chefisaac

Lets face it folks, for most, winter is setting in. Might be harder to get the miles in.... days are getting darker earlier, temperatures are getting colder.... but guess what? WE KEEP RIDING!

Lets do this! You are all soooo tough..... lets ride, have fun, stay warm..... and be careful. Those fall leaves and white and yellow lines might LOOK interesting.... but stay way!

WHOS IN and what is your taget mile goal going to be?

Iron Chef: 200 (at least)

Allen55

Invoking rule #5 for this month! Im in for 100!

goldfinch

I am wussing out. Last month I did about 210. I will say 100 for the month, but it might be tough. I am in northern Minnesota right now and will be for most of the month. Nice to be home, but weather here is not riding weather for me.

chefisaac

Thats great guys! You all can do it for sure!

CraigB

I can't say if I will or not. This time of year, yardwork gets priority when rationing weekend time. One of the pitfalls of home ownership, I guess. If we get any weekends with two good days of clear, not-too-cold weather, I can probably swing a ride. One.

dygituljunky

I'm in. 9.25 miles, so far, and counting.

Edit: Goal is 200 miles

ClydesMoose

I can do this this month. Goal is 250.

I finished out October with a shade over 150.

CBuff

Chef,
I'm in for 250 in November.
Thanks for the continuing support and inspiration.

Seattle Forrest

No arm or leg warmers (on the bike) for me; it's getting to the point where the need for insulation really won't go away. Maybe we'll get a few more sunny weekend days, but they'll be cold ones. Venting some heat is starting to mean taking the hat off.

Still, I'm in for 400 or 500 miles this month.

phlydude

I am going to push for 100 miles this month but it is solely dependent upon the weather holding up - any rain, I am out.
During the week, there are so few opportunities now with it being dark by the time I get home from work that any of my riding will have to be squeezed in at lunch time on the days I work from home (and today being the first of two this week, I am not off to a good start)

Allen55

Rounding up to 12 miles today. So I am 12 in for November so far.

Black wallnut 

Given that my commuting mileage will be dropping to direct route morning and night to 6.5miles daily I'm going to say 250. If snow falls that may change. Hoping to pick up a trainer at REI the day after Thanksgiving since I'll be near one anyway. If it snows before then I'll have to pay shipping, yuck!

avmech

In for 150.

lookinUp

300+ for me

McCallum

I will do what I do; which was 200.34 miles last month

110111 12.24 miles cool miles but not bad it is 73-75 in Kansas today; is to rain tomorrow hope not!!

110211 Got in a 4.57 mile walk; the wind was less than yesterday but I had enough yesterday!!

100311 - 110811 NO bike have walked some. I have been having to pump up tires before each ride so I have been lazy; need to go get some slime and a value stem thingy!

111211 Still not been back on the bike!! still walking!!

Mithrandir

I'm at 2653 miles for the year now, having broken my 2500 goal last week. Really everything I'm doing at this point is just a bonus. So, that being said...

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...e=UTF8&t=m&z=4

2790 miles from NY to LA, eh? Well, that's only 137 miles from now. I'll shoot for 137 at the low end, with 300 being icing on the cake. Granted, I may be a bit short in the elevation department (a-har!)...


Actually, screw it. I'm 347 miles away from 3k. I was shooting for 3k for next year, but damnit I can do this. 347 for the month. Here I come.

chefisaac

we all are talking sooooooooo tough! LETS DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!

phlydude

OK - I just did 2 miles...wasn't planned but the FiOS folks set up a tent after waiting for YEARS for them to wire my neighborhood, they finally did it.
Now need to find out who is offering the better deal...Comcrap or Verizon (wife might get a discount too)

shawmutt

No tough talk here, I'm down for 100. Toeclips (maybe clipless if I can swing it) and fenders are on the list for this month.

BionicChris

Going for 100-150 .. I know I will lose 8 days this month to chemo recovery time. Got off to a good start today with 24 miles in one trip across to Wales. The majority of the month will be spent cycling on the trainer though.

cyclokitty 

I'm in for 300 miles.

