The 6000 mile year...

Once again I’m sat, with a beer, looking back on another year of cycling. My own cycling that is, not the amazing year of pro-cycling we’ve had the pleasure of seeing in 2012! Well done Team Sky, Team GB, Sir Bradley Wiggins, and everyone else that helped make it such a great year!

So, back to my own year. Since I started recording the mileage I ride, back in 2008, I’ve tried to set myself a goal for each year. Between the middle of June and the end of the year in 2008 I managed to cover 1089 miles. In 2009, I logged a total of 3573 miles. The following year and the mileage was up to 4211 miles by the end of December. Last year, 2011, I upped my game a little and took the mileage to 5364 miles. 

For 2012 I wanted to try and push myself further still. I set the target at 6000 miles. As most of my cycling mileage is made up of commuting to and from work it meant I’d have to put in plenty of extra miles on top of the basic route to and from work - I live less than 2 miles from work as the crow flies and only around 2.5 miles by bike! Time to get peddling!

This is how the year went...

January
46 rides
376.66 miles covered

February
47 rides
452.63 miles covered

March
53 rides
701.92 miles covered

April
33 rides
313.39 miles covered

May
51 rides
620.66 miles covered

June
44 rides
471.16 miles covered

July
39 rides
427.09 miles covered
*Longest single ride of the year 101.37 miles*

August
53 rides
549.08 miles covered

September
46 rides
609.44 miles covered

October
40 rides
441.23 miles covered

November
47 rides
480.80 miles covered

December
46 rides
570.51 miles covered

All that little lot adds up to a total of 6014.57 miles - 14.57 miles over my target for the year!

Using GPS, I was able to plan where I'd reach 6000 miles.

The cafe at Alvaston Park - for a bacon sandwich & a latte!

As for 2013... I think it may be time to have a year without any set targets and just enjoy cycling for the sake of it! Maybe....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A second century ride...

Maybe it was an alignment of the planets, maybe it was the inspiration drawn from watching the opening ceremony of the London Olympics the night before, but yesterday I managed my second ever 100mile cycle ride. To be precise, 101.4miles! Who knows... it may even have been as a result of the huge amount of Chinese food (and a bottle of beer!) that I consumed whilst watching the Olympics! Whatever it was, after a summer that has been more or less washed out by the weather, it felt great to be able to do this ride.

 

I’ll not go into the full details of the route (too long and too boring to list every place name) but, briefly, it took me east from Derby into the country lanes and villages of South Nottinghamshire, skirted around Loughborough, as I crossed through Leicestershire, on the way back into South Derbyshire before heading out onto more familiar roads around Melbourne, Hartshorne, Repton, Hilton and Longford. From there, I turned back towards Derby for the final 20mile run in to home and a well earned recovery milkshake!

The Garmin GPS stats for the ride are...

Total distance - 101.4 miles.
Total time - 5hrs 37 mins.
Max speed - 32.8 mph.
Average speed - 18 mph.
Calories burnt - approx 3,500.
Average heart rate - 151 bpm.
Max heart rate - 180 bpm.

The Strava map and elevation profile for the ride are HERE.