Final 2017 Bike Update
I'm off work for the rest of the year. Since I know I won't be biking any farther this year, it's a good time to summarize. Surprisingly, this is actually about as early as I could do it as I actually rode to work twice this week as the unseasonably warm weather continues here in Cleveland.
Anyway, the short version is that this was the best year I have ever had for bike commuting. My previous record for bike commuting was 59 times, set in 2014 and tied in 2015. This year I biked to work 71 times. Naturally, this also set my single year mileage record with 1,263.1 miles.
If I break it down by month, I find that I broke or tied my monthly records for five of the ten months that I biked in. In two more months, I had my second best total for that month. September 2017 also tied my best month ever, which was previously October 2015.
MonthBest YearMilesCommutesSecond Best YearMilesCommutes
March201735.82201635.82
April201470.04201753.73
May2014175.0102017161.19
June2017189.2112015125.37
July2015 232.7132013179.010
August2017214.7122014175.010
September2017250.6142014175.010
October2015250.6142016161.19
November2015154.892016143.28
December201789.55201553.73
Yearly Total20171263.17120151051.8
59
You might reasonably ask how I got 12 more rides than my previous best year. Well, I stopped playing ultimate because the 2016 season was basically nothing but pain and frustration. That freed up 10 possible days to ride that weren't possible before. My gaming group died a natural death late in 2016, which freed up something like 20 possible riding days. Those alone would make the difference. And honestly, in 2015 I set my previous record despite being in Europe for nearly six weeks.
I'm pretty sure that with a combination of good weather and differently timed travel I could easily push my record even higher. For instance, a warmer and drier March and April would let me add in many miles, and moving some vacations from the summer with its high liklihood of riding to the winter and its lower likelihood would improve my numbers even more. Still, I biked nearly 1/3 of the times I went to work this year, and it's hard to complain about overly much.
In other milestones:
[1] I passed 5000 lifetime commuting miles.
[2] At the end of 2016 my yearly average commuting miles was 986.3. This year I dragged it up all the wya to 1040.7 miles.
[3] From September 22 to October 3, I biked to work over eight consecutive working days, which is easily my personal best.
In non-commuting trips, M and I did the ride from Elyria to Oberlin twice. The first time we only went to Oberlin and back for about 16 miles. The second time we continued on to Kipton and returned for about 44 miles. It's a nice flat ride, albeit rather hot due to a lack of shade, and I recommend it. The first time we did it I somehow inexplicably broke the hangar on my bike. Thankfully, we were near the very end of the ride when it happened so I was able to carry it to the car. Other than that and one minor broken spoke, I didn't really have any mechanical issues this year.
As far as Arda goes, in 2014 I completed the ride from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain. Starting in 2015 I started the Lord of the Rings route. Per the handy mapping and counting only my commuting miles, I have now reached Minas Tirith with Gandalf and Pippin, completing the seventh leg of the trip. That leaves me with 3762.7 miles over six legs to go, which at my current average miles per year will take me another 3.5 years. Given that it only took Frodo 3 years (September 22, 3018 to September 29, 3021), I'm not looking so good, especially since I didn't need to fight orcs along the way!
Anyway, the short version is that this was the best year I have ever had for bike commuting. My previous record for bike commuting was 59 times, set in 2014 and tied in 2015. This year I biked to work 71 times. Naturally, this also set my single year mileage record with 1,263.1 miles.
If I break it down by month, I find that I broke or tied my monthly records for five of the ten months that I biked in. In two more months, I had my second best total for that month. September 2017 also tied my best month ever, which was previously October 2015.
MonthBest YearMilesCommutesSecond Best YearMilesCommutes
March201735.82201635.82
April201470.04201753.73
May2014175.0102017161.19
June2017189.2112015125.37
July2015 232.7132013179.010
August2017214.7122014175.010
September2017250.6142014175.010
October2015250.6142016161.19
November2015154.892016143.28
December201789.55201553.73
Yearly Total20171263.17120151051.8
59
You might reasonably ask how I got 12 more rides than my previous best year. Well, I stopped playing ultimate because the 2016 season was basically nothing but pain and frustration. That freed up 10 possible days to ride that weren't possible before. My gaming group died a natural death late in 2016, which freed up something like 20 possible riding days. Those alone would make the difference. And honestly, in 2015 I set my previous record despite being in Europe for nearly six weeks.
I'm pretty sure that with a combination of good weather and differently timed travel I could easily push my record even higher. For instance, a warmer and drier March and April would let me add in many miles, and moving some vacations from the summer with its high liklihood of riding to the winter and its lower likelihood would improve my numbers even more. Still, I biked nearly 1/3 of the times I went to work this year, and it's hard to complain about overly much.
In other milestones:
[1] I passed 5000 lifetime commuting miles.
[2] At the end of 2016 my yearly average commuting miles was 986.3. This year I dragged it up all the wya to 1040.7 miles.
[3] From September 22 to October 3, I biked to work over eight consecutive working days, which is easily my personal best.
In non-commuting trips, M and I did the ride from Elyria to Oberlin twice. The first time we only went to Oberlin and back for about 16 miles. The second time we continued on to Kipton and returned for about 44 miles. It's a nice flat ride, albeit rather hot due to a lack of shade, and I recommend it. The first time we did it I somehow inexplicably broke the hangar on my bike. Thankfully, we were near the very end of the ride when it happened so I was able to carry it to the car. Other than that and one minor broken spoke, I didn't really have any mechanical issues this year.
As far as Arda goes, in 2014 I completed the ride from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain. Starting in 2015 I started the Lord of the Rings route. Per the handy mapping and counting only my commuting miles, I have now reached Minas Tirith with Gandalf and Pippin, completing the seventh leg of the trip. That leaves me with 3762.7 miles over six legs to go, which at my current average miles per year will take me another 3.5 years. Given that it only took Frodo 3 years (September 22, 3018 to September 29, 3021), I'm not looking so good, especially since I didn't need to fight orcs along the way!