wphamilton

I didn't set any commuting goals, but I'm satisfied with being 100% on bike commutes. The commuting mileage is a modest 3700 miles because I rarely extend it beyond just getting there and back. I didn't try for any personal bests or Strava segments. I guess my goal was to enjoy it and I pretty much succeeded.

noglider 

Great attitude, @wphamilton, and incidentally, you racked up a large number of miles. You got some extra benefits.

Bike Gremlin

Bicycle is my only vehicle. I do have a motorcycle, but it's used for sport, leisure, not as a means of transport. So no mileage goals. Not even tracking it.

Budget? As little as it need - changing worn parts.

Fitness? No set goals, no timing or anything.

locolobo13 

I don't set goals for the year. Rather the continual goal to get in better shape. I have several specific goals; Ride a century, Backpack the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (not day hike), Climb Mt. Humphreys one more time, Do some bike touring, Start weightlifting, 10 pull-ups (seriously).

So how do I rate my efforts in 2016?

I increased my weekly mileage from 50-60 to just over 100. Someone commented that when they rode 100 mi/wk they almost never got sick and felt great. I may be overtraining though. Went thru a period where legs felt tired a lot. Slowed my pace but kept the miles up and it got better. Other minor injuries to work through or around. Changed my stretching routine to match the new injuries. Currently riding at an easy pace again.

Increasing the bike mileage has reduced my hiking mileage slightly. The problem is do I spend the time riding or hiking? Still go for short hikes on the weekend.

Started weightlifting twice. Both times pushed myself too hard and stopped after 4-5 weeks. Similar results with calisthenics. Not giving up but it is frustrating to have to stop for a while then start again trying to find a way around my problems. On the plus side I couldn't do any pull-ups or chin-ups at the beginning of the year. I can do 2 chin-ups now.

tarwheel 

I wouldn't consider 3,700 miles as modest, and commuting 100% of the time is even more impressive. Although I might ride more miles than you, I don't come close to commuting 100% of the time -- 60% is more like it. I will quickly bail if the weather is nasty. Like you, much of my motivation for bike commuting is simply because it's fun, but I don't enjoy riding in heavy rain, fog, sleet, snow, freezing rain, excessive heat, smoke and other poor air quality.

DiabloScott

This is as close as I've ever come to matching my plan at the beginning of the year. Not all commuting miles.

I get the $20 federal monthly benefit for commuting more than half the time... haven't missed a month in a couple years.

Darth Lefty 

@locolobo13

When I was a kid in Phoenix, we'd sometimes drive up to the Grand Canyon to camp on the weekend nearest the summer solstice. We'd camp overnight on the north rim, and when we got up in the morning Dad would be gone. We'd drive around to the other side and as the sun went down, here he'd come up the Kiabab. Hell of a hike, 24 miles and a mile of elevation gain. If you guess 3mph plus an hour for each 1000 ft, a normal person can just do it. He was an avid hiker, until his age caught up with him. He proposed to my mom after urging her all the way up Mt Whitney, she was too oxygen-deprived to say no!

I don't weight-lift any more since my heart diagnosis, but when I still did, I did manage to haul my schlubby butt up a chin-up bar. What worked was just doing it every day. In years of trying more reps with pulldown machines I never got the strength, but actually going up the bar once makes it easier to try it again. A climbing wall helped with back strength, too.

Darth Lefty 

I had never heard of this before. Seems my employer doesn't offer it.
Bicycle Commuter Benefit | League of American Bicyclists

Giant Doofus

I had a good year -- a really good year.

One of my goals was to track how many miles I drive my car in a year. I wasn't necessarily aiming for a certain number; I just wanted to assess whether my spouse and I actually need a second car. The answer is a resounding "no."

Car: Somewhere shy of 1100 miles.
Bike: I'll hit 4000 before Christmas.

A second goal was to become more confident wrenching on my bike. I definitely got there! This year I managed to replace my bottom bracket, overhaul both wheel hubs, true my wheels, change my chain, replace brake pads, re-cable brakes and shifters, adjust my rear derailleur, and swap out my handlebars and stem. I think If I just keep my hands on the bike this year, those skills will continue to improve.

I also wanted to become more active helping others use their bikes for transportation. I succeeded there too. I got certified as a safety instructor and started teaching four-week long classes at the co-op called "How to Ride your Bike in the Street." Several class participants have taken up bike commuting!

Finally, I wanted to love riding my bike. I didn't want goals and the ordinariness of riding for transportation to steal away the delight I feel riding a bike. I need not have worried. I simply love it.

It's possible I had set "ride a century" as a goal for the year. I can't remember. Alas, I did not manage to ride a century this year. Maybe it'll work out in 2017.

DiabloScott

It's actually a credit that your employer gets to take on their taxes... so it does cost them some overhead time to administer it, but not any "real" money. Most employers that have some kind of commuting benefits like bus or train ticket discounts ought to be offering this as well.

JerrySTL

I'm just one good ride short of my 4,000 mile goal. I haven't been able to ride for nearly a month due to weather, work, and illness. But I'm going to top 4K tomorrow.

I also did 5 half marathons. Pretty good year.

