goldfinch

Deal!

dougclyde

CHEF-

Got my first 31 in for the month this past Sunday...according to my log I need 116 more miles to hit 1000 this year (started riding end of June)! I absolutely will get there!!!! so counting my 31 already in the books, I AM IN FOR 147 IN DECEMBER!!
Next year is 3000!
-Doug

chefisaac

Great job Doug! You can do this!

I started riding in July and hit 1000 miles on my bike sometime in November I think. Great feeling to have.

Keep up the good work all!

p.s. Gold: hop on!

C 2

Well 45.5 so far for me. Went out Friday for a quick 5.5 miler before work, then got off early and took the nephew for his first ride on the SART. I let him lead and ride for a while, then we turned back so I would have time to make dinner for the family. Got home and checked the distance: 9.5 miles. Not too bad for a 7yo that is new to cycling. =D Then I went out Sunday back on the SART and boy was that busy! Got 30.5 miles in and called it a day. Decent start so far, hoping to have 100 miles by Saturday as I'm supposed to ride to the wife's work (about 36 miles) as long as I get off early enough.

C 2

Got out for a windy 34 mile ride to try out part of the route to my wife's work. Puts me over 300 for the year and almost to the 100 mile mark for the month, so considering moving my goal to 250 instead of 200. This is my longest ride to date and I am training for the 100 mile Tour de Cure in San Diego in April. Doing well so far I think.

contango 

Dec 02 - 20 miles
Dec 05 - 20 miles
Dec 06 - 7 miles

Total 47 miles / 153 to go.

Another ride that felt like a battle, I really didn't feel like going out at all. In the end I decided on a short ride, got to the furthest point and felt like I could keep going. Unfortunately I'd promised my wife I'd be back soon so restricted my enthusiasm to going up and over one of the larger local hills instead of going around it. About half way up I wished I hadn't bothered but did enjoy coming down it again...

Still, at this rate I should hit my target even if only through slow attrition. Here's hoping tomorrow feels better.

DEK

12/01 - 15.1 miles
12/03 - 32.6
12/06 - 18.7

Total: 66.40

Got my first flat tonight that cut my ride short. Was hoping to do 25+ but only made it to 18+. But, hey, one flat after 3300+ miles ain't too bad.

contango 

Dec 02 - 20 miles
Dec 05 - 20 miles
Dec 06 - 7 miles
Dec 07 - 38 miles

Total 85 miles / 115 to go.

Nasty headwinds today but I felt up for anything today so took them on regardless. They slowed me appreciably and made hills much harder work than normal. I think the difference was simply down to hydration - today I made sure I was well hydrated before setting off, and it paid dividends.

Mithrandir

1/1 - 23 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132081411)
1/2 - 3 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132203212)
1/3 - 24 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132438711)
1/4 - 39 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132697545)
1/7 - 39 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/133254885)
========================================================
128/100 (128%) month, 3347/3000 (112%) year

When I decided to buy a road bike, I spent a month buying things to turn my old mountain bike into a commuter/utility bike. I've completely thrown that plan out the window it seems. Now that I have the road bike, it is infinitely more comfortable than the MTB, faster than the MTB, and just plain cooler than the MTB. Every time I hop on ol' Red Bull (the MTB) I just feel uncomfortable now; my hands want the STI shifters, my legs want the taller frame, my rapidly dwindling hair follicles want the feel of faster wind blowing through them.

This makes me sad, because I love that old red bike. It got me through many many miles and years, and I never want to see it relegated to Second Class Citizen status. But whenever I need to run an errand, I find myself hopping on Blue Steel now, and leaving ol' Red Bull sitting at home, neglected. As was the case today. A yearly Christmas tradition in my family is to take a trip to a little town 20 miles away called Batavia and stop into Oliver's chocolate shop for some really tasty christmas candies to dole out to friends and family come Yuletide. I've been making this trip myself for the past 5 years, as I live closer than anyone else in my family, so it's just more convenient for me. I decided today was the day I'd take a trip to Olivers. Only... this year, I'd go on my bike.

In May of this year, I dug out my old bike and decided to get her fixed up at a bike shop. While I was there waiting in line, I overheard someone talking about how they biked to Batavia and back and it was a tough ride. I remember thinking to myself "Wow, that is absolutely incredible, I wonder if I'll ever be fit enough to do that", dismissing the thought as something that seemed ridiculously far out of my league, and would be for years. To tell you the truth, the thought of biking that far hadn't even occurred to me as something that was possible for anyone to do (but then again, this was before I discovered Bikeforums). I didn't think about this incident until I was actually in Batavia, at which point I realised what a curious transformation I've undergone in just 7 months. Back then I knew this trip would be impossible. This morning I took off on a 40 mile 30 degree utility run like it was perfectly normal. I am very proud of this transformation, and I hope that next year I'll get my weight down and speed up to a point where even longer trips become routine.

I had my first flat on the road bike on the way back. In the front tire. I haven't installed a front fender yet, and my pump is stored underneath the downtube, so it was completely covered in crap when I got it out today. It almost wouldn't pump up the new tube; kind of got scared. I was only 8 miles from home but still, an 8 mile walk is not something I would consider pleasant at this point in time. Luckily I was able to get it working and got the tire changed. It's much tougher mounting a tire on the narrower rim than it was on my old MTB wheels, but eventually I got it and made it home. I'm at 280 miles on the road bike now. We're supposed to get a massive amount of lake-effect snow tonight, so this may be the last bike ride of the season for me.

