I haven’t written much about my cycling lately (with the exception of using my bike as a metaphor for how great my wife is). It’s not that I haven’t been riding, there just haven’t been any organized or “special” rides lately. However, Sunday’s ride was definitely “special” since I passed 10,000 miles for the year. That’s right – 10,000 miles on the bike in 2008 (easy beating the number of miles I’ve put on my car this year). I needed 75 miles to hit 10,000 and knocked off 77 for good measure.
So I got to thinking, just how much riding is 10,000 miles?
- Assuming 2 weeks off for vacation, illness, etc. that’s 200 miles a week . . . every week
- 555 hours – that’s enough time to watch Office Space 370 times
- 300,000 calories – enough for 1,500 Krispy Kreme donuts or 600 Sprinkles cupcakes or 400 large watermelons or 1,200 Clif Bars
- Far enough to ride from my house to Destin, FL-and-back . . . more than 6 times
- Enough watts to light the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center . . . for two days
So how did I celebrate my milestone? I cooked a big Waffle House-style dinner for the family (hamburger steaks and hashbrowns).
Then Grant and I baked gingerbread cookies. Grant loves to bake and now I’ve got some “post-ride” treats for the next few days.
My original cycling goal for 2008 was to earn enough points to move up to Cat 3. I was making good progress towards that goal until an unfortunate crash ended my season early. The 10,000 mile goal is one I established during the summer (once Cat 3 was out-of-reach). Now it is time to set some goals for 2009. Trying to upgrade this year isn’t an option since I just won’t have the time for training and traveling for races with the demands at work and now having two kiddos. So this year, I’ll probably need to get creative.