t start tracking bike ride time until 2013. In 2020, I added walking/hiking/rucking. Earlier this year, I added strength training and floor climbing. This comprehensive recording of all my activities yielded a massive 669 hours, 50 minutes in 2025, far outpacing my previous PR of 421:50 in 2021. And this matters because no activity type by itself, not even cycling, is enough to give me the kind of fitness and longevity that I want to enjoy. I realize that an hour of easy walking and an hour of intense cycling are very different efforts, but rewarding myself for every effort motivates me to do a healthy mix of things.

Times Two … And Times, Too

I reached another walking milestone this morning: 1,108 miles, year-to-date. That’s double last year’s total of 554, which was a personal record. Garmin tells me I have spent about 400 hours–the equivalent of more than 16 days–on walking for fitness this year. Time on the bike, year-to-date, is 233 hours, and that includes both outdoor and indoor rides. But don’t accuse me of neglecting the bike. With 10 days remaining in December, I need only 3 more hours to beat last year’s total.

More Tacx Facts

My free trial of the Tacx training app has ended. Basic functions of the app will continue to work, but subscription-only functions are now unavailable. The subscription has different payment options. Interactive riding environments are available in standard definition for $9.99 per month or $99.99 for one year. To get high definition video, the price goes up to $13.99 per month or $139.99 for one year. At least for now, I am content with the free tier. If I were going to pay for an indoor training environment, then I almost certainly would return to Zwift.

Before Thursday’s 1-hour ride, I abandoned my efforts to calibrate power on the Tacx trainer, which I knew was inaccurate. I stole the Favero power-sensing pedals from my Scott Addict and installed them on my Trek Boone, which is on trainer duty this winter. Power numbers for Thursday’s ride were comparable to my most recent 1-hour outdoor rides in Zone 2, and they were much higher than those that the Tacx reported on earlier rides at the same perceived effort. I rode for 30 minutes on Friday and for 90 minutes earlier today, again with power numbers consistent with my expectations.

There’s a good argument for using the Favero pedals all the time, indoors and outdoors. Unlike heart rate, which naturally varies in response to things like fatigue or illness, and unlike Rate of Perceived Exertion, which is completely subjective, power is always an objective measure of how hard you’re working. Whether my Favero pedals are strictly accurate is not important, but the trends revealed by their measurements are! If I want my indoor training to translate to better performance outdoors, then it makes sense to get performance metrics from the same source. And if I go back to the Saris trainer, then it will be interesting to see how its power numbers compare to those from the Favero pedals.

The best case for continuing to use the Tacx app is that it integrates seamlessly with Garmin Connect. Many of the Tacx-specific badges are available only with a subscription, but there are two more “freebies” that I would like to earn. After that, I might abandon the Tacx app and the Tacx trainer. The remaining incentive to stick with them would be small indeed: Garmin Connect values long Tacx rides more highly than long rides on other trainers. Garmin awards 4 points for every Tacx ride of 75 kilometers (46.7 miles) and 8 points for every Tacx ride of 100 kilometers (62.2 miles). Garmin’s 50-mile trainer ride is worth 4 points, but you can earn the badge only once. Garmin doesn’t have a 100-mile indoor ride. Its 8-point indoor ride–repeatable and available on any trainer–is based on a duration of 4 hours. If your goal is to game the system to maximize points, then the 100-kilometer Tacx ride accomplishes the same thing as the generic 4-hour ride in less time as long as you average more than 15.55 mph, and a good Zone 2 average of 17.77 mph gets the job done with 30 minutes to spare. But even 3:30 on the trainer sounds like a lot to me! I was more than ready to be done when I hit 90 minutes today.

Early Start For The 2025-26 Fatbike Season

GEARS, the local mountain bike advocacy group, took advantage of last weekend’s heavy snowfall to groom the Regner Park trails for fatbikes. Here’s the announcement from the City of West Bend’s weekly newsletter, which hits my inbox every Friday:

To subscribe to the city’s newsletter, click here.

Dave Retreats. And Then? A Tacx!

It even came with a trainer tire!

I’m back in West Bend after a week in eastern Pennsylvania. While it was great to be with my mother on Thanksgiving and great to have dinner with a couple of my cousins on Black Friday, the trip was something of a disappointment. There was only one day of nice weather: 61° and dry last Wednesday. I did a 4-mile outdoor walk and hoped for more days of the same sort. But those days never came. The temperature dropped, the wind roared, and day-long rains arrived. With the great outdoors rendered off limits and with no treadmill at my disposal, I kept my walking streaks alive with hundreds of ridiculous circuits around the interior of Mom’s house. During the last week I ate too much, exercised too little, and missed West Bend even though I knew it was getting pounded with snow and bitter cold.

