2022: A Statistical Review

Garmin Connect combines indoor and outdoor miles, but I don't.

How did I do in 2022, my 19th season as a cyclist? By the numbers, it was not an impressive year. I rode 4,190 miles outdoors, down from 4,704 in 2021. That decline came despite only a tiny reduction in frequency—143 rides this year versus 148 rides last year—but my average distance per ride dropped from 31.8 miles to 29.3 miles. I set no new monthly mileage records, and a metric century on October 22 was my longest ride of the season. My 4,190-mile total ranks 14th all-time and is my lowest output since I rode 4,100 miles in 2013, a season shortened by injury.

On the upside, I exceeded my goal of 3,612 miles in 2022 to surpass 85,000 lifetime miles. In 2023, my goal will be to reach 90,000 lifetime miles. I will need 4,422 miles to get there. I’m trying to stay on pace to reach 100,000 miles in 2025, the year in which I will turn 60. But obviously it would benefit me to exceed 4,422. I don’t want to rely on back-to-back seasons of 5,000 miles in 2024 and 2025.

I spent more than 53 hours on the turbo trainer in 2022, my biggest effort since 2008. That’s good news and bad news. I always would prefer to ride outside, but I have such an aversion to cold weather that riding inside is frequently the better choice. Having a smart trainer and a Zwift subscription has made indoor riding far less of a grind, so I’m doing it more consistently.

I missed my goal of 500 walking miles. Hurting my left leg in August put an end to that idea. I finished 2022 with 295 miles of fitness walking. I’m setting a goal of 260 miles in 2023. That’s 5 miles per week on average, and it’s enough. It is just cross-training, after all. I’m not trying to be a competitive walker.

June 10, 2023, will be the 40th Anniversary of my graduation from high school. I want to get back to my senior year weight: 185 pounds. That won’t be easy, but I was there as recently as September 2019.

Off the bike, 2022 was rewarding in many ways. I had a lot of success at my job and reaped the rewards from a grateful employer. I had a very enjoyable vacation in Pennsylvania. I read 28 books. I redecorated my dining room. Even if my cycling numbers were down a bit, 2022 was a good year.

One Last Outdoor Ride In 2022

Yesterday in West Bend, we rose above the freezing mark for the first time since December 15. And we didn’t just sneak above 32° for a few minutes; by 1:25 p.m. we had hit 40° for the first time since December 3. It might have been a day of aggressive snow melting if not for the considerable cloud cover. Fortunately, we stayed well above the freezing mark overnight—extraordinarily rare at this time of year—so the melting continued unabated.

This afternoon we cracked 50° for the first time since November 29. I think we topped out at 54°, more than 20° above normal. The streets were still wet and dirty, and the park paths were blocked by snow in some places. I didn’t let that stop me; I did my first outdoor ride since November 23. It was only a 15-mile tour of West Bend, shown on the map above. And like any winter ride, it wasn’t fast. But it was a mood lifter. Winter is the equivalent of house arrest for me and we’re in the early days of this one, so any chance to get outside is a blessing. We’re going back into the 30s tomorrow and we might have fresh snow on the ground by this time next week.

K’s For Days: Done!

Today I finished the “K’s for Days” mission on Zwift, completing 500 kilometers (311 miles) of indoor cycling this month. It’s not that big of a deal, but I appreciate little incentives like this at any time of year and especially during winter. Sometime in the next few days I will surpass 1,000 miles of Zwifting in 2022. And it looks like I will finish the year with my 4th highest total of trainer minutes since I started riding indoors back in 2006.

I don’t want to focus too much on numbers like these, as it always will be my goal to ride outside as much as I can. But something like “K’s for Days” is a good fit when the snow is flying in December. I’m thinking about doing the Tour de Zwift, Jan. 9 through Feb. 5, to stay motivated as winter wears on. It would be a great way to force myself to ride several courses I haven’t tried yet.

This Blows!

Bontrager makes a nice line of tire pumps and I’ve had one for years. But stuff wears out, and my old pump isn’t connecting reliably to Presta valves anymore. The good folks at Pedal Moraine are going to order a part that should get the old pump working again. It was my only floor pump until this afternoon. The plan now is to relegate it to backup duty … maybe to store it in my car so that I always have a pump when I take my bikes somewhere. Today was a good day to invest in a new pump to serve as my primary. This Bontrager Dual Charger can switch between high volume and high pressure, and it features a big, easy-to-read gauge. I tested it on my turbo trainer tire and was immediately impressed. Great upgrade!

1,000 Miles On Zwift

Today I surpassed 1,000 lifetime miles on Zwift. I have been using the virtual cycling platform since November 2021, but only when cold and/or wet weather keeps me from riding outside. I should have reached this milestone a couple of days ago, but family obligations kept me from riding on Saturday and I lost Friday’s ride to a technical glitch.

The exact cause of the glitch remains a mystery. Zwift’s customer support team says I lost my connection to Zwift’s servers. But Friday’s ride seemed normal to me in every detail except one: I appeared to be the only rider using Zwift at that time. So, I took every sprint and every KOM and didn’t fret over all the “Ride On!” cheers I wasn’t getting. At the end of the ride I selected Save and the course—one that I had never ridden before—appeared to be completed. But my ride never showed up on Zwift.com or on Garmin Connect. I then shut down the Zwift application. Upon restarting, I was prompted to update the software. After doing so, Friday’s course reverted to incomplete. In my manual training log I gave myself credit for riding, but “officially” the ride never happened. Those statistics are simply lost.

