I hadn't ridden a 300 mile month since 2006...August to be precise, when I trained for and rode the Hotter 'n Hell. The last few years haven't been kind to accumulating mileage due to severe family health issues but this year has been relatively calm.

I've been tracking my mileage using RideWithGPS the last few months:
May 2010----------150.1 mi --------+7,733 ft climbing
June 2010---------127.9 mi---------+7,221 ft climbing

Yesterday I looked at my monthly total and saw I was at 254 miles! I thought "holy crap! I only need 46 miles today to hit 300!".

Unfortunately, I was signed up for a group ride with a newly formed cycling club at my church and the scheduled ride was 34 miles. The meeting place was a drive away, without an opportunity for me to ride to the start point. Also, I was leading the "long ride", so felt obligated to stay with the group.

I figured I'd add on once the ride finished, which was made more difficult when the group decided to turn back after 13 miles...so the total group ride ended up 26 miles. But once we all got back to the start, I said "I need 20 more miles to meet a mileage goal...see ya later!"

Off I went, watching the odomoter, re-tracing some of the ride I'd just finished. After 10 miles, I turned around and headed back. As I pulled up to the car, I looked at my computer, and it read 44.2. Crap! How did I screw that up? So back I went down the road for a mile, turned around and came back. The whole time I was thinking "I could just map a route a little longer than I actually rode" but the the cycling fairy kept showing up on my shoulder saying "no...that would be cheating!".

So...July totals...300.3 miles, 17,418 feet of climbing.

Yay me!