neilfein

I was looking at Neil's thread on 2008 goals, and I realized that the type of cycling I do has changed somewhat. I'd be interested to hear how the last year has changed others. What new kinds of cycling are you doing? Is there anything that's lost your interest?

To get this started:

I was getting most of my miles in by commuting, which turned into a folding bike/train commute over the summer. Now, my wie works in the same town as I, and spending hundreds of dollars on the train seems wasteful when she's gonna drive to Union no matter how I get to work.

Touring: I started camping, in the hopes of saving money on tours. It works well, but I have no desire to camp in the off-season. I'll pick that up again in the spring.

I'm moving towards utility cycling. I now live in downtown Highland Park, less than a mile from a small grocery store and only a few miles from a major supermarket, not to mention two farmers' markets. I ordered a Burley Nomad, and I'm hoping I'll be getting in miles while hauling a trailer with laundry and canvas bags of groceries.

Doohickie

January: Bicycle hung on hooks in the garage; hadn't been down in years
February: Job location changed, maybe I could ride to work once in a while since it's only 7.5 miles
February 14: Bike crash, bent frame on my '84 Nishiki Olympic 12
February - August: Commuted to work on the damaged Nishiki about 1/3 of the time
August 31: Bought a newer (ca 2001) Nishiki, left for a business trip.
Mid-Sept: Upon getting home from the trip, started riding to work much more; approx 4 days a week; bought a 1996 Raleigh 3-speed; started doing Saturday breakfast rides with a bike club from work; rode my age (46 miles)
November: First charity ride (35 miles)

I bought my car in Oct 2005. Through Oct 2006, I put 20k miles on the car, Oct 06-Oct 07, 16k, Oct 07-Oct 08, only 8k. Probably less than that in the coming year.

I had lost 70 lb. on South Beach Diet in 2005. I gained most of it back by July 08, getting up to 221. With SBD and riding, I've lost down to the mid 190s, although since Thanksgiving week I'm officially a Clyde again, at 201. I am confident that I will lose 10-15 lb. in 2009 between watching what I eat and riding the bikes.

chrys9989

Well for me, I started riding again in June. It was simply commuting to avoid buses, and then when I got hit on my wally bike, I bought an old Centurion. Now, I ride everywhere, and I fully intend on racing next year.

txvintage

After I figured out the back and knees could mostly handle riding I went right back into a long lost race mode. I alternated distance/base with sprinting and intervals.

As the summer wore on I found myself doing less aand less sprinting and intervals and just enjoying being out on the bike. This lead to considering touring, so I got a touring bike.

I do think that if all goes well, I may well indeed drop in for a couple of races later in the summer of 09. I think (hope) it will just be for fun, but I have a competitive streak that I can't seem to keep a handle on, lol.

cyclezealot

Not a good bike year really.. In the early Spring, I fell ( non bike related.) giving me a back injury keeping me off the bike for about a month.. Then , we've had so many non bike vacations.. That probably kept me off the bike another 8-10 weeks. But, during the summer, it was great. I even lost weight.

CliftonGK1

I started this year with a new bike, and struggling to make an imperial century (ask keithm0 about me drag-assing it the last 15 miles of the first century we rode together.)

It peaked with me doing a 215 mile day for the Seattle-to-Portland double, when I did 206 miles in 14h 45m total time, then rode around Portland for another 9 miles that evening with donnamb.

JoelS

Until very late in April, my bicycles were either leaning against a wall inside or in the garage gathering huge amounts of sawdust.

Started with 10 mile rides, slow pace. I gradually increased the distance and the pace and was up to 36 miles per ride by the end of May. I didn't expand the distance at all in June, but I did ride more often and got to 100 miles a week. By the middle of July I completed a very flat Metric, though it was really hard. By the end I was suffering from heat exhaustion and a major bonk. Nearly didn't make it home.

In August I learned what hills really are. A 55 mile ride with most of the climbing in the first 32 miles. Nearly 5000 feet of it! I had to stop several times just to breath. Nearly walked my bike up the last big climb, but with a lot of breaks I managed it. I did do several 50+ mile rides in August as well.

Kept it up in September, averaging 130 miles a week, with my average speed into 15mph and pacing coming up to the high 16's, low 17's. I also did more hilly rides, some with grades up to 18%. Kept suffering and getting stronger. Lots of breaks too.

In October I did my first century! Self supported, my own route, and with another for company. 108 miles. I was thrilled! I kept up the miles and did more hill climbing. I was starting to make it up some of the hills without having to stop part way up. The weight loss and aerobic conditioning was really apparent.

