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-   -   Assess yourself for 2018! (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/1162578-assess-yourself-2018-a.html)

joesch 12-22-18 05:00 PM

2018 was my best year as far as commuting and training miles.
Still would like to commute more often to work since I usually add 20 miles to my 3 mile commute to work.
I added another single speed so I have two now for city commuting and an nice older cross terrain bike with wide tires. All steel for solid city riding.
Enjoyed rides in TX, FL & CA and hope to add some more states next year.

schiavonec 12-22-18 08:08 PM

Started again this year after a long hiatus. I keep a general time, but there are no personal best moments, STAVA accounts... Probably averaged %50 of the days given family schedule and obligations in temps from 12 to 108 in Colorado. Traffic lights and good fortune probably impact my time more than me dawdling or pushing the pace. I mix up trail, sidewalk, bikepaths and try to limit streets to residential areas as much as possible. Like most, life is busy and this allows for some exercise without having to plan for it or to fit it in.

The notable positives include seeing and feeling things. That Stellars Jay that is rare around here. Coyote pups. An owl on the hunt at dusk. There are also the other regulars: dog walkers on the same schedule, other commuters (more variety here). I even road past a "grow" house. Hey it is CO. The other thing that is interesting is that 20 degrees on the bike isn't as bad as 20% in the POS family minivan with a vacuum leak that only allows for defrost.

My only goal for 2019 is to keep on commuting when possible. I don't feel it is a religion, but that is OK. Per the financial comment, I just use what I have. I built up a an old mtb bike as a commuter and have 'paid' for it based on the price of fuel alone. I rebuilt most of it, and I'm debating on the shifters now. It has a milk carton zip tied to the rear rack as I hate the sweaty back feeling with a pack. Would I like another better commuter? Perhaps, but in the end, I don't think it will be that much better. Old cantis aren't the best in rain or snow for sure. I can take my cyclocross bike if desired, but it is nice to have a dedicated commuter with storage. It gets used to run my herding dog 2-5 miles a day 4-7 days a week too along with some errands when possible.

I pretty much have my clothes dialed in at every temp at this point, but large diurnal changes on the front range make it a challenge sometimes.

Hoopdriver 12-23-18 08:21 AM

I quit commuting in August. I miss it a lot, but quitting did free up some time to do a lot more riding.

alias5000 12-23-18 11:04 AM

Thanks for the reminder :-)
I'm sitting at close to 4000km this year with detailed stats to be obtained when back from holidays. 4000km is pretty okay with me, even though I would not mind a few more kilometers.
Last year's theead has me reporting 2600km, even though I thought I did around 4000km, as well. No big changes in life and kilometers are expected for the next year. When done with my PhD, I'm hoping to have a longer commuting distance than now which would up my mileage for 2020+

rhm 12-26-18 10:00 AM

Not much to report, really: if I went to work, I rode my bike to the station. I wussed out because of rain a few times... and I am not ashamed of that. Non-commuting miles were up a lot, but I also drove to a lot of rides. I'd rather do my recreational riding without involving driving, but the choice seems to be to ride alone, or to drive to a ride where I can ride with other people.

So my total cycling miles for the year will round out to just about 8000 miles (I'm showing 7988 as of today). About 1/3 of that was commuting.

RidingMatthew 12-26-18 01:39 PM


Originally Posted by rhm (Post 20719347)
Not much to report, really: if I went to work, I rode my bike to the station. I wussed out because of rain a few times... and I am not ashamed of that. Non-commuting miles were up a lot, but I also drove to a lot of rides. I'd rather do my recreational riding without involving driving, but the choice seems to be to ride alone, or to drive to a ride where I can ride with other people.

So my total cycling miles for the year will round out to just about 8000 miles (I'm showing 7988 as of today). About 1/3 of that was commuting.

nice job rhm.. i hope to do a few more group rides next year as well but my problem is have to drive to them and as one who mostly commutes that feels weird.

RubeRad 01-01-19 04:30 PM

A little down on the annual bike miles this year, 2298 -- although I failed in my attempt to mount a B harness for my cateye cyclocomputer on my 'new' mtb, so going forward my mtb miles will not be tracked. I guess that would add a couple hundred.

