goldfinch

Today's Milestones:

1. I went biking with the intention of riding 15 miles. Anymore would be overdoing it. But, I violated the rule of Not Overdoing It and went 20.8 miles. I feel pretty good so I think that I didn't push past my limits. I rode on pretty good quality pavement which helped. It was a little windy but manageable. I still am a very slow rider but managed to average 9.6 mph which is great for me. This was my longest ride of my adult life.

2. I passed my first person on a bike about 12 miles into the ride. She was't even older than me. Of course, I was trying and I don't think that she was.

3. I stood up and biked part way up a hill. You sure move faster that way, but I am still too out of shape to keep it up for more than about 20 feet.

Fifty six years old. Formerly obese and now Athena emeritus. I am a ****ing road warrier!

Okay, without bursting my balloon tell me your recent milestones.

CraigB

All of the 10-mile distances are milestones for me. 20, 30, 40, etc. I remember how excited I was back in my 20s the first time I did a solo ride in excess of 50 miles. Now, at 56 years old, that's still a major one for me. The other one I recall from way back in my more energetic youth was the time I broke 30 minutes in a 10-mile TT, a feat I doubt I'll ever replicate.

Mithrandir

1) My goal for the year was to bike 50 by October. Got dealt a bad bruise to my ego in my personal life so I moved the goal up 4 months to last week and pounded out a 57 mile ride, my longest ever.

2) A goal I set 7 years ago was to ride in a local charity event called Ride For Roswell. I never ended up doing it due to embarrassments about my weight. This year I just told myself to do it, and I went and did it yesterday, pounding out the 22 mile route with one of the best times (1:32:47) and no rest stops.

3) After I cleared my 50 mile goal I decided to play around with maps on mapmyrun.com. I set up a 62 mile route that I'm thinking of tackling next week if the weather turns out nice... it'll be my very first metric century.

4) Another new goal I created this week was to bike a full imperial century, 100 miles, by October. I'm going to slowly increase my maximum distance until I can do it. I'm very pumped right now because I just did a 44 mile ride this morning (after 3 full days of biking too; 12, 19, and 22 miles for the past 3 days), and right now I feel good enough to do another 20 right now.


Once I hit the century, I don't know what I'll do next year. I'm thinking of possibly doing a tour next year; taking a week off of work and biking across New York State to see how far I can go before I have to turn back. Heh. Those plans are far in the future though. We'll see how it goes.

goldfinch

Nice job Mithrandir. You are tough! Like the football couch said: "I like my boys agile, mobile and hostile."

jethro56 

Two weeks ago I did a Metric Century. But as I took a day off on either side I didn't average all that much. My next goal is to do a century over 3 days. Then 2 days. Then 1 day. Then in one ride. After that I'll start looking at a longer credit card tour of one longer trails.

NewBike_OldLegs

I pedaled my way up a hill that had my number up until today! Due to a knee injury, I can't stand up for power (Yet...) so I had to use the "Granny gears" and spin at a good clip, but I made it! Plus for the rest of the trip (including starting out) I was able to use the "High gear" combo ( Front D. in "3" Rear D. in "5-7" 21 speed bike) exclusively. Oh, and on the way back, I knocked off the opposite side of that hill. Maybe a "small potatoes" moment for some, but I will remember... While seeking out the next item on my "Bicycling Bucket List".

goldfinch

Hey OldLegs, I love conquering hills. I think that it is cool that I can go 2.5mph without falling over. Using the highest gear is still something I have not yet done.

NewBike_OldLegs

Kind of weird to be spinning at that rate on the hill and knowing that you were traveling 10 times faster at that same rate just a minute or so before.

WonderMonkey

The only milestone I actually care about is how many times a week I get out and ride. The rest takes care of itself.


However.... I did like going over 20 miles in one outing.... averaging above certain MPH's for certain rides.... and going off a ramp and clearing a set of railroad tracks.




The part about the railroad tracks is a lie.

jedrek

Increasing my average speed from 16km/h on my first rides to 22-23km/h (on knobby MTB tires).

Doing a 50km+ ride.

Doing an 80km+ ride.

Upcoming:

Metric century.
Ride to another city and come back.

lakkdainen

On 6/18, I did the 35 mile Tour de Cure. My previous distance record was 15 miles.

goldfinch

How was the ride and the recovery?

Mithrandir

Heh, I know the feeling! Did the same thing a couple of times yesterday, thinking "Holy hell, I was able to hit 20mph and use less power than this, now I'm at 5mph and I feel like I'm dying!"

lakkdainen

Ride was pretty good. I went slower than my usual for obvious reasons. Never felt out of breath or like I couldn't continue at any point... even on a couple of crazy hills. The day after there was more soreness than usual, but nothing too bad.

