Biking 2020 Summary
Since my May update, I broke virtually every personal biking record I have. Here is the updated list.
Month
Best Year
Miles
Commutes
Second Best Year
Miles
Commutes
March
2017
35.8
2
2016
35.8
2
April
2020
168.6
11
2014
70.0
4
May
2020
198.3
11
2014
175.0
10
June
2020
418.9
21
2018
250.6
14
July
2020
453.0
19
2015
232.7
13
August
2020
377.7
17
2019
305.0
17
September
2020
385.6
13
2017
250.6
14
October
2020
273.2
12
2015
250.6
14
November
2020
200.2
8
2015
154.8
9
December
2017
89.5
5
2020
63.2
3
Yearly Total
2020
2556.6
116
2017
1263.1
71
In 2020 I not only broke my miles records for every month from April through November, I also had my four best months ever. I also not only set my single day PR by completing by a century, I had nineteen rides that broke my old PR of 27.5 miles from 2017. Even better, that only 27.5 PR was my only 20+ ride ever prior to this year. Going further, I had 68 rides that were farther than my usual commuting miles of 17.9, which means that they were all higher than my median miles per ride for a given year.
To drive home how ridiculous this year was, I more than doubled my best prior year in miles, and added 45 rides to my prior best mileage count. Obviously, it's hard to compare apples to apples when I really only rode to commute before and this year was biking as my primary exercise, but still, it's a big number. If 2021 returns to bike commuting normality (which doesn't look likely right now), I may have to treat 2020 as a weird one-off, the way that the 2020 MLB season will always seem an oddity with its shortened 60 game season.
One thing that didn't change is my longest commuting days streak, which stands at 9, but that has a weekend in it. This year I rode nine consecutive days including weekends, which is obviously somewhat more impressive.
On a sad note, this year saw the death of my trusty bike helmet. After my crash, I was advised to get a new one. I had to wear it a few more times until the new helmet arrived, but after 9,614.7 miles over eight years, it has been replaced. It did its job, and I can ask no more. On a side note, my lifetime mileage is now 9677.9 miles.
My huge mileage total for the year lets me finish the Ride Through Middle Earth if I am so inclined. If I only count commuting miles, I still have 365.5 miles to go. Since I have no idea if commuting will be a thing again, I guess I'll call it done.
And hey, if I can ride once in January or February I'll set records for those months because I have never ridden in them before. We'll see...
Month
Best Year
Miles
Commutes
Second Best Year
Miles
Commutes
March
2017
35.8
2
2016
35.8
2
April
2020
168.6
11
2014
70.0
4
May
2020
198.3
11
2014
175.0
10
June
2020
418.9
21
2018
250.6
14
July
2020
453.0
19
2015
232.7
13
August
2020
377.7
17
2019
305.0
17
September
2020
385.6
13
2017
250.6
14
October
2020
273.2
12
2015
250.6
14
November
2020
200.2
8
2015
154.8
9
December
2017
89.5
5
2020
63.2
3
Yearly Total
2020
2556.6
116
2017
1263.1
71
In 2020 I not only broke my miles records for every month from April through November, I also had my four best months ever. I also not only set my single day PR by completing by a century, I had nineteen rides that broke my old PR of 27.5 miles from 2017. Even better, that only 27.5 PR was my only 20+ ride ever prior to this year. Going further, I had 68 rides that were farther than my usual commuting miles of 17.9, which means that they were all higher than my median miles per ride for a given year.
To drive home how ridiculous this year was, I more than doubled my best prior year in miles, and added 45 rides to my prior best mileage count. Obviously, it's hard to compare apples to apples when I really only rode to commute before and this year was biking as my primary exercise, but still, it's a big number. If 2021 returns to bike commuting normality (which doesn't look likely right now), I may have to treat 2020 as a weird one-off, the way that the 2020 MLB season will always seem an oddity with its shortened 60 game season.
One thing that didn't change is my longest commuting days streak, which stands at 9, but that has a weekend in it. This year I rode nine consecutive days including weekends, which is obviously somewhat more impressive.
On a sad note, this year saw the death of my trusty bike helmet. After my crash, I was advised to get a new one. I had to wear it a few more times until the new helmet arrived, but after 9,614.7 miles over eight years, it has been replaced. It did its job, and I can ask no more. On a side note, my lifetime mileage is now 9677.9 miles.
My huge mileage total for the year lets me finish the Ride Through Middle Earth if I am so inclined. If I only count commuting miles, I still have 365.5 miles to go. Since I have no idea if commuting will be a thing again, I guess I'll call it done.
And hey, if I can ride once in January or February I'll set records for those months because I have never ridden in them before. We'll see...