Yesterday I completed two courses on Zwift and everything worked as expected. Today’s ride also was free of glitches. Friday’s ride stands alone as the time Zwift failed me. Overall, I have been satisfied with the service, and I still have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

More Of The Same

When I find something that works, I stick with it. In the last couple of weeks I outfitted myself with new copies of old favorites.

My endurance road bike, the BMC, will need new tires to start the 2023 season. I didn’t even look at other options; I love Continental Gatorskins. You could say I love them too much, but I’m not asking my existing tires to last as long as their predecessors. I have more than 3,240 miles on the current pair, and that’s probably enough even though they’re still performing.

That new Bell Formula MIPS helmet will be my everyday helmet, replacing an older copy of the same thing. I probably should be replacing my helmet every five years or so, given how frequently I ride. Not sure how old the existing helmet is, but it’s starting to look a bit shabby.

The new saddle is a Fizik Arione, the same model I use on my BMC. This one will go on my Framed Gravier, replacing the stock Selle Italia Boost. The Fizik Arione is 90g lighter—I’m still trying to cut weight from the surprisingly heavy Gravier—and it’s significantly longer and narrower. That’s a better fit for me. Also, its surface is easier to move along. The Selle Italia Boost has a sticky, rubberized feel that I don’t like. I got the new Fizik Arione online from Walmart, believe it or not, where it was more than $30 cheaper than any other reputable retailer’s price.

Watch this space! I’m not ruling out more new goodies before spring.

The 2023 ToAD Schedule

Add Mission

This wasn’t a great month. Tomorrow’s weigh-in will furnish irrefutable proof of that. I know I added to my already oversized belly, I just don’t know how much yet. I’ve been doing roughly half as much training as I intended. My energy has been terrible. Everything has been a drag since the end of Daylight Saving Time. Some days, like yesterday, are just dark all day long. On other days, I’m sleeping away most of the daylight and not getting active until evening. At least I have been consistent with strength and mobility training, but that’s not enough.

In December I need to do more. I need to kick myself in the ass and actually follow the Zwift training plan that I created for myself weeks ago. Zwift is providing extra incentive with its “K’s for Days” mission, challenging members to ride 500 kilometers (311 miles) in December. I’ve met lots of mileage-based challenges before … all outside, but still. Some of those challenges were self-imposed; others came from Garmin Connect. So, this new challenge resonates with me. I understand what needs to be done. And meeting the challenge should be easy. I need to average only 10 miles per day, and historically I have averaged more than 20 miles per Zwift session. The key will be consistency. The only thing that will sidetrack me is to take too many days off.

This month I did 10 Zwift sessions, racking up 216 virtual miles. I also rode outside on 6 occasions, but I don’t anticipate any outside rides in December. And, as I don’t intend to pursue any multi-day Garmin Connect challenges in the new month, Zwift will have almost all of my attention.

Think Spring!

West Bend got into the mid-50s this afternoon and the bright sunshine helped to melt much of the snow that has lingered for the past week. You could have been forgiven for thinking spring had come. I did a 26-mile ride around town to give myself a little break from indoor training. So, yes, think spring!

But then think, “Why do we look forward to spring with such passion when it’s always cold and wet?” Today’s ride pushed my November mileage total past my April mileage total, and October’s numbers were higher than May’s. If I ride 105 miles in December—not out of the question—then I’ll surpass my total from March. The truth about spring is that it’s hit-or-miss, and miss is winning. Today, though, felt the way we want those early spring days to feel.

Zwift: One Year Later

Today is the anniversary of my entry to the world of virtual cycling on Zwift. From November 18, 2021, through yesterday, I rode 624 virtual miles in 32 hours. The last calendar year in which I rode that many trainer hours was 2011, so that’s something. Still, the numbers aren’t as big as they should have been. Old habits die hard, and for most of the last year I treated Zwift as the exercise option of last resort. Winter 2022-2023 has arrived early in Washington County and I’m already working on my new periodized training plan, whose weeks range from 6 hours to 9 hours. In just a few weeks I will exceed the volume of work I did on Zwift in the previous 12 months.

My experience with Zwift has been mostly positive. Cheapskate that I am, it says something that I continue to subscribe. Riding on Zwift is far more engaging than traditional indoor training. The interactive nature of the platform creates a more satisfying and more realistic experience than I used to get watching first-person bike racing footage on YouTube while pedaling away on my “dumb” trainer. By adjusting the smart trainer’s resistance to reflect the changing terrain of its virtual world, Zwift keeps me honest. No ride is just a mindless spin at the same cadence and power level.

But a year ago I expected Zwift to integrate fully with Garmin Connect, allowing me to continue to use Garmin Connect as a single repository for all of my workout data. Unfortunately, the two platforms aren’t entirely compatible. Zwift rides don’t count toward Garmin Connect badges, and I think that’s unfair because the workouts are far more demanding than some of the activities that do count. Zwift rides count toward Garmin Connect mileage goals, and I think that’s stupid because riding on the trainer is not the same thing as riding outdoors. I will continue to count my indoor miles and my outdoor miles as two separate things, so I’m still doing my own bookkeeping.

And aside from its issues with Garmin Connect, Zwift itself feels disjointed. I don’t have a smart phone so I don’t use the companion app. That means I’m not reciprocating when friendly strangers give me a “Ride On!” and I’m always following default courses rather than navigating. Also, I would like to do more from the Zwift website, things like checking the course availability calendar and making changes to my bike or my avatar. The good outweighs the bad, though, so Year 2 begins today.