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 (for mileage or budget or fitness), did you meet them? Did you learn, were you happy? What does 2017 look like?

Darth Lefty 

My 2016 was marred by a persistent, minor, but very painful chronic injury* that seemed like it was designed by a cruel universe to specifically prohibit cycling. I took several month-long breaks trying to let it heal and eventually had a surgery in late September. It seems to be on the mend but still gives me discomfort that worries me it isn't done with me. My fitness has sort-of suffered for it. My diet has had to change, which has been a plus, and I've lost a little weight. But I definitely feel the lack of exercise shortening my endurance. The months I took off were all in the prime riding seasons of spring and fall. So, I bike-commuted about 40 days total... less than one in five. I may get one more in before Christmas. I'd hoped to have 1000 miles this year and if it weren't for this problem, I probably would.

Next year we will be welcoming some new family members so that will take a month and a half out of my winter. But it will also completely wipe out my accrued vacation and sick leave so I'll probably have lots of days to ride in! After that, my employer turned down our sick time accrual but I'm about add a week of vacation accrual due to being here 10 years, so total available time off is a wash.



* details omitted to spare you the embarrassment of reading them

mcours2006

I've only been doing this cycle commute for two plus years. Overall I'd grade the year with a B-, only because of a crash which cause some injuries and recovery time. I ended up driving the car about 25 days out of the year, and mostly during January and February.

Also picked up another bike that I don't need, and in retrospect, only because it had disc brakes. I also picked up a whole bunch of other parts, both used ones from local classifieds and new ones from the UK. So I spent more than I wanted to.

Goals for 2017:
* not to over-spend my cycling budget (curious as to what others spend annually on bikes)
* I'd be quite happy to match 2016 in terms of volume and frequency of cycle commutes
* continue to promote cycling to colleagues and friends as a safe and healthy alternative mode of transportation

Andy_K 

I'm going to end up with my lowest mileage total since I started cycling seriously in 2008. Part of that is because I broke a rib in the spring and slacked off of the recreational cycling I usually do in the summer. This led to a massive decline in fitness, which in turn led to lower motivation. On top of the injury, my oldest daughter graduated from high school and having decided to take a year off has been developing her baking skills. Three or four times a week she's been making some amazing desert. I have gained 20 pounds since she finished school.

I reached the point in mid-November where I really, really wanted to ride more often, but various family priorities have kept it from happening. I'm pretty optimistic though and hope to get back on top of my fitness in the next few months.

Goals for 2017:
* have a lot of fun riding the bike!
* 3000 miles
* get back under 200 pounds

otg 

I also got in less miles in 2016. I'm not completely sure why, but I did not commute as much this year as last, and then I changed jobs in October. The new job has been 50% traveling since then, so the riding time has been getting a bit harder to come by. Along with the traveling comes some bad eating habits. I'm going to try to get back in the swing of things for 2017. I recently finished a 650b conversion, and plan on putting some miles on ASAP.

Rollfast

So far I've survived. Ask me in 13 daze.

noglider 

My goal was to hit 2,000 miles this calendar year, in commuting, recreation, etc. I'm at 1,925, so I might not make it exactly, but I'm pretty close.

I've mostly solved my back, shoulder, and foot problems. The back problem was just weakness, and I'm doing exercises now. Same with the shoulder. My feet are "damaged" with bunions, and I'll have to compensate for the rest of my life, as there is no cure, but so far, it's good. I got stiff shoes and moved my cleats far back, under the podiatrist's advice. When I ride without cleats, I'm forming the habit of pedaling with my arch rather than the balls of my feet, and that's working out fairly well.

I believe I'm stronger than I was a year ago, though my average speeds don't show it. But I think my average speeds are affected by wind than any other factor, so I won't let it get to me.

joeyduck

My 2016 was far better than my 2015.

I made leaps and gains in my strength. I even got back on the bike again and my wife said in the spring I can start to ride with her company club.

We have moved to a new house and are all settled in and very happy with our decision. I also have started substitute teaching in two school districts and I could not be enjoying it much more.

The OR that I was the patient ambassador for has been built and is slated for operation in the new year.

I hope that 2017 brings more strength, less health issues, and more miles. I also hope 2017 will also get me back under 200 (I'm really close), I have dropped a few pounds the last 4-6 weeks by watching what I eat.

Wittyname

2015 was good. 2016 was great. According to Strava, over 9000 miles so far, and appx. 170 commutes over the course of the year. 4 more work days left in the year, and I'm gunning for all of them

Notes - I spent way too much money on bikes. Bought a road bike back in January (Trek 1.2), then another road bike in August (Foundry Chilkoot), then a 'cross bike in October (Foundry Valmont). I've been down to 165lbs, back around 172ish since weather and a death in my wife's family have kept me off the bike a bit these past 2 months, but since I started around this year at 185, and 220ish two years back when I first began looking at cycling, I'm going to call it a success

Many more happy miles to all!

