Darth Lefty 

All right, gang, check your entries in the mileage thread and think back on your year. How did you do? Did you set goals, did you meet them? Did you learn, were you happy?

I'm a part-time commuter. I think I could have done more than 1000 miles in a normal year but instead this year did mid 500's, which would be less than 50 days commuting, out of a year with around 210 work days. I missed the prime riding season of mid spring to late summer due to a home improvement project taking up the daylight, and then the birth of my son and associated family leave. I can't call it a loss, the reasons were good.

I switched this year from a MTB-with-slicks to a C&V road bike and I generally liked the change. I was able to use my shut-in time during the paternity leave to rebuild the Super Sport and get it working, and it's been good to me so far. With the road bike I switched to a hard saddle. This actually added a lot of time to my commute as it required me to dress out in bike shorts. It more than ate the speed advantage of the road bike.

During my wife's pregnancy and following, I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of fitness. I'm getting it back but I'm not as good now as I was in mid-2012.

I was feeling a lot more self-righteous about biking in 2012-13 than I have in 2014.

alan s 

Still kicking. Did a group ride on vacation last weekend. My overall average for 36 miles was 23 mph (including stopping and slowing from time to time), without really working that hard. Did get dropped at the end when the pace kicked up to 30 mph. I was one of the few bikes that didn't have aero wheels, so I had an excuse. Not too bad for a guy that pretty much just commutes.

jyl

I was very good at doing the bike commute this year. Drove maybe ten days.

The weekend riding is another story, I was good through mid summer, then really slacked off and now I have to get my fat butt on the bike and do some thirty mile days in the cold rain as penance.

TenSpeedV2

Late to join in, but have been tracking mileage for the year. Set a goal of 2500 miles total riding before 12/31/14 and managed to exceed that by 600 miles. Not sure what part of that is commuting, but hoping to track exact commuting mileage in 2015 vs. fun rides.

ThermionicScott 

2014 gets a big "meh" from me. It was very rainy and cold coming out of winter, which gave little motivation to start riding again. I had desired to do a full Super Randonneur series as a dry run for next year's PBP, but bad weather and involvement in two weddings meant that I didn't ride a single brevet this spring. Finally started to get on track with commuting this summer and did my 6th RAGBRAI, but still ended up missing a lot of my club's weekend rides. Fall was when I started commuting in earnest and eating healthier in an attempt to finally shed my extra weight from the previous winter. Which I'm happy to say was a success, and now my goal for the rest of this winter is to keep the seasonal weight in check by avoiding sugar and riding as much as I can.

I had hoped to ride 5000 total miles this year, but only came in around 3200 due to all the stuff I complained about above. Next year, I plan to do better in all regards.

- Scott

lasauge 

2014 was a mediocre year for me, I rode pretty much everyday (going on five years since I went car-free, still happy with that decision) and got in some decent mileage, but not as much as I would have liked: about 4000 miles? I actually decided keeping track wasn't fun anymore back in August. But I've made some changes and expect things to improve in 2015 - and that goes for both on and off the bike.

The 2013-14 winter was one of extremes, but some of the really challenging days I had to deal with forced me to continue adapting/improving my winter gear, and because of that, the '14-15 winter commutes to date have been incredibly easy, no big deal even when the thermometer goes below 0 (Fahrenheit). Lobster mitts, a pair of Diadora winter cycling boots, and wearing ski goggles more often were the major changes.

Spring and early summer were the highlights of my year, lots of miles on the road, and I finally invested in some high-powered lights which let me do quite a few fun rides at night and take much longer detours on the after-work commute. Late summer and autumn were not so good, mostly because of my job, and I ended up not riding much aside from my very short commute to/from my [work]place of torment. And so, skipping to the end of 2014, in December I numbered the commutes to be ridden, and on the 27th I came home with panniers full of work gear and personal effects.

