Wheever

I was hoping to hit 2k miles this year, but I'm not going to make it after all. Looks like ~1600 is what I'm going to end the year with. I'm so bummed!

I've had to miss a lot of riding the past month due to life stuff getting in the way and, while I might get in 40 miles next weekend, the fam and I are going to London for Xmas next Tuesday, coming back on the 30th, and there will be no time to even rent a bike while we're there.

Sigh. If there was only some way to quit my job and still have money for bike stuff.

rumrunn6

impressive mileage anyway

freedomrider1

two double centurys and you got it.

Tony Marley

Life happens.... Still, you got a fair number of miles in.

Bon voyage.

qcpmsame 

I'd not be down, look at what you accomplished this year, and be thankful for those miles. 1600 is a hell of a lot better than 0, and still better than 1599, too. Take what you achieve, and use it as a base to build from, not look at this as a failure, in some way. In 2010 I had 0 miles, and some major health issues that were beating me into the ground, since September 2011, I have managed to increase my riding to a nice, pleasing level, and gain a lot of fitness in the process.

Keep at it, and look at this year as a good accomplishment, how many of your friends can say the same as you can? best wishes on more miles for you, its all doable, just decide that you are lucky enough to be able to ride at all.

Bill

BlazingPedals

My goal is 3000 miles, and the very wet spring combined with a long out-of-state vacation left me over 500 miles off-pace by the beginning of August. A warm late fall has let me make up most of it, but it looks like I'll end the year a hundred miles short.

Rick@OCRR

Wheever: Great to get that many miles in living that far North! Since I live in SoCal my goals can be a bit different.

Over in the "Long Distance Cycling" forum Machka had a "1,000 miles a month" challenge back in January 2015 so I decided to give it a try.

Long story short, I made it some months but missed some too. But . . . I did just pass 12,000 miles for the year so . . . if you average it out then I did it! Okay, that's not playing by Macka's rules. Have to try again next year!

Rick / OCRR

MRT2

Pat yourself on the back. Unless you are commuting, or touring for an extended period of time, 1,600 miles is a decent milestone.

nobodyhere

How many of your neighbors or folks your age rode 1600 miles this year?

The glass is half full - well, actually 4/5ths full. Drink away.

MRT2

Just thinking about what 2,000 miles actually means and how you might achieve it. You could achieve it by riding 100 miles a week every week from the beginning of May through the end of September. And that is doable if you ride, say, an hour or 75 minutes 4 days a week, and maybe 2 1/2 hours one day a week. But life gets in the way and if you have work or life commitments, or even if it rains some of the days you are going to ride, you will come up short. Which then means building in an extra month on either side, in other words from April through October, just to make sure you actually do 2,000 miles. Now, there is always late fall and late winter riding but at least in the North, you can't count on 8 to 10 hours a week during those months again, unless you are commuting or touring.

D1andonlyDman

400 miles with 2 more weeks. Even counting going away to London, you've got an entire week to go. What's the problem?

Wilfred Laurier

You are closer to your goal than I am to mine. I was hoping for 3000 km (~1900 miles) and my total was a little less than 2000 km - as recorded by Strava, anyways,although I don't use Strava every time I ride, but I am sure I didn't get 1000 km of non-recorded riding in.

FBinNY 

Don't sweat it, add the 400 miles to next years goal, and make a better effort to make it, especially in the Spring and Summer.

But let's be real, if you're now in the 1600 mile range, you were derailed a long time ago. 2k miles/year is about 170 miles per month. So you're out by more than 2 months of riding, and under normal circumstances there was never any hope of making it up in the Fall, even with weather as good as we've had so far..

As a long time NY cyclist, I'd estimate that you usually complete about 90% of your year's riding by the end of October (not counting commuter miles), and that November and December comprise less than 10% of the total.

Wheever

Lol. The problem is between work and all the holiday stuff, I just don't have the time! I can maybe grab a couple 2-hour rides over the weekend, but that's predicated on my having ALL my xmas shopping done. Sigh.

