oboeguy

My fantasy goal for the year is to ride 5,000 miles (actually 8,000 km as I prefer metric but "5" is such a nice, round number ). I made a point of hitting the road on day 1 of the year despite the wet conditions (no rain, just nasty, wet roads), and despite the cold that's kept me off the bike this past week. 35 and change kilometers, wo0t!

I've setup my two bikes to share the same bike computer as part of this first year of legitimately tracking mileage (I've never formally done it). I doubt I'll make it to the full 5,000 as real life has this habit of getting in the way, but I'll give it the old college try!

A propos, how do you all count trainer "miles"? (I don't have a trainer, but I'm curious, and have a rear wheel sensor just in case I end-up with a trainer. )

UPDATE

Made the goal with nearly three months to spare. Amazing!

hi565

I dont count trainer miles.

I think I will write them down but I will just put like and "I" next to them to show the difference.

Pizza Man

I also would like to hit 5,000 this year. I got about 3,000 last year starting in mid July, so it's very doable.

I got 20 today, so I've got 4,980 to go.

macca123

Only 24876 kilometres to go! should knock about 150 off tommorow.

'nother

If the bike moves, count it. So you may get a couple of inches due to wobble when on the trainer.

Miles are nice to count, but if you want to get "credit" for your trainer time, count hours in the saddle (in addition to whatever other stats you may want . . . total climbing, ride time, air temperature, direction your Johnson was hanging, etc.).

Edit: I should mention that I easily completed nearly 6,000 in 2005; my original goal was only 5,000. It's not really that hard to do; a mere 100 miles/wk will get you there (with 2 "buffer weeks"). I was surprised at how easy it was.

macca123

Here Here. I bet you dont have a job or a family or any other commitments 100 miles a week is just too much for my poor old body You must be an under achiever, show us your palmares lance just playing wiff ya mother I mean nother. I was playing with her too!

oboeguy

I'm good at arithmetic too. The key is Real Life(TM) allowing enough hours in the saddle to get it done.

'nother

I have 2 children aged 4 and 2. I work full-time (probably more than full time but I'm salaried, not a clock-watcher so I don't really know) and my wife works part-time, frequently weekends which means I don't get to ride then. Plus I'm in a band with once-a-week practices and regular gigs, which eats up even more potential cycling time. Even with that, getting 100 miles/week was absolutely no problem to do.

I'm sorry if it sounded like I was bragging; I did not intend it that way. Just trying to provide some encouragement. 5,000 miles in a year is a very attainable goal.

'nother

Correction: the key is getting in the saddle and getting it done. Prioritize . . .

macca123

Incase you haven't noticed I posted a thread on this very subject. I explained to BF'ers that they could be riding a lot more than they do. I decided to make the post after seeing threads were people bragged about riding 1000 miles or something stupid like that. I simply reminded them that 1000 miles is just 2.73 miles a day and you call yourself cyclists blah blah blah... I had a chuckle.

blandin

Nother, macca123 is a 15 year old spoiled kid with the sense and manners of someone half his age. He's also a troll. Pay no attention to him and hopefully he'll go away and play with the kiddies.

macca123

I love you

'nother

Yeah, I saw that one, and have been thinking about it. I was joking with one of my riding buddies today that after 40 miles we're on target for 14,000 this year Until tomorrow

'nother

But he loves me. See post #12

DerekU2

Heh... I read that, then looked over to the left to check your location. California. That explains why it's a bit easier. In New england I can count on two weeks worth of washouts in the summer and quite a bit of crappy winter weather. Sometimes I'm happy just to be able to do my 4 mile round trip commute...

I'm going to aim for 4,000 this year with 3,020 in 2005 (starting in May). Most of that was done in my 24 mile round trip commute whic I no longer have. It's down to 4 miles now, so I'll have to put in some extra effort to make sure I get my rides in!!

sam83

Based on my 2006 per day average, I should get 10,950 miles this year.

Or is it too early to depend on averages?

'nother

Well, "guilty" as charged, I guess. Indeed, we are blessed with excellent riding weather 9 months out of the year (and the other 3 are merely "good" riding weather), but I know some guys in the upper midwest that bag 7,000+ and they have just as bad conditions as you. How? They know what they need to do to reach their goal, and they do it.

It doesn't happen by accident. If you are going to set a goal, you should set something you can realistically attain. If your life is so busy that you can't possibly get 100 miles/week consistently (or more, if you can't ride due to weather or whatever), then guess what? You ain't getting your 5,000 miles. If you are good at arithmetic, you should be able to calculate what you can reasonably attain (after prioritizing when you can ride, etc.) and set a goal based on that. Not just some random "round" number that sounds good. When you set yourself up for failure you will very likely fail. Better for the psyche to set yourself up for success instead.