Darth Lefty 

I've worked it out in the past... we have about 225 days a year at my job (9/80 schedule, holiday shutdown and a few holidays) and I was accruing 3 weeks vacation and 2 weeks sick for a total of at least 202 working days a year. My commute is just over 11 miles round trip. If I commuted every single day, the total would be in excess of 2200 and likely more than 2300. So it pains me a bit to look at my sub-500 mileage number. All that lost time in cars... at least I'm riding home tonight! ciao

Reynolds 

I don't have an exact to the km number, but in 2016 I commuted between 6000 and 7000kms, same as 2015.

Archwhorides 

My office moved downtown in 2015, and my commute was lengthened from 12 miles up to 18 miles daily. I also was traveling less for work, so more days on two wheels (around 180 days commuting), totaling over 3,000 miles, plus mountainbiking. Ironically, my nasty bike collision in October made walking painful for 5 weeks, but I could continue biking the whole time.

Jim from Boston

Assess yourself for 2016!

I recently posted to this Fifty Plus Forum thread,“New Years cycling resolutions”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

My perennial cycling resolution is 5000 miles in a year, never attained, mainly due to too busy at work (but I do like my job). This year, with a Christmas vacation, I may reach 3K.

But I ride mainly as a year-round commuter of 14 miles one way as often as possible, and extend the commute in nice weather, even for my long (greater than 40 mile) ride on Saturdays. …

Nonetheless, this year was a virtual metamorphosis in my decades long cycling lifestyle. In March, the Wellness Consultant in our organization started a three-month long Fitness Challenge that motivated me to ride much more starting earlier in the year, and I got in almost 150 miles a week near the end. I came in third of about 40 participants and our team of five came in first.

Concurrent with the Fitness Challenge, she held a series of workshops about fitness and diet that really compelled to change my lifestyle, to eat much better (better choices and portion control), and resume my previous daily yoga practice. Unfortunately,as summer came around, my colleagues (and I) started taking vacations, and the workload increased.

In August, I developed plantar fasciitis, and couldn’t safely mount my bike for about a month. So I deteriorated for couple months, but in December tried to resume my prior improvements. However, last Sunday, two days ago, I slipped on ice (not on the bike), and injured my shoulder, and I’ll have to see how that progresses, though I have been able to ride my bike.

Finally, on the equipment side, I recently posted:In case you have read this far, thinking TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), understand that

JReade

I changed jobs twice, once required longer hours and more travel. I could have still rode to work, but I was leaving the office at 6 am and getting home at 7 pm, so the thought of getting up at 4 am to ride in and getting home at 8:30 or so.. not really where I wanted to be. Then my office moved, and I lost the shower. I'm far too sweaty to ride in and not shower, so there went that.

Then I got a new job and moved from Tampa to NC. The weather is much better, but the first winter has been rough for my mileage. I only had a few fall days to get some riding in.

My 2000 mile goal is stuck at 1200. I leave for christmas on Thursday and probably won't ride till I get back on Tuesday.

esmith2039

Guess I should of held off on what I posted in the other thread. At 2101 miles for the year, the last commute was today heading to Houston tomorrow. The goal was for over 3k this year which I've recommitted for 2017. Figured out why I was getting so tired after riding around June, low T. If you figure at .54 saved over $1100 riding the bike versus driving.

Should be able to make it for 2017 regardless of the vacation time. If I rode everyday would only be 3484 miles so may have to add some recreational rides. They've opened the Long Island trail in MO and on the list along with the Katy trail. 2016 was a great year and so will 2017.

rumrunn6

after 60 months of thinking about it, I actually did (11) 22 mile 1-way work-week commutes. meaning drove to office & biked home Sunday afternoon, late. then biked to work Monday morning & drove home. & started fantasizing about doing more. that was during the summer. did (1) 1-way trip @ 32 degrees, last week & caught a head cold. fantasizing on hold for now

HardyWeinberg

I feel pretty good about not finding a substitute app for mytracks (every one I tried I didn't like) and so foregoing data. Now I only ride at whatever pace and distance seems appropriate at that time, and I wander more.

tarwheel 

This has been a good year for me cycling, particularly considering the weather and other factors that posed challenges for riding. For the 4th year in a row, we have had significantly more rainfall than expected from long-term averages. The summer heat and humidity were also brutal from July through September, and then we had to contend with flooding from Hurricane Matthew and smoke from numerous wildfires across the state.