Now that I’m home again, it’s time to get back into regular workouts. But as I resume turbo trainer rides, there is a noteworthy change. In Pennsylvania I unexpectedly picked up a second-hand Tacx Vortex smart trainer. On Facebook Marketplace, it was listed for $20 and I gladly would have paid that price without haggling, even though I had no way to test its functionality before returning to Wisconsin. As things turned out, the owner simply wanted it gone and let me have it for free! You can’t beat that deal, but you might wonder why I wanted it when I already had a newer and arguably better smart trainer. The answer is Garmin Connect.

When Garmin acquired Tacx in 2019, it integrated the Tacx training app with its Garmin Connect platform. Since that time, numerous Garmin Connect challenges have been available only to users of the Tacx app. I intend to pursue those challenges to add some spice to my indoor trainer season. The app has features similar to Zwift, Rouvy, and MyWhoosh, so it should be more engaging than the handful of ride stats that come from my Garmin Edge cycling computer.

I got my first taste of the Tacx training app today. I did not, however, explore the many virtual environments. I contented myself with a simple display of ride stats and it looks like I might need to make some adjustments. Tacx said I averaged only 74 Watts for a 30-minute ride at 13.4 mph. It was an easy, get-to-know-you ride, for sure, but that power output seems low. At least I could count on my heart rate monitor, which paired easily with the Tacx app. And Garmin Connect rewarded me with my first two Tacx badges, so I’m satisfied with my first ride.

My next step should be to explore those virtual environments, the cornerstones of the Tacx platform.

And I Would Walk 500 More?

Walking 1,000 miles this year was not in my plans. In my New Year’s Eve statistical review of 2024, I wrote that I would shoot for 500. And we should remember two things. First, I was still recovering from surgery when I set that goal. I could not be certain how my body would respond. Second, I had set a personal record of 554 miles in 2024 and didn’t want the pressure of extending my record every year just to feel accomplished.

I surpassed 1,000 miles today. With 42 days remaining in 2025, I might get another 100-150 miles. I expect to keep going at approximately the same pace, and that means walking every day. The streak is still alive: I have walked at least 1 mile expressly for fitness every day since last December 13. Achieving that consistency might be a more worthwhile accomplishment than the big mileage total.

I still won’t want the pressure of chasing a new PR for walking in 2026, so I probably will set no mileage goals outside of Garmin Connect. Garmin’s “Walk Streak” challenge requires a single, 1-mile walk every day for 30 consecutive days. Garmin also has quarterly walking challenges that reward the 1-mile-per-day minimum, so those are automatic for anyone who keeps the “Walk Streak” challenge going. And then there’s the annual “Ultimate Walking Badge,” a reward for completing all four quarterly challenges. Again, simply meeting the “Walk Streak” minimum will yield the “Ultimate Walking Badge.”

Walking 1 mile every day has some general health benefits, but it isn’t enough by itself to build real fitness. Hitting my minimum standard of 10,000 steps per day goes further. On recent 1-mile walks, I have averaged about 2,000 steps. I have to walk the equivalent of about 5 miles per day to hit 10,000 steps. So, is 5 miles per day my real standard? I didn’t become a 10,000 steps-a-day guy until this year was well advanced. Am I going to surpass 1,825 miles in 2026, 5 miles per day for 365 days? That doesn’t seem likely. I’m getting some of those 10,000 steps from ordinary daily activities and not from measured walks. But I sure didn’t expect to double my PR this year, which I am on pace to do. So, never say never.

Pretty Doesn’t Begin To Describe 11/14/25

Losing fitness already! Today's ride would have been all Zone 2 a month ago.

Yes, I rode outside today! West Bend reached 60° for the first time since October 20 and came up just a little short of its first 70° day since October 18. I missed the last 60° day; October 18 was my last outdoor ride before today. Under sunny skies and with only light winds, today I went up the Eisenbahn State Trail to Campbellsport and back … plus a couple of bonus miles around town. I might have stayed out for another 30 minutes or so, but my water bottle ran dry. The high winds that have been so common during the last week will return tomorrow, and they might keep me off the bike. My lawn needs one more mowing before winter. There probably won’t be a better day for it than tomorrow. If today’s ride was my final outdoor ride of the year, then at least it was very satisfying.

Stopping The Slide

Last week’s rewards from Garmin Connect.

I wanted to create a training camp atmosphere for myself last week, combining different activities to pursue multiple Garmin Connect challenges. Adding interest to my workouts and arresting a month-long decline in exercise time was imperative. As recently as September, I was cranking out 20-hour weeks split between cycling and walking. For the week that ended on Sunday, November 2, my total volume was down to 11 hours, 45 minutes. Fewer hours of daylight and falling temperatures were mostly to blame, but it’s also true that my remaining fitness goals for 2025 are well within reach even if I abandon outdoor exercise.

