1000 mile bike goal reached

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Certainly mundane and pointless and I don’t really need to share but I will, anyway. When the lockdown began, my gym closed right away as did my work. The Missus and I began riding our bikes on a near-daily basis for exercise and just for something to do. We did about 13 miles on the local boardwalk (New Jersey) at a pretty leisurely pace. As you might imagine, wind was a significant factor. Spring time on the ocean and all. Some days it was brutal but we felt good about ourselves.

Anyway, my work resumed right around Memorial Day and I decided to break out my 33 year old road bike (toe clips and all) and continue to ride in order to increase my beer deficit. I opted to ride in the morning before work in order to beat the heat and traffic. I get up at 5:15 am and go. Not every day but 4 times a week, sometimes more. My loop was around 16 miles and included 4 bridges that go over various waterways. All allow large sailboats to pass under and the climbs, while probably a joke to a serious rider, are steep and long enough to make my legs do some screaming. Part way through July I hit 500 miles and realized that, with a little effort, I could make 1000 before Labor Day. I added a couple of extensions to my route and upped it to a little over 20 miles. Today, with four days to spare and under a full moon, I tallied my 1000th mile. According the tracker app, each 20 miles is about 1200 calories. That’s the equivalent to 8 beers! Even with some fairly serious partying on the weekends (hey, it’s the beach in the summer time), I’m waaaay behind.

Things I learned over the last 1000 miles:

Early morning rides are great. Traffic is almost non-existent. This is huge. I did a few rides later in the morning on weekends and it was nerve-wracking. Tourists are everywhere. You have to actually stop for traffic lights, breaking your rhythm and momentum. Winds in the morning are, generally, light. The wind sucks. Even on the hottest, most humid days, it was tolerable to ride at 6:00 AM. Sunrises while riding are pretty cool. Watching the sun come up over the ocean never gets old. It is possible to see a rainbow in the western sky at 5:40 am. Herring Gulls perched on the bridge rails don’t always fly away when you approach. You can (and I have) reach out to touch them while they are trying to figure out what you are.

Turtle barriers are pretty effective. The number of smashed diamond back terrapins is way down since they started placing these.

Black Skimmer colonies stink. We had what was, a few years ago, the biggest nesting colony on the east coast. It right on my route and when the wind blows the wrong way……

There are some hard core bikers out there. I think I’m keeping a fairly good pace (16 mph average) and a group passes me like I’m standing still. What are they doing out at this time of day anyway? Showoffs. :wink:

Riding in near zero visibility