To that end: though I will very likely exceed 5,000 miles again in 2006, my main goal is 500,000 vertical feet of climbing. Reviewing what I did in 2005 (300,000, with a lot more flat riding than hill riding), I know it's attainable with ***EASY ARITHMETIC ALERT*** only 10,000' of climbing per week (again with a 2-week buffer), which I know I can do because I did it several times last year without even really trying. So it's an attainable goal (for me). Now if I get a month or 2 into the year and discover that I'm way off, I may adjust the goal but I think I'll get there, because I have a plan and I'm committed to it. That's really all it takes.

oboeguy

Sheesh, 'nother, chill, dude. The fact is I don't know what's going to happen over the next twelve months. @#%$ happens to prevent riding. I'm glad you have a predictable life, it sounds fun.

'nother

Well, life is what you make of it. Certain things are indeed predictable, but a lot of things aren't. I plan for those as best I can, that's life. But it's mine, and I like it.

I'm not trying to berate you, but rather to encourage you to take your goals seriously. Like I said, it doesn't happen by accident. If you can't plan on being able to ride regularly, then consider a lower goal -- there's nothing wrong with that, and you'll be more likely to set (and hit) future goals if you have success. It will make you feel better all around, perhaps not so bitter about people's arithmetic skills.

But saying, "I'd like to get 5,000 miles this year" while realistically only being able to get in 30 or 40 miles a week (or, as it sounds in your case, maybe not even knowing what you will be able to do) is not going to make you feel really good when you're hundreds of miles behind schedule.


Edit: further to the "unpredictability of life" slant: I had 2 straight weeks completely off the bike due to injury, plus lots of other days here and there probably totaling another 2 weeks due to travel and illness where I did not get my planned 100 miles for the week; which I did not plan for at all. When that happened, I would squeeze in an extra 10, 20, maybe 30 miles the following week or weeks to make up. That's one nice thing about keeping track of miles and knowing what you need on a per-week basis; it's easy to spot what you need to get back on target. But it takes some effort to do all that. If you don't have the time (or find this kind of activity intensely boring), you might want to consider another goal.

racer102

this year i am trying to get in 2000 miles. It should be easy last yr i rode 260 in about a month because before that i couldnt document it cuz the old bike then i got a new one. right after i got the new one i had surgery so i couldnt ride it forever so i got the 260 in 2 months still horrible though

NomadVW 

I'm going for 10k km this year, but I'm counting my indoor roller KMs 1 for 1. I've heard all sorts of "calculations" to bump that number up, but I'm just going to go for the easy answer.

On average, I lose about 5k per hour on my rollers compared to what I would have gotten on the road with the magnetic resistance on. That's certainly not enough to put me under my goal. My scheduled January training (as well as my October-December averages) has me over my first month goal already. (to include 2 days a week of rollers and 3 days outside - I'm in southern Japan where January means snow)

KISS is my motto.

roadracer13

I decided I was going to do the same thing this year... 5000 miles! I use BIKEJOURNAL.COM to keep track of my miles... it is great... you can see how you rank against other people.

As for tracking trainer miles... you bet I do it. But I use a Computrainer, so I have all the data stored when my ride is over and it simulated topography. I don't understand why people would not log trainer miles... your legs are pedaling, your heart is pumping and your butt is hurting... so what that you are not outdoors actually watching the grass (or in some cases snow) fly by. The only problem is finding a good way to see how many miles you go on your trainer. With Computrainer it is all there for ya. So get your stuff hooked up and LOG THOSE MILES!

cuda2k

Be it 1000 miles or 10000 miles, its a lot more excersise than most people get in a year do don't knock it. I probably rode a total of a little over 1000 miles this year and feel that it was an accomplishment considering school/work/weather restrictions. And that I started riding (after over 6 years completely off any bike) in May. And that I didn't have a road bike for several months there after. And yes, I call myself a cyclist. Laugh if you will, you are the type of rider that just makes me keep my head down, do the miles that I'm able and enjoy my time as I can. I hope to push for 2500-3000 miles this year. Not as lofty of a goal as 5000, but again I have other things consuming a lot of my time that I would love to rather be out riding. Like those of us with young kids at home my 'work' day doesn't end when I get off work or school. I take work home with me every day, every weekend during the school year. And in Texas the school year is the only decent riding weather times. By the time summer arrives we get an hour or two in the morning and perhaps the evening that's not 100+ with the humidity. If one works 5 days a week, that leaves 2 days on the weekend to get any real milage in during the summer. Not an excuse, but simply another explanation why some people (while they wish they could) just can't get 5000 miles in during the year. Blah, this post has gotten long.

mirona

Just ditch the goals and ride your bike.

'nother

Certainly nothing wrong with that approach! But I'm still planning to stick to my goals, boring and predictable as that may be