Today, 16 miles.

DEK

Not sure if I can make 300 with the time change coming up. Most of miles have come after work and I won't be doing that starting next week. So, I'll just jump in here and see how I do. Got a decent start tonight...

11/01 - 25.3

Mithrandir

11/1 - 41 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/125754847 and https://connect.garmin.com/activity/125898955)
========================================================
41/347 (12%)

We're set to have some (relatively) lovely weather this week, staying in the 50's and 60's for highs. Lows are still in the 30's, however, so mornings are still somewhat of an ordeal. Given that we're having this lovely weather I've adopted a new "bike to work whenever you can" policy, in an attempt to grab as many rides as possible before skiing season begins. I ran out of food, which was somewhat problematic. I've been going grocery shopping on Tuesdays in the car lately and skipping the biking, but due to the aforementioned policy, I could not skip today's bicycle commute.

So... last week I got a basket for my bike. I wasn't going to install it until I got my new bike, but decided that if I was to go grocery shopping today, it's time to put the basket on the bike. So last night before I went to bed I prepped the bike and installed the basket quick-release mechanism. I then folded up the basket and stored it in my rear right pannier, so I wouldn't have to ride around with it while it was empty. Went to work in the freezing cold, but it was uneventful.

Upon leaving work I ran into the other person in my 600-person building that also bicycle commutes. He said he was surprised to see me still sticking with it; he figured I would have packed it in for the season already. He knows I do this for fun and fitness and that I own a car, so I suppose he thought that since it's now freezing in the morning that I would just drive now. Tried not taking any offense, so I decided to take it as a compliment.

Halfway home I stopped at the grocery store and did my weekly shopping. The first time I went shopping I wasn't very prepared for it. I had panniers but they were small and had all my tools in them, so I couldn't carry a whole lot. This time I have a new trunk bag with expanding panniers, so now the trunk has all my tools, and I could use the panniers entirely for food. I unpacked the basket and slid it onto the handlebars, loaded up my $70 worth of food, and went on my way.

This is the first time I've ever ridden with anything heavy on the fork. Wow was steering much more... interesting. There was so much momentum in the bars that when I swung them too fast, I could easily lose control by not stopping the swing in time. It took a mile or two to get used to it, and even then it was easy to start accidentally barreling left or right if I wasn't careful. I was able to maintain much more control over the bars by holding the bar-ends, but unfortunately there are no brake levers on the bar-ends, so braking had to become an entirely pre-planned affair. I made it the last 10 miles home however, all safe and sound, in the dark. I think I could get used to this.

Today marks a milestone: 1000 miles of utility cycling for the year. It's now actually the #1 category for me in terms of miles. I rate all of my rides in 1 of 3 categories: Fitness, Touring, and Utility. Fitness rides are when I ride shorter distances with an emphasis on speed or climbing. Touring rides are 50+ miles where the purpose is to go someplace I haven't been before, with an emphasis on the distance rather than speed. And Utility rides are any rides where the goal is to accomplish something I would have previously done in a car. Utility is at 1007 miles, Touring is at 876 miles, and fitness is at 811 miles. Since August or so, Utility rides have almost entirely replaced my Fitness rides, but that will be changing again next year when I get the road bike, and focus entirely on fitness rides for the first 2-3 months of the year.

I just feel so accomplished now. When I first biked to work in July it was simply a one-off "let's see if I can do this" accomplishment, never intending to do it regularly. Now I'm thinking of removing my automobile usage from other tasks, having gone clothes shopping and grocery shopping on the bike now. God help me, I can actually see a Surly Big Dummy in my future in a year or two. Maybe one day I'll even sell my car. Let's see how the winter goes first, however.

Bendico

Count me in even with working my two jobs I going to go for at least 125 miles for November if the weather holds out above 32 for me.

caphits

Im in.

200. Hopefully my legs don't freeze off.


OK. Im on the board!
11/1 - 7 miles of hill repeats. Only a few snowflakes
11/2 - 20 miles.