I\’m chipping away at it!

Yes, working towards the year\’s mileage goal can seem mighty tedious at times; and it can be frustrating when the circumstances, e.g. truly terrible weather, keep you from riding. The not-so-secret solution: just keep at it.

As most of us are aware, it\’s better to ride 10-15 miles every day than to ignore the bicycle for six days; and then try to knock off 70 miles on Sunday. My own riding schedule is to take off from cycling on Mondays; and do a pre-work ride Tuesday through Friday (usually 12-15 miles). I usually do a grocery run on Saturday; and then I put in my long ride on Sunday.

When I was working up to Tour de Cure, I got my Sunday ride up to 50-52 miles. Sunday before last I had a strong headwind (about 20 mph) on the way out. I had planned to push for 40 miles; but that wind was giving me such a tussle that I wimped out and turned for home after less than 10 miles! Last Sunday I got in 29 miles. There wasn\’t nearly such a wind; but it was overcast and chilly, which makes me feel sleepy and saps my energy. I hope to make it a longer ride this coming Sunday. It\’s going to be in the low 50\’s; but at least they\’re predicting sunny weather.

So there you are. Keep chipping away at it, a little at a time. Of course it makes sense to set a mileage goal for the year that\’s realistic for your current fitness level. Five thousand miles between my two bicycles is doable for me; and maybe I\’ll shoot for 6000 miles in 2019. Trying for 10,000 miles in one year would be a bit too ambitious, though!