For the cars this year 14984 for the minivan, and 5789 for the hatchback (spent long stretches of time in the parking deck at work, but was driven near-daily by my son to school in the spring and work over the summer)

Bizman 01-01-19 10:42 PM

Due to a change in my work schedule and bad rainy weather (worst year on record, 58" of rain) my mileage for both commuting and total miles was down. There became a point my goal was to hit 8000 total miles and 7000 commuting miles, both goals were met and slightly exceeded!

2018 goal, commute miles/#commutes/total miles to be about the same as 2017.
704 commuting miles less in 2018 than 2017.
1084 less total miles in 2018 than 2017.
8 less commutes in 2018 than 2017.
3.26 less average miles per commute than 2017.
2019 goal, commute miles/#commutes/total miles to be about the same as 2018.

2018
Commute miles 7212
Commutes 227/365
Average miles per commute 30.43
Total miles 8039

2017
Commute miles 7916
Commutes 235/365
Average miles per commute 33.69 miles
Total miles 9123

2016
Commute miles 7950
Commutes 240/366
Average miles per commute 33.13 miles
Total miles 9015

zacster 01-02-19 01:03 PM


Originally Posted by JoeyBike (Post 20715318)
Ha! I was the same way for 28 years. Then two things happened. 1. My city got bike lanes and greenways everywhere so i no longer feel compelled to keep up with inner city traffic for safety reasons, and 2. I got rid of all the road bikes. I still crack 20+ mph here and there but waaaaaay more chill for the most part. Part of getting old I think. Turned 60 in April. New outlook on life!

Why slow down at 60? I'm 63 and riding as hard as ever, harder actually. It is only in the on street bike lanes where I slow down, mostly because in NYC you are always avoiding pedestrians and turning cars. Otherwise I still push hard. I'm usually twice the age of everyone else commuting out there, and faster than them all.

JoeyBike 01-03-19 12:07 PM


Originally Posted by zacster (Post 20729360)
Why slow down at 60?

It took 59 years to learn to chill.

Phamilton 01-04-19 12:34 PM

2018 was my first year of commuting by bike. I actually started Sept. '17 and carpooled from Feb-July '18, so the end of 2018 was about 10 months total. I didn't consistently track mileage - I was undecided between Map my Ride, Strava, a cyclocomputer, and no tracking. I eventually settled on tracking w/ Strava. I estimate about 4,000 miles total for 2018. If I ride continuously for 2019 I expect to have about 6,000 commuting miles plus whatever joyriding I do.

I knew a 25 mile round trip daily would be a lot, but I since I'd never ridden that much prior to commuting I didn't know what to expect as far as the sort of effect it would have on me physically and mentally. I used 3 different bikes, (2) vintage roadies and a hybrid drop bar conversion. I got hit by a car in August and reevaluated my commute. I decided to slow down, decided that 15 mph was good enough for commuting. I still stand by that decision but if I have a tailwind or am feeling spunky I'll push it a little. I'm pretty often surprised by the small things that over time make a cumulative difference, like adding a rack and loaded pannier. Didn't seem like much at first, but after a few weeks definitely started to feel the weight, but even more the wind resistance of it. Or 1/8" of saddle adjustment, up or down, forward or back. Doesn't seem like a big difference at first again but after a few weeks ... so at the very least I've learned to wait a few weeks before I've settled on any change I've made.
I think anybody who is commuting much over 10 miles total every day is doing a lot. And I think any one way commute over about 6-7 miles is quite a bit. I'd rather commute less and joyride more, but I'm not about to provoke a job change to do it.
FWIW I AM about 15 lbs lighter than when I started, and I AM probably in the best shape of my adult life at 37, but I'm so tired most of the time that I don't even think about/realize it. That has less to do with the miles and more to do with what I do off the bike.

subgrade 01-08-19 09:38 AM

My total year km goal for 2018 was 5000 km. I did 5431 km in total, with ~3500 km of those commuting; and that despite leaving a month out due to injury. So 6000 km for 2019 seems like a reasonable goal.
Speaking of other goals, it didn't go as well; there were plans for 4 100+ km rides and one century (161km); but in the end I did only one 100+ km ride (103 km). So these goals remain the same for this year.

Bizman 01-01-20 04:33 AM

Delete post wrong year.


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