So I'm looking forward to 2015 full of optimism - I'm not in a huge hurry, but I am certainly looking forward to figuring out my next commute, with all the new challenges, detours, and learning that will come along with it.

hueyhoolihan

i remain a self-centered jerk, with a raging case of herpes and halitosis.

edit: forgot the hemorrhoids.

wolfchild

I don't set myself any speed or mileage goals. Not interested in a pissing contest about who rides the fastest or who rides most miles or how many slower cyclist I passed... I just ride about 345 days per year and that's it. My main goal everyday is just to enjoy the ride and get from point A to point B as safely as possible and with as little fuss as possible. 2014 has been a good year.

spivonious

Hmm, I don't have my starting mileage for the year, but I was around 1500 miles last October and can add a maximum of 280 per month. I'm currently at 4128, so that means I most likely had over 2000 miles this year. Not too bad considering that I missed a lot of rides due to the "polar vortex" at the beginning of the year.

tarwheel 

This was an excellent year for me for total cycling, but a tough year for commuting. My commuting mileage was about 1,000 miles less than it would have been under better weather conditions, but the entire year seems like it has been a never-ending procession of cold fronts and drizzly rain. This week has been a perfect example as it rained my final two potential commuting days. We should end up about 12" above normal for the year. With more typical rainfall, I probably would have topped 10,000 total cycling miles for the first time. Despite that, I should end up with my highest total mileage in a year, if the incessant rain ever stops and I can squeeze in one more ride by Dec. 31.

That said, it was a great year for touring and recreational cycling for me. I rode two week-long tours and three weekend tours, totaling more than 1,200 miles. These included my first extended load tour, riding 400 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP-C&O Canal trails. It was so much fun that my friends and I are planning to do it again in 2015. My weekend tours included the Cycle NC spring ride and the New River and Virginia Creeper trails in Western VA. I also rode 500 miles in the Cycle NC fall ride from the mountains to the coast.

My city has recently completed several long bike paths - MUTs that make it possible to ride nearly car-free throughout much of the metro area. I have taken full advantage of this and my weekend rides from shifted from strictly road to largely MUTs. I have particularly enjoyed riding downtown with my friends, eating brunch, and then back home for a nice 50-60 mile loop. One of these paths is the 30+ mile Neuse River Trail, which is an incredible recreational resource for our area. Not only is the trail very scenic, but the construction is top notch, and I can ride to it from my house in about 15 minutes.

My bike fleet has evolved to adapt to my new riding preferences, and I now have two touring bikes, a sport tourer and a cyclecrosser in addition to an Italian racing bike. All of my bikes can be ridden on unpaved trails and roads except for the Italian. My average speeds are down but I am enjoying riding more than ever.

wphamilton

I hadn't set any goals but I did wind up going an entire year without ever driving in. I was kind of proud of the cycling record during the challenging polar vortex winter and the infamous Atlanta ice storm.

Since moving closer to work chopped a few miles off my commute the total commuting mileage was less that previously, just over 4,000 miles. I take it back, I did have one goal that I was very pleased with achieving: keeping the rubber side down!

irwin7638

I set no goals on the bike, but was determined not to drive unless necessary. I put 1500 miles on the car which was all out of town (Chicago and Minneapolis). It takes about 75 miles to remember how the speed control works. I had to jump start the car on Christmas Eve because I had forgotten to drive it for 6 weeks. I guess I put a few miles on the bike.

Marc

Gresp15C

No goals or measurements, though I just got a cyclocomputer for Xmas. It'll be fun to see how slow I'm actually going. As for winter riding, I won't declare victory until spring, but have made it so far, and am for the first time fully equipped in terms of bike and clothing.

I built a couple of wheels and rebuilt a Sturmey Archer for the first time. I think I've finally earned a real truing stand, through a couple of boards clamped to my workbench have served pretty darn well.

tsl

Ask me again tomorrow night. Two more commuting days left.

I-Like-To-Bike

You are obviously suffering from a case of Bicycling OCD Deficiency.

Perhaps intense reading and rereading of BF commuting posts concerning goal setting, dropping of strangers while commuting, N+1, and mileage counts will straighten you out.

