PolarLava::Blog

I have to say that 2007 was a tremendous cycling season for me.  I didn't really have any goals in mind other that "I want to ride more".  But thanks to a flexible work schedule and the ability to crawl out of bed at 4am on a regular basis, I was able meet that goal.  In 2006 I rode 2,304.26 miles in 92 rides.  My 2007 season included a century ride for the first time since 1998.  And it ended this past Sunday with a 32 mile jaunt outside.  It's pretty rare that I get to ride outside in December, so this was wonderful.  After cutting down my riding in early December, with a lot of support from my wife and a desire to push my highest ever yearly total even higher, I pushed hard for the last 3 days and finished 2007 with 3608.40 in 135 rides.  Thus I'm a happy camper and I'm inspired to set some goals and do even more in 2008…

So I went on a recon Christmas shopping trek today, had some extra time and stopped in at Handlebars Cycle Company.  As anyone that spends much time around me knows, I've been pining for a new bike for quite a while.  So while discussing options in my price range with the guy at the shop, I walked past a cyclo-cross bike.  This wasn't a new bike, but well maintained.  We started talking about it, in particular the carbon fiber wheels.  Apparently they were custom made and there are only two sets in the world -both for this bike.  The shop guy walked around the corner and them came back with the spare front wheel and handed it to me.  Literally it weighed virtually nothing for a fully built wheel.  I just looked at him and said it felt like a Frisbee.  You could easily sail this this through the air a good distance because it was very rigid and lightweight.  Pretty much in the one-of-a-kind realm.  I know these aren't the most expensive wheels one could buy, but well out of my price range at $2000 a pair.  That's about 2/3rds of what I would like to be spending on a new bike.  A dream that appears as though it will continue to remain unfulfilled.

So with this morning's ride I hit a new personal best yearly mileage total.  As of today I've ridden 3,196.55 miles.  This tops my previous best from 10 years ago in 1997 when I rode 3173.08 miles.  And even more than clipping the mileage mark, I've done it in a lot fewer, but longer rides.  In 1997 I rode 73 indoor and 81 outdoor rides for a total of 154.  So far this year I've "only" ridden 56 indoor and 59 outdoor rides for a total of 115 rides.  And I say only because unless the weather takes a dramatic downturn I plan to keep riding outside which is where I really roll up the miles.

I've got a good season in thus far even with the setbacks I've had the past couple of months with my back.  It's still not 100%, but it's pretty close most of the time.  Now if I can just avoid getting deathly ill in the next month I should wind up with a pretty nice yearly mileage total.  Unfortunately, the setbacks I've already had make it highly unlikely that I will make it to the lofty 4000 miles I mentioned previously.  And I never did get a second century in, nor do I see that happening at this point.  Maybe next year.

All in all I'm still plugging along.  With the days getting shorter and me riding so early in the morning, my 40ish mile rides is about the max I can do.  At that point I've just about out ridden the battery capacity of my lighting system.  Towards the end of my rides I struggling to see as the lamp begins to fade.  I'm contemplating buying some new higher capacity batteries as well as moving up from a 12W to a 20W lamp.  And possibly a 15W lamp for longer rides later in the season.  We'll see come next spring.  :)

As you obviously know if you're reading this, I'm a cycling junkie.  I can't say I can relate to all of this, but I certainly can relate to quite a bit of How to talk to non-cyclists.