Moe Zhoost

I set 3,000 miles as a goal, which I met in November. I was hoping to do an additional 500 however I am hampered by a rigid splint on my left hand. Still, I have only 130 miles to go so if I take a few "long ways home" I may do it.

For 2017 I have no idea as I plan to start working part time. We'll see.

Darth Lefty 

No such thing at my employer. We have on-site parking and lots of drivers so I guess there is little enough reason for the parking or transit parts, which are bigger than the bike part.

biketoworkguy

I started commuting this year in June the day after my 40th birthday. I had not ridden my bikes in about 10 years. I just topped my goal of 2000 miles last week, just in time to be on vacation for the remainder of the year. I am still assessing what 2017's goal is, but the logical goal as far as I am concerned is to commute all year next year and set the mileage at 4000 miles. I've got some more cold weather gear on my Christmas list so I am planning to continue commuting by bike as soon as I return to work in the new year. The cold just got real here in Maine. I've got things mostly worked out but still lack a few layers I need for the -X degree days. I've been pretty comfortable down in to the teens.

mcours2006

Hey, welcome to forum, and congratulations on making it this far.

RubeRad

Tomorrow I finish my 4th full year of bike commuting (I moved closer to work around Christmas 2012 and started biking basically full time the first workday of 2013).

Three of those years I tracked my bike-commuting days on the CCCC. This was my best year, 190 days (including tomorrow)

I recorded my cyclocomputer odometer on new years at 9798, and I know I broke 12000 about a month ago, so that's 2200 miles and counting.

I can't remember the odometer on "my" car, but I'm certain it was driven way fewer miles than that. And some of the miles were gratuitously driven in that car instead of the family minivan, so my oldest could learn to drive stick.

Fitness, however... I'm still basically an almost 250lb clyde, exactly the same as when I started. I love to eat (and cook), and when I ride, I can't motivate myself to actually exercise, my effort level is constantly about the same as a brisk walk. Every time I check the average speed on my cyclometer, it's 10.x mph.

No significant new parts this year, although I lost my battle with tubeless on me & the wife's 29ers. I'll try again sometime next year with cheaper homemade sealant and tires that are specifically tubeless-ready.

KCBikeCommuter

I set a goal of 10,000 total miles for the year, and I just hit that number earlier this week! I wasn't sure how I was doing on my 2016 commuting mileage compared to last year, and had to go back to the 2015 thread to find out.

It looks like I'll wind up about 500-miles short from last year's commuting total. I didn't make a conscious decision to commute any differently than last year, but I'm guessing the increased non-commuting rides may have contributed to the lower overall commuting mileage. My goal for next year is to worry less about total miles... but commute more!

InTheRain

I don't set mileage goals. The only goal I have is to commute by bicycle 3 times per week. No problem meeting that goal. That comes out to a minimum of 2000+ miles in a year.

devianb

I meet my goals every year because I don't make any.

Yttrium

Well, I actually started bike commuting, so it feels pretty good! I bought a nice bike (Raleigh RXM), spent way too much money on Boston-proof winter and water gear, and found some coworkers to ride with. My first ride was last week Monday (12/12) and I've put about 150 miles on my bike in total, which will be it for this year as I'm heading out of state for the holidays. I feel pretty good about it because it saves me roughly 30 minutes on my commute because the local bus line is like taking the slow boat to china. I had some tendonitis in my knee right off the bat but I think I fixed it by adjusting my cleat positioning - the cleat was too far on the outside of my shoe, causing me to go pigeon toed.

All in all, I'm planning to do 3500 miles next year. My commute is 9.5 miles the short way, 12.5 the scenic river way and I head to my girlfriends with the train one day a week so if I commute every day that I can I would hit 4250 or so. I think more likely I'll do 3.5 out of every 4 possible commutes, just because I won't always be able to sleep and eat as well as I want to.

RubeRad

Since it was rainy this morning, I took the opportunity to move "my" car to work to sit in the parking deck for the rest of the year. Final 2016 miles on that car: 1714

RubeRad

Wait what?

Is that a thing anybody can claim, or is it like an option an employer can choose to participate in?

Yttrium

Bicycle Commuter Benefit | League of American Bicyclists

Employer based - A LOT of employers don't publicize this stuff though. My last job offered it but you had to actually inquire about it before they'd give it to interested cyclists.

mgw4jc

Overall it's been a good year of commuting. I bought a new bike in September which has worked out well so far. I generally only ride to work and don't do many recreational rides, but did a few more this fall with the new bike.

I had relatively low commuting mileage in January and February, but ramped up more in the spring. By summer I was seeing that 5200 miles for the year may be possible - an average of 100 miles per week, including a couple of zero weeks for vacation or whatever. I passed 5,200 on Tuesday and will likely be over 5,300 by the end of next week.

I don't really count days. I have several partial days or rides where either my wife picks me up after work or I ride halfway home to meet her somewhere.

RubeRad

That link talks about employees submitting receipts to receive up to $20/mo reimbursement for 'qualified expenses'. Does your company just give out $20/mo, or do you have to actually buy $20 worth of bike stuff and provide receipts?