I'll end up the year with about 4,400 miles commuting, which will be my 4th highest in 10 years of bike commuting. My annual goal is 5,000 miles and I fell well short of that, but I am pleased with my total because of the conditions I've had to ride in this year. More significantly (for me) is that I topped 40,000 total miles since I started bike commuting in 2007. Topping 40K was one of my goals before retiring, so it's nice to cross that hurdle with a month remaining at work. I also won't feel compelled to ride in hazardous weather during January in my arbitrary quest for accumulating miles.

BTW, for younger riders or newbies who aren't sure if they can handle bike commuting, just do it! I am 62 and didn't start bike commuting until I was 53, although I have cycled for most of my life. My speeds have slowed down as I have aged, but my ability to ride distances and persevere through difficult conditions has kept up or improved. Cycling regularly will make you healthier, can help you lose weight, and will make you feel better.

My goals for 2017 include:
- Finishing out my commuting career in January
- Starting my new career as a retiree on February 1
- Continuing to ride on a regular basis for fun, recreation, fitness, travel
- Maintaining my fitness and weight
- Getting involved with some community efforts to encourage cycling and improve safety and facilities for riders

kellichou

I have commuted about 900 miles this year, which I started in mid-August. 12 miles roundtrip. Now I wish I had kept better track, because it may have been more! I averaged anywhere from 1-5 days a week commuting, typically 4-5 days.

I would like to get some studded tires (like Schwalbe Winter Marathon or something like that) for ice, but we'll see. Right now I don't ride on days there's lots of ice (in Denver, we have that luxury, as ice tends to melt pretty fast).

DJH8098

The goal for 2017 is to commute as much as possible, about 14 miles round trip. Total for the year somewhere north of 3k miles and hopefully more utility cycling. If it's possible another 2-3k miles of training for road, mountain and cyclocross next season, fingers crossed on that total.

Darth Lefty 

@tarwheel you do lots of miles, do you think you'll do more or fewer once retired? Longer rides and not as many?

no motor?

2016 has been mixed for me as far as riding goes. I moved my office again and now my commute is slightly over 2 miles each way, down from just under 4 one way before. I had some nagging maintenance I kept putting off as the season progressed as I didn't want to get started on a project I couldn't finish without missing the tail end of the season. But riding less has benefited me more than I thought it would. Riding was easier than before, and I rode in the big ring for the last 2 or 3 months in spite of having some RD shifting issues that kept me from using all the gears on the cassette that I should use.
Things seemed more fun this year too, even before I moved my office. It was like this with motorcycling too, some years everything was easy and fun with others just dragging on. I'm looking forward to an even better year of riding in 2017, but will take whatever I get.

tarwheel 

I doubt if I will ride as many miles after I retire because my commute distance is so long (32 miles round trip) and about half of my total mileage is from commuting each year. However, I still plan to do a lot of riding and more bike tours than my current two or so each year. I have averaged well more than 8,000 miles/year over the past 6 years, and slightly more than half of that mileage was from commuting.

The wild card for me is that I would like to ride across the USA after I retire, if I can talk my wife into letting me go, and don't talk myself out of it in the meantime. The shortest route is the Southern Tier, which is about 3,600 miles if I recall correctly, and longer northerly routes are 4,500-5,000+ miles. I am going to ride 1-2 loaded tours in the coming year and use that as a guide for deciding whether I really want to do that for 2-3 months on end.

Wolfhaven

Last year I started riding in May and had a goal of 1,500 miles. Didn't make it. Was close though. This year pretty much the same, started in May and set a goal of 2,000 miles for the year. Did a bike tour of 600 miles and some mountain bike riding over the summer and breezed right to the 2,000 mile goal. Was hesitant to set another goal for the remainder of the year because I didn't want to focus on miles and keep myself focused on having fun. The bike touring taught me that I can comfortable ride in the wind and rain so it didn't take me much longer to hit 2,500 miles. That's when I decided to reach for 3,000 miles. I'm almost there. Going to be close but I'm going to make it somehow.

My plan for next year is to start by riding all winter and have 1,000 miles before May 1st. Hit it harder after that and not let weather limit my riding as much.

rfmarotti

Starting in July of 2015 I made a commitment to get back in shape. After a few months of walking, running (ugh), and P90x-type videos I remembered my road bike, hanging neglected in the garage. Towards the end of 2015 I started riding a little more regularly. Spring of 2016 I experimented with commuting to work (25-30mi roundtrip, depending on exact route). Experimenting soon led to a pretty regular thing. Around the same time arbitrarily picked 4K miles in Strava as an annual goal, which I achieved at the end of November. Without the 90-150 weekly miles that commuting nets me I wouldn't have come anywhere near that goal. Shooting for 6K miles in 2016 by trying to have more 4-5 days/week commutes instead of 3 days/week. Along the way I've also acquired another 4 bikes and lost over 50 pounds. Yay commuting.