November saw fewer miles. I don't like to ride in the cold, and I'm slowly gearing up for it, but haven't had enough clothes to stay warm. So mileage suffered. But I pushed myself in the hills and did really well. This past weekend I did a ride with my wife and some of the hills that I remember suffering on are getting to be downright easy.

In November I started trainer rides. I push hard for an hour to simulate hills. Easier resistance (3 to 4% grade) and sections of a lot of resistance (8-9% grade). I'm really seeing results on the road from this.

All in all, I'm really pleased with my progress and hope to at least maintain where I am at over the winter so that when spring comes I'll be in good shape. That really hilly ride I did in August, I plan to redo it in the Spring. I'm hoping to make it up all the hills without needing to stop and breath. That will be a real good gauge on how I'm progressing.

Nothing to century in 6 months. Lots of hills. Over 50 pounds lost. Been a great year!

wirehead

I started out this year having to buy a new bike because my bike was stolen at the end of 2007.

I spent the first half of the year concentrating on building up more muscle with no regard for weight and then spent the second half of the year concentrating on getting more trim but without loosing muscle.

My maximum mileage is going way up. At the start of the year, it was something like 15mi as a comfy ride, now it's more like 50mi, with being able to bike an imperial Century in sight.

Oh, and we've got one car that's sat idle most of this year.

TechKnowGN

I moved, and got rid of two old 10 speeds i now wish I'd kept. They were in crap shape but knowing what I know now could easily have been fixed. Flash forward to September, I bought a bike. Then in November I bought another bike. Ive ridden about 150 miles I'd say so far, and I love it. I just wish I'd gotten the bike in the spring. I can't wait for next spring. I'll be commuting 4 days a week and loving it.

gotls1

2007 - 0 miles/week
2008 - 125-150 miles/week

superdex

My year was pretty poor cycling-wise. I had too many items on the plate (buying/selling house, planning a wedding, out of the country, death in the fam, my parents moving here, trying to get pregnant) to get any routined riding in. I commuted here and there, but haven't done that since Sept.

Up to this year I was good for 2-3k miles a year, this year I don't think I have 500 --my longest ride was 30 miles, and that was three weeks ago, at the end of the season.

The good news is I've been under 200lbs since April. Managing portions, increasing protien and trying to stay away from as much high fructose corn syrup as I can has done the trick.

Plans for remainder of 08? Rollers. And it's ski season again

Goals for 2009? Riding at least twice a week, and one organized century (which means at least one unsupported century during training for it).

aenlaasu

My 'bent trike sat through the worst of the cold weather, though I did squeeze a few trips in back in Feb since it was so insanely mild in this part of Sweden. Over the passing months, I cycled more consistently than I had before, logging about 1200 miles (so far) and lost 25 pounds over 3 months and increased the amount of miles I could cover per trip. I split the distance evenly between trips taken with my husky and solo.

It's given me a huge sense of accomplishment as even when I was a slinky 110 pounds and what I considered fit with my DF bike, I didn't ride as often or for the distances I do now. I've also learned a lot about tires, gears, and so on. I have a huge amount of confidence in my abilities, not only in what I can do now, but what more I can accomplish on wheels, chains and sprockets with a bit more training and determination.

When the warm weather cycles around again, I plan to start touring with my trike which I hope will let me accomplish so much more in '09 than I have already in '08. I'm actually twitchy for next year.

CACycling

Started the year on an old MTB accompanied by my wife on her comfort bike. We'd started riding again September '07 and I logged 500 miles in the last 4 months of last year. I was riding almost every day, my wife was 4 - 5 days a week and we had ridden 20 miles on a couple of occasions. I had just upgraded to clipless pedals (SPDs on skater-style shoes) and had convinced my wife to try clips and straps. I was putting money away to buy myself a new MTB.

Now? 3,300 miles for the year so far. Went from my old MTB to and old Schwinn road bike to a new Schwinn road bike (instead of the new MTB I was saving up for) and am now shopping for my next road bike (which I hope to have sometime this month). My wife went from the comfort bike to an old Schwinn road bike to a new Ultegra-equipped Fuji road bike. We went from athletic shoes, shorts and T-shirts to road shoes, bike shorts and jerseys. I've been commuting to work on my old Schwinn almost every day since the first of April (the new Schwinn I purchased earlier in the year will become my commuter when my new road bike gets purchased). And we just did our first 50 mile ride last Saturday!

It's been a great year and I don't miss those 30+ lbs. I lost along the way at all.

youcoming

Started off strong hit a little lull in the middle then ended with a bang. Two unsupported solo century and 1 group unsupported century. Ended up with 4000k on th eroad and combined 5000k with trainer and spin class. Should be like a 160lb twig but still a clyde.

