It's been a great year for me bike commuting and cycling in general. Today is my last commute of the year and I'll finish with 4,100 miles over 170 days. My commute distance increased from 22 to 30 miles in October when my office moved downtown, and I've really been racking up the miles since then. I am actually enjoying the longer commute, although I encounter a lot more hills and traffic lights in the extra 8 miles.

Overall, I should finish with about 8,200 miles for the year as I'm at 8,049 right now with 9 more days of cycling left. As usual, my commuting miles will account for almost exactly half of my total mileage. I rode two centuries this year and two bike tours, and averaged more than two metric centuries a month.

My biggest accomplishment was losing 30 lbs, and I now weigh what I did in college nearly 40 years ago. Cycling really helped in that regard, but the biggest factor was just controlling my food intake. I started tracking all of my calories from eating and exercise with an iPhone app (LoseIt.com) that I got around Christmas last year, and it really helped me figure out how to lose weight and keep it off. The weight loss has made me a better cyclist, but hills are still a challenge. My average speed commuting increased by about 0.5 mph over the entire year, which is probably a direct result of the weight loss.

I got two new commuter/touring frames in 2011 and sold a racing frame and mountain bike. Since so much of my cycling now is commuting, I decided to part with my beloved Merckx Corsa so I could swap the components to a new Salsa Casseroll, which has become my main commuter. Over the summer, I found a great deal on a used Waterford RST-22 frame -- with almost the same size and geometry as my Salsa -- and that has become my backup commuter and will become my main touring bike.

My goal now is to figure out a way to ride across the USA, perhaps in 2013. My challenge is to save enough money and vacation time to make it happen, and my longer commute will hopefully get me in shape for the trip.