Wheever

Pretty much correct on all counts, FB, except I was holding a pretty good 90+ miles a week from the end of April to October--and even had a few 120+ weekends--but was mostly derailed because lost A LOT of riding miles around Halloween and Thanksgiving, (Basically four entire weeks worth,) in spite of the amazing weather for most of the fall. So you're right, I still would have missed my goal even if I'd had those, just not by as much.

Since, once I got my Domane in mid April, I was able to comfortably double or triple my weekly miles, My thinking is that, since I'll start the year already riding bigger miles, I'll have a real shot at hitting a bigger target. So next year I'll shoot for 3000! Lol.

Wheever

I have pretty decent winter gear, and after having spent 30 years living in VT am pretty cold-tolerant, so I'm hoping to do 50+ miles a week for a lot of this winter, if the weather is at all like it was last year. (Unless I get a fat bike, in which case I'll be out even if there's snow in the air and on the ground. lol.) Last winter as a total noob on a Defy that was too big I still got 20-30 miles most weeks the roads were clear and dry. I rode even when it was below 20 a couple of times. Not long rides, sure, but 10 miles or so. Rode on Xmas and New Year's days.

Anyway, my point is I think I can legitimately aim for bigger mileage target for 2016. Shoot for 3000, but certainly make 2500. My biggest issue is that I only have 3 days a week to ride any distance. During the lighter months, I can sometimes cram in 5 miles or so after work, but usually there's just too much going on to do even that!

John_V 

You aren't alone in missing your goal. Last year I was just over 10,000 miles. This year I had the month of Feb off the bike, due to a medical issue, and most of Sept off, due to vacation. I'll be lucky to finish the year with 8,000 miles. I wouldn't worry or get bummed about it. There's always next year.

BluesDawg

Looks like I'll be finishing the year with around 3,000 miles. That's the lowest total in several years and about 1,000 less than last year. This is the first year in two decades that I didn't ride a century. I've had a few minor health issues that slowed me a bit and I've had some other things going on that made scheduling long rides more difficult. But excuses aside, I've had a slightly off year in terms of mileage.

But I've built up and dialed in the two best bikes I've ever owned for road rides and gravel rides. I've ridden many great rides and ridden with some great people, some old friends and some new. I rode places I'd never ridden before and places Ive ridden for decades. I've helped introduce people to riding and helped people keep their bikes running, helped some make their bikes better and helped some get better bikes. I've become a League Certified Instructor so I can do a better job of teaching new riders and old how to safely and effectively ride their bikes. I've mapped routes for two big club events and many smaller club rides. I've shown bike tourists better routes through my town than what they were planning. I've played the role of pied piper of gravel grinding in middle Georgia and have tried to influence many people to try this fun aspect of cycling for the first time.

My numbers may be down, but this has been one of my best years ever in cycling and next year promises to be even better.

OnyxTiger

That just means that next year's goal is to beat this year's goal. Easy peasy.

wiley2770

Work and life have a way of getting in the way of riding. Like the others have said, 1600 isn't too shabby. Hit it harder next year if you can.

Your post made me check my stats. I need 98 miles to make it. I think I can do it.

Gnosis

In essence, that's what I was thinking.

BluesDawg

BTW, despite all of the above, I met this year's goal to "ride lots". I'll have the same goal for 2016 and I'll meet it, too.

jon c. 

When I returned to riding I had goals and was bummed not to make them, but I soon decided this was counterproductive to my enjoyment. I probably rode about what you did this year, and had I set a goal I'd have fallen short. More fun to ride as much as I can and not worry about it otherwise. Some days I don't ride as long as I want because my wife would rather have me home sooner. Other days it might be too wet. Toward the end of the year, such things would really bother me because of the goal and I realized that was not good psychology for an activity that is supposed to help me stay healthy, happy, and positive toward life in general.

bent4me

I have been an avid cyclist for more than 30 years. It's about the smiles not the miles. I'm about to change things up with the purchase of a Mt bike for easy trails. I suspect my annual mileage to go down and my enjoyment up. Keep it fun and you will enjoy the ride longer.

Wheever

I enjoy having a goal, actually. It's not like I go "I don't feel like riding, but I have to make my mileage!" Lol. This is only my second year getting into biking, so it's all still just joy for me. My only complaint is I just don't have enough time to ride as much as I want to!