Anyway, for the week that ended yesterday, I was determined to devote more time to my workouts. The result was 17 hours, 8 minutes of total training volume. I took advantage of time away from work. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were vacation days; Thursday and Friday were my regular days off. My new work week began at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Yes, it’s weird. My family and friends can’t remember my work schedule, even after five years.

With my training camp enthusiasm running high on Monday morning, I decided to go for a Garmin Connect challenge that I mentioned in an earlier post but thought I might never attempt: Stepping Up 40K. That’s 40,000 steps in a single day, a big increase over my personal record of 30,042. In that earlier post, I said I wouldn’t try to earn the Stepping Up 40K or the Stepping Up 50K badge with only indoor activities, as the tedium would be almost unbearable. Well, I did complete Stepping Up 40K indoors but yes, I was perfectly sick of walking by the end. I won’t say now that there’s no chance that I will complete Stepping Up 50K indoors, however I will need time to think about whether it’s worth the effort. My new personal record for steps in a single day is 41,635. Garmin says I walked 21.4 miles and burned 1,113 calories above baseline to get it, pushing my total calorie expenditure above 3,000 for the day. I spent more than 5½ hours on the treadmill spread over 11 sessions, with meals, bathroom trips, and laps around the house to break the monotony.

Last Tuesday was the anniversary of the bike crash that led to my hip replacement surgery the following day. On this November 4, I was disappointed with my energy. The problem wasn’t the huge walking effort of the previous day; the problem was sleep. In an ill-fated attempt to adopt a daytime schedule for the entire week, I went to bed at 9 p.m. on Monday. By 3 a.m. on Tuesday, I was up again. I passed the day somewhat aimlessly and went back to bed from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., getting another round of sleep that wasn’t especially restorative. By midnight, I had done just enough not to consider the day a total failure: 11,033 steps and a 30-minute upper body strength training session in the home gym.

Wednesday should have been a bounce-back day. It was only OK, not special. The highlight was a 4.3-mile treadmill walk. I finished the day with 13,715 steps, which isn’t bad but it’s actually a slightly smaller effort than my average over the last four weeks. Thursday was more of the same: 12,769 steps and a 30-minute lower body strength training session in the home gym. That’s hardly “training camp” stuff.

Friday began more ambitiously. I spent an hour on the treadmill before visiting my surgeon for a final follow-up visit. My new X-rays looked great and the doctor was very pleased with my recovery. After the visit I did an outdoor walk for the first time since July 5. Yikes! I guess you could say my hopes for a big autumn of hiking haven’t been realized. Friday’s step total was a respectable 16,210. Still, I didn’t do everything I had planned. When the day ran out of sunlight, I ran out of giving a damn and went to bed.

That decision to go to bed when darkness arrived may prove to be the start of a better sleep schedule for me. It’s certainly more in line with what nature intended. I slept well from about 5 p.m. until about 12 a.m. on Friday night. In my many years of working nights–my current job is only the most recent to require overnight hours–I always have preferred a bedtime soon after the end of the shift. This has meant trying to sleep during daylight hours. I may revert to that schedule when Daylight Saving Time returns, but at least for now I will try to stay awake after work. Morning exercise, a quietly productive afternoon, and a bedtime of something like 3:30 p.m. probably would be beneficial. I have averaged only 5½ hours of sleep per day for the last year, and that’s not enough. Every effort to fix my sleep eventually fails, but I must keep trying.

Saturday was another day of fleeting motivation. I did a solid upper body strength workout, but I couldn’t talk myself into a turbo trainer ride. I finished the day with 10,768 steps. Getting 10,000 steps, 1 mile of walking expressly for fitness, and 30 consecutive minutes of walking have become my non-negotiable daily minimums. More is better, though!

With a mix of televised NFL and NHL games to alleviate the boredom, on Sunday I earned Garmin’s Indoor 50K Ride badge (50 kilometers / 31.1 miles). The next step is the Indoor 50-Mile Ride badge–roughly a 3-hour commitment–and then comes the final boss: the Indoor 4-Hour Ride badge. I have no target dates for those; they sound terrible. I finished Sunday with 15,499 steps.

Last week’s 121,629 steps were more than average but not a record. I somehow amassed 152,122 steps during the week of August 25-31. I spent 13½ hours on walking last week, 2 hours on indoor cycling, and 1½ hours on strength training. As my offseason progresses, things won’t be so out of balance.

My next trip to Pennsylvania is now just two weeks away and I will spend much of that time getting my home and yard ready for winter. Indoor cycling will be a priority too, as I don’t plan to take a bike to PA and these two weeks may present my last opportunities to grab Garmin Connect cycling badges in 2025.

The 2026 WORS Schedule