I'm nothing if not goal-oriented. Today's 35.4-mile bike ride completes a successful cycling year for me. I had three goals back on 1 January 2015. The primary goal was to exceed my 2014 mileage total of 4,366.6 miles. The secondary goal was to exceed 4,706.9 miles, which would make 2015 my second-best mileage year ever (in 35 years of cycling). The tertiary goal, which I set for myself after I achieved my secondary goal a month or so ago, was to reach the 4,900-mile mark for the year. Today's ride gives me 4,903.6 miles. Missions accomplished!
I rode my bike 153 times this year (in 365 days), which is an average of 32.04 miles per ride. My best month was July, when I rode 16 times, and my worst was February, when I rode nine times. I rode in every type of weather, from bitter cold to oppressive heat, in torrential rain and in gale-force wind. Nothing kept me from my appointed rounds. (Sorry.) To put my year in perspective, consider this. The mileage from San Diego to Charleston, South Carolina, is 2,446, so you can say that I rode from San Diego to Charleston and back this year. Assuming that I averaged 16.5 miles per hour, I was on the bike for 297.1 hours this year. That's an average of 48.8 minutes per day. I have now pedaled 84,461.1 miles in my lifetime. It may sound silly, but I have a love affair with my bike. As soon as I complete one ride, I start thinking about the next.
My first ride of 2016 will be Saturday, 2 January. I have three goals for 2016. The primary goal is to exceed this year's total of 4,903.6 miles, which will make 2016 my second-best mileage year ever. (My best year was 1990, when I rode 6,205.9 miles.) The secondary goal is to reach 5,000 miles, which is a nice round number. The tertiary goal is to reach 5,353.7 miles, which is 157 rides of 34.1 miles. (My standard ride is 34.1 miles.) Wish me luck! I ride, therefore I am.
Addendum: It was bobcat city on the trail today. The image in this post (click to enlarge) shows three adult bobcats in leisure mode. I had already ridden past them when I stopped to snap this picture. I wouldn't say that they're tame, but they've lost whatever fear of humans they once had.
