Digital Gee

The guy with the most mileage at the moment over on bikejournal.com has 13,478 miles so far this year, with 149 rides. He rides a 'bent, btw.

That means his average ride is just over 90 miles. In thirty one weeks, he's averaging nearly five rides per week.

At 15 mph (I have no idea how fast he's going) that's 6 hours a ride.

I'm guessing he's retired? Or else wealthy? How else would he have the time?

Does anyone else find these numbers staggering?

zonatandem

Numbers are quite high; however back when we were a bit younger (in our 50s - 60s) we averaged 10,000+ miles a year with our max just over 13,000 . . . and yes, was working full time too.

Louis

I suppose if one is that obsessed and goal oriented, it is possible. My thoughts..."get a life".

I love cycling but I do have other interests, like hanging around here making smart assed remarks.

cccorlew

Don't know why, but this reminds me of my Dad's line:
You know how to get more miles-per-gallon out of your car?



Lie about it.

Dogbait

Maybe he gets lost a lot.

cranky old dude

I rode 13.478 miles in july alone !!!!!

oilman_15106

Randoneering? Those guys/gals put on the miles. Rode with a guy who did this long distance stuff and I asked him about having 2 computers on his bike. Second one is a backup to the Garmin because the batteries only last 12 hours(or so he said) and when doing a ride over 12 he can still keep track. Not my cup of tea.

CrossChain

Then again, maybe he was powered by "fudge". Undoubtedly there are obsessive compulsives. DeeGee, those "boys" of yours would be very screwed up if you made them ride that often. My guys would shrivel up and die at the prospect. As much as I love to ride, need to read a book, water the flowers, sit on the patio and drink coffee, etc.

Dchiefransom

I think you can change your options to showing road miles only, or maybe it's just for the person that's making the entry. Some people have trainer miles included. My commute, which wasn't done on a regular basis, is 47 miles round trip by bicycle, and I've read posts by people that do 30 miles each way every day. Add on a couple of extra hours in the evening, and you've got some serious mileage each day.

gear

I read a story in Bicycling magazine a few years ago about a guy who rode a 100 miles every day, WITHOUT A SADDLE.

stonecrd

I like being on the bike but I like the other aspects in my life just as well. If I was not working I would probably put in more miles but not substantially so. I just don't see how you could really enjoy riding 6+ hours a day unless you are paid to do so.

Ken Brown

Agreed. This is my first year of retirement and my mileage is about 20% above last year. As mentioned above, there are other things in life, and that includes retirement. Going back to building a deck in a few minutes.

tlc20010

I don't see how people can enjoy sitting in a cold duck blind or laying on a beach in the sun or watching 6 hours of TV a day or a zillion other things folks do for recreation--but I know it happens, so I suppose several hours a day on a bike is as enjoyable to some as any of those other things.

RVH

I'll bet his butt is like leather. Someone who rides that much must be averaging at least 20mph which makes his average just about 4.5 hours a ride. It reminds me of Groucho Marx's famous line to the lady with thirteen children "I like my cigar to, but I pull it out once in a while."

My 1,000 - 1,500 miles a year is just about right for me.

stonecrd

I mean if I really wanted to I could add an additional 10mi to my daily 20mi. It would give me about another 2,000 miles for the year but I think 5,000 is enough, some people think 1,000 is enough and then there are those who don't think 20,000 is enough. Just like speed there is always someone faster and slower so no real reason to compete.

wrafl

Could he be eating lot's of pies?

Jet Travis

I considered going that route, but then I realized that once I paid for the divorce attorney, I'd have to sell all my bikes and sleep in the car.

BSLeVan

I've had two experiences that lead me to believe that it is possible to put in this many miles and that the person who does so, actually "has a life."

The first, was listening to the jazz artist George Benson say, "If you practice six to seven hours a day, you tend to get better. Yes, I have skill, but I need to nourish it to play at the level I do." Here is a man who has a passion for music and is willing to put in the time to get the most out of any natural talent he has. And he seems happy with his choice.

The second, took place early in my martial arts training. At about age 24 I was training in a school that had two "national champions". Both of these people were incredible martial artists. One was a full time student and the other was working full time and he and his wife had just had their first child. They both trained over five hours each day. There was no time for watching TV, or any other activities that were not related to this passion.

In both instances the people involved were focused on a very limited number of things that were critical in maintaining and building their quality of life. Given quality of life is a very subjective thing, this approach would not work for everyone. I, for example, have at least four passions in life. Hence, it's difficult to give any of them the kind of time that would make me exceptional with any singular passion. And, I'm OK with this. Are there people out there who ride more miles? Absolutely. Are there people out there who play jazz better than I do? Yes indeed. Are there people out there whose photographs are stunningly better than mine? Yep. Are there people out there with gardens much better cared for than mine? Once, again yes. Would I trade my life for being able to ride 13,478 miles a year? No, probably not.

Motorad

Wasn't he the guy that refused to pay for surgical prostate therapy, and swore he could remove his prostate a cheaper way?

Jet Travis

Excellent post. I work at a university that has a top-notch student cycling club. One of the members is an outstanding law student and a national champion cyclist. I'm on the team's listserve, so I know how many hours he puts into training. How he does this with his courseload is truly amazing and inspirational.

big john

It's not that hard if you don't have to work full-time. A friend did 20,000 per year for a few years. When you get that many miles, you get faster and it gets easier. It also depends on the terrain. If you ride that much, you can knock out a flat century in 4-5 hours. I wish I had more time to ride, but I would probably keep it in the 15-20K per year range if I was retired.
I also agree about the "Fudge factor".

gfspencer

Amen to that!

Shooter

Maybe it's really Kilometers, which would be about 8500 miles. Other than that, he must live on his bike.