A funny thing happened to me at the end of April. Funny to me, anyway. I lost interest in tracking my cycling miles, and stopped caring about the number of days I rode each month.
Instead of fighting that feeling, I’ve just gone with it, especially since this sentiment has been growing over the last year or two. Felkerino suggested that I might regret my decision, but for now it seems like the right move.
Below are my totals for the last three years:
2011
Total Miles = 8,402
Number of Days Ridden = 276
2012
Total Miles = 8,236
Number of Days Ridden = 264
2013
Total Miles = 7,135
Number of Days Ridden = 264
The bottom line is that I don’t think I’m learning much by tallying up my miles and the days I ride. In the past, I used a mileage log to see patterns in my cycling that helped me figure out things like why I might be run down, when to schedule rest days, and what my heavy cycling months were.
For eight of the last nine years I’ve jotted down my miles and over that period of time a fairly similar annual routine has emerged. I commute year-round, I randonneur with Felkerino and the D.C. Randonneurs in the springtime, and Felkerino and I make sure to find time to go on a summer bike tour.
We mix it up a little with a 1200K or another event here and there, but that is essentially the quick overview of my cycling over the course of a year. And as a result, the mileage stays fairly consistent and the number of days I ride does, too.
I like that routine, but it means that the spreadsheet doesn’t really tell me a different story from year to year. Since I’m not getting much value out of the spreadsheet at the moment, except to be reassured that all things cycling are pretty much the same as they have been, I’m going to let it go for now.
This blog has provided a more meaningful way for me to capture my cycling throughout the year. It includes some notes about mileage, but is hopefully more about the stories that happen as the miles go by.
It’s the stories that make the cycling worth noting these days, and not the numbers that are accumulating under my wheels.
Comments & questions welcome. Keep it civil, por favor!