ThermionicScott 

When I clicked "View Post" I kinda hoped you would have shared how your bike-riding went this year. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that you took potshots at other posters instead.

modernjess

I definitely commuted less in 2014 than in the previous several years, but I'd say I had my most epic cycling year ever outside the commute. I rode a lot in a lot of amazing places. I love all types of riding and my motivation is to collect experiences. I don't record anything except as memories in my quickly deteriorating and rapidly aging brain.

Here's to a strong 2015 BF members whatever and wherever it is you like to ride! Rubber side Down.

Jim from Boston

I previously posted:

I did a self assesssment on the Living Car Free Forum thread, Living Car Free/Light Highlights of 2014

So I looked at my mileage statistics for the year. I got so lax in the late summer that I even stopped tracking in August. In August I had about 3500 miles out of an ambitious year-to date goal of about 5000 miles. My usual year-end goal (never achieved) is about 5K for the entire year. So despite the marked downturn in commuting, I feel a bit better about the year, by tracking mileage.

bmthom.gis

For my first year commuting, I think I did pretty good. A little under 1000 miles. Sure, I could have done better, but between work trips and 3 solid weeks of toting a heavy and expensive laptop (via car) I did miss out on some miles. There were a few days I was a wimp. But I am happy with my first year under my belt. I have learned a lot, have a pretty good route, and if I can just get over this sickness I will be back in the saddle ASAP!

I-Like-To-Bike

My bike riding this year was just like the previous 30 or 40 years, enjoyable. No specific goals, no mileage counts, haven't bought a bike now for a decade or so. Only difference is for the last 2 years I no longer commute to work, but only around town as well as to a local gym/swimming pool for exercise. Only use the car in town about once every two weeks to pick up pizza. Also now hardly ever listen to music while cycling and listen almost 100% to audio books while riding. Read lots of good ones while multi-tasking in this manner.

Don't think I would enjoy cycling much if I got obsessive about all the peripheral competitive "stuff" associated with Correct Bicycling™ as posted on BF.

dramiscram

I managed to ride my bike as often as I did in 2013 with 6 working days less: in 2013 I commuted by bike 156 days out of 196 days of work and this year it's been 156 out of 190. Only 34 days of car for a guy living up north is something that I'm quite proud of.

My total bike mileage is also about same as last year. give or take a hundred.

I was on the radio and in the news paper because I commute 55 kms/day to work, which was nice and fun.

Happy new year everyone

tarwheel 

I don't set any goals for myself because I like to ride, so I do it as often as possible. I purposely don't set goals for commuting because I don't like to ride in foul or unsafe weather and don't want to pressure myself into riding when it's not advisable. My round-trip commute is 30+ miles and lasts close to 2.5 hours including all of the time spent at red lights, so that has a big bearing on riding in cruddy weather. If my commute only took 10-15 minutes, I would be more open to riding on rainy days, but there's no way I want to ride 2.5 hours in the rain. I also ride for the pleasure and enjoyment it gives me, but riding in nasty weather doesn't fulfill that. However, I don't mind riding in the cold, it's just the rain/fog/sleet/snow/ice that get to me.

gregf83 

I have a fairly long commute (66km) so was hoping to ride 4 days out of 5 on average. Managed a little better than 5 out of 6 which meant I drove 34 times during the year for various reasons. Will finish the year at just over 15k km which is a little over my normal mileage over the past 8 yrs.

2015 I hope to get back into racing...

ThermionicScott 

Now that's better!

cooker

In 2014 I bike commuted more miles than ever before, because my office moved in mid 2013 to a farther location. My actual number of commuting days (either 145 or 146, depending on tomorrow) was about average.

As of today:

2046 miles bike commuting.

Car: 4 round trips (twice on days it had to go in for service or an emissions test, twice on days I got called back in the evening after biking to and fro earlier in the day.
Cab: 0.5 - I went home sick
Public transit: 61.5
Bike 145.

A bus token is $2.70 but I occasionally take the double-fare express bus, so my average daily bus fare was $5.66. That means that my 145 days of cycling would have cost around $821.20 using public transit. If I spend less than that on biking, I am coming out ahead.