Condorita

2007, 19 December: got a bonus check at work, so I called the bike shop and told them to pull my post-Xmas layaway out of the back corner they'd stuck it in.

2008, 01 December: will be ending up just under 3,000 miles for the year, including 30-mile and 50-mile charity rides.

Mr. Beanz

M'eh! I've been doing a minumum of 4,000 miles a year for the last 11 years. This year not much intensity. Other than that, no change!

TrekJapan

Interesting thread. I started in earnest over a year ago on a road bike. Only riding a couple times a week (long on the weekends) and I run every day except those two days.

Now I have several bikes. A mountain bike which gets used once a week or so on a brutal trail.

A folding bike which runs every single errand I can on a bike, and is used for riding with my daughter on the beach (on her folding bike)

And I have a Trek Su 2.0 which I keep in my office which has a big Topeak DXP bag on it. I use it to ride around the base at work and between bases to go to meetings, do repairs, etc.

I barely drive at all anymore.

B Piddy

2008 was a pretty good year. Overall, I'd say I'm a little dissapointed because I probably put less miles on this year than in 2007, but I don't let the numbers get to me. Lots of "firsts" this year. First road bike, first clipless experience, first ragbrai, first century. The two years before this was mostly commuting and riding my comfort bike on 30 to 80 mile weekend rides. So...not bad.
In '09 I might take a crack at some TT's or crit...gotta do a lot of spinning this winter & spring though to feel confident.

billydonn

In the summer of 2007 I did a big research project on our city's trail system and its use. In doing this I had to drive around a lot finding where the trails went and it was easier in a lot of cases to get out my old Schwinn and actually ride them to get the lay of the land. I probably put in 100-200 miles doing that... but it got me interested in riding more. And some of my friends were riding quite a bit and really seemed to enjoy it.

This year after shoulder surgery in May, I started riding with friends and also alone- a few short rides in June, and more seriously in July. I'm at 97 rides and about 1750 miles for the 1/2 year now and have bought two new bikes... and lost about 20 lbs while getting much stronger and healthier (I'm 60 and have always been strong and athletic but was really starting to deteriorate badly). I would like to get in about 4000 miles in 09 if possible. I really love riding and its health benefits, but I also like learning about bikes and equipment. Guess that comes from my background working on cars and such. In addition to my bikes, my other favorite ride is pictured below.

Ranger63

Ok..last page first on this one.
November 6th 2008. I'm cycling with members of another local club and we're on the final 2 mile leg of a 27miler.
One of the faster riders goes and two more follow then two more and I'm with them.
I'm tucked in just behind the lead rider and I simply cannot catch him.
Look down at the sigma and it reads 27.89mph This is on a flat run folks with no perceptable breeze to help or hinder.
I'm climbing mile long inclines I had to get off the bike with in previous years.
I have a new (thanks to my susan) CF Motobecane Imortal Force and it..flys.
I kayak the 27.6 miles round Grand Island in the Upper Niagara River in a tad over 6 hours
Covered 1011 miles walking
Got in 4753 miles overall cycling.
Did 80% (even in the rain)of my shopping and doctor visits via the bike.
Ok..we're back to November 2,2007 and I'm just comming out of double bypass surgery.
(Amazing part here is: I have COPD-lung thing- and for the preceeding 2 years I'd been getting off the bike on hill climbs because I thought the shortness of breath and heartburn feeling were due to the copd. I'd get to the top of the climb get back on the Paramount and back up to the 15-17mph speed I had no idea it was heart related)

StephenH

I'm a lot more confident. Not afraid to ride around downtown, or go 100 miles on the right course (having done it once). Been riding more as the year went along, I think.

Neil_B

Last year I was very driven to prove myself. This year, not so much. Even aside from the extended period I've had off the bike in 2009, a comparison with 2007's mileage shows the change. Last year I rode 3005 miles, and this year I should top out about 2200. Last year I rode nearly every week, and my seven day average for miles at the most was 150. In 2008 a quarter of my miles were ridden on two tours, nearly 650 miles over two and a half weeks. A rode a century in 2007 and the best I could do in 2008 was 66 miles on tour. I'm still trying to figure out if this is a decline in interest in cycling, or simply a change of emphasis.

Mazama

I've put in around 3,500-4,000 per year for the past three years. This year I am a bit low for one reason or another, so not much really.

Neil_B

Oh, and another change. All my riding this year has been on my Trek 7.5 fx. My Navigator has sat in the basement since November 2007.

Condorita

Still tryin' to figure out how you managed this one.