Let me tell you one important thing I learned today that I never knew about before: Chocolate tastes so much better after you just biked 40 miles in the freezing cold to buy it.

dygituljunky

1-week update: total: 148.05 km done, 171.95 km / 251.95 km / 309.04 km to go). Total km for 2011: 1690.96.

Mithrandir

1/1 - 23 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132081411)
1/2 - 3 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132203212)
1/3 - 24 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132438711)
1/4 - 39 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/132697545)
1/7 - 39 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/133254885)
1/8 - 21 miles (https://connect.garmin.com/activity/133407551)
========================================================
148/100 (148%) month, 3368/3000 (112%) year

The clipless experiment begins!

Hadn't heard from the bike shop about my clipless pedals and shoes, and it's been like 3 weeks since I put the order in. So I biked on down to see if they were in yet, and sure enough they were. They misplaced my phone number which is why they never called. Whoops. So why not; got them installed on the bike and came back home clipless!

It was an interesting experiment. I was able to clip right in easily, I had been working on the assumption that clipless pedals would be really tough to get clipped into, and yet they were really easy. Got my left foot in in less than 5 seconds, took off, and clipped in the right in 2 seconds. At first glance, I feel faster. Today was a crappy day to test out my speed due to the 30mph winds, but it definitely felt easier to pedal. For one, I was able to keep the cadence up to almost 100 for most of the ride. I was only doing 75 a few weeks ago on my MTB. Secondly, there seems to be a propensity towards pedaling with clipless. Before I would typically "pelican" my way through a ride, pedal a few times, stop, pedal, stop, etc. But with the clipless it just felt better to keep pedaling than to stop. Additionally going uphill was much easier than before. I caught myself doing 17mph up a ridge that normally drops me down below 10mph.

It's not all rainbows and puppies and sunshine though. My feet felt uncomfortable after a few miles. I think it may be just the regular "new shoe" pain, but I will keep monitoring it to see if it subsides. Another issue is that the shoes aren't particularly insulated, so my feet were rather cold after a few miles as well, approaching numbness. I got used to my insulated hiking boots I guess. These are definitely not for regular winter riding, and I may switch back to flat pedals if I continue to ride in the cold and put the clipless back on come spring.

linear

Great day as we didn't get the snow expected last night, even mid-day sun.
Week 1 total 207
12/8 - 21.8

December total 228.8
Goal for december 300+ miles and lose 14#
Down to 237# was 257# November 8

DEK

12/01 - 15.1 miles
12/03 - 32.6
12/06 - 18.7
12/08 - 23.0

Total: 89.40

C 2

15 miles solo around the city, then found out I wasn't working, so took the nephew out for another 8 miles. Puts me over 100 for the month and I may be able to finish the year over 500 if I keep at it.

chefisaac

Great job all! You are are doing great!

chefisaac

mith: is it pain in your feet or numbness?

contango 

Dec 02 - 20 miles
Dec 05 - 20 miles
Dec 06 - 7 miles
Dec 07 - 38 miles
Dec 09 - 14 miles

Total 99 miles / 101 to go.

Nasty headwinds today so even a functional ride felt like a slog. But them's the breaks... head down and carry on.

IBOHUNT

I'll never get close to the 457 I did in Nov.
Only 48 so far this month. I *might* get to 100.

34 miles today (12/10) in some brutal 20 mph winds. Why is it I am *always* peddlin into the wind?

12 Dec - 9 miles
13 Dec - 19
17 Dec - 30
18-Dec - 32

Dec. total - 172

chefisaac

12.9.11: 22 mile commute.

seenoweevil

12/2: 21 mi
12/5: 13 mi
12/9: 29 mi
63 miles mtd

goldfinch

Hey, you snuck this in here! Congratulations on your longest ride. With 300 miles for the year a 34 mile ride is great!

In case anyone is counting. . . I am still at 0 for the month.

otg 

Heading out in a few minutes, goint to try for 30 plus. That will put me over 100 for the month, still on track for my 200. Weather is beginning to become a factor.

IBOHUNT

I resemble that remark about "wonder if I'll ever be fit enough to do that." Back on June 27th when I got on a borrowed mountain bike it took me 1 hr to go 10 miles and I needed a serious nap after the ride. That was 2105 miles and 65 lbs ago. Today I don't think twice about telling the spousal unit I'll be back in 50 miles.

And yes, you are right. Chocolate tastes real good after a 30-50 mile ride.

otg 

Well, I got about 20 miles in to my planned 30 mile ride and my BB started sounding like a coffee can full of gravel. Had to call home for ride and then took my bike to the shop. Total for December is now at 91.6 miles. The bike will be back on the road by mid-week, so I still should make my 200. Just posting up a goal in this thread motivated me to get it done. I imagine I'll end up out in the snow before the month is over! Here's a pic from todays ride before the BB let go.

chefisaac

Great job OTG! I love your bike too! Is that a bontrager saddle bag?