When I got back into cycling, I signed up for that ride right away. The fear/challenge is what kept me going during the months leading up to it.

Rock31

1- Actually getting on a bike and consistently riding it.
2 - Riding 20 miles at a steady pace
3 - 37 mile Tour de Cure ride about 9 weeks after I started riding.

Now I am working towards a Metric and hopefully a Century for next year.

ill.clyde

Still figuring those out ...

I did my century earlier this month. Contemplating another one before the year is up.

Also doing the Warrior Dash in September.

I think my main milestone will be to set a mileage goal for the rest of the year and hit it ..

psalm

A bit after I had gotten back into riding, I was riding a mountain bike, I did a 10 mile loop near my house. When I got home I felt accomplished. It really wore me down, and beat. It took almost all I had to do those 10 miles, considering my longest ride to that date was 7 miles. I bragged about my 10 mile ride to everyone who would listen to it, and some who wouldn't. Last month on my road bike, I was rolling out of my driveway and decided I would do that loop again, to see how different it was now that I was a little more conditioned and not on a mountain bike. When I completed the loop, 10 miles done and in front of my driveway, I took off again. Did the loop twice for 20 miles and felt great once I was back home. I would have done a third loop but I had a birthday party to get ready for. I walked into my house and my wife asked me how my ride was, I asked her if she remembered that 10 miler I did way back when, she answered by saying how could she forget it, I talked about it for weeks. She asked, "Did you do those 10 miles today?" I replied, with a big cheesy smile on my face, "No...I did it twice!"

Crazydad

Rode 76 miles in 1 day this year, most I have ever ridden in 1 ride. Also, last Saturday did my favorite 12 mile mtb loop without going into the granny ring at all. That felt great!

poperszky

There are many minor milestones, but my first was to ride for a full hour at greater than 15 Mph. Once I hit that, I started to go for distance, and hit my 20 mile mark last week. Next is to ride the entire mup (27 mile round trip).

Keep up the good work.

ScottStr

One of my favorites is a spot on one of the local MUPs where I turned around to go back to the car the first time my wife and I walked there, after my back surgery. I always try to make a note of that spot as I ride past it now, on my way out 4 more miles to the end of the trail and back. I'm always either well into my ride by that point from starting 8 miles further back on the trail or I'm going to go out and back further.
I also note a tree I used to stop and take a break under, on a different trail, before turning to go back on the bike. That one is barely into the start of my ride.

Seattle Forrest

Here's one I'm getting ready to hit: less than a dollar per mile on my Cervelo.

MattFoley

Did my first 50+ miler Sunday (55 miles, to be exact) up from my previous best of 40. The ride also had 1400+ elevation, which was way more than I'd done before, so I felt pretty good about it.

ponzini

I did my first 60 mile ride on Saturday and felt grat the next day. I've been trying to add 5 miles per week. Now if i could lose weight. My next goal is to lose 90 pounds.

drmweaver2

Miletones?
July last year -5'11"/260lbs. Bought bike. 1st ride - grand total of 2 miles. "Died" for 2 days.
August last year - 5, 10, 20, 30 mile rides. Died less "deeply", recovered within a day each time.
September/October 2010 (forget exactly when) - solo 125 miler purely on guts. Actually rode a recovery ride the next day.
October 2010- bike toured Natchez Trace Parkway (New Orleans->Natchez, then on to Nashville) AND Mississippi River Trail (Memphis to New Orleans). >1000miles
May this year- metric century a day for 30 days.
June/today - 225 lbs for the first time in 2 decades.

I've always been blessed with "legs" but generally hampered by a truly sucky respiratory system, the weight and a negative attitude ("that's too f***ing hard/much work, etc"). Last year, a switch flipped in my head without me knowing it and I returned to riding after decades away from it. It's still hard, but I do it - I've yet to reach the point where the joy of riding absolutely surpasses the "this is work/hard effort" feeling. But, I definitely like the overall result more than where I "was" last year. That's the milestone I want to reach.

FWIW, I hadn't realized the total weight loss until the other day as I tend to avoid the scale - it's been a negative self-image reinforcer for me. As others have so often said, it's a lifestle change, not a question of "how far can I ride?".

rackovanz

This may not sound like a lot, but I have a goal to commute to work. It's only 2.1 miles but pretty hilly. I have been riding for a couple of days, 5.81 miles on flat trails is my best so far with an average speed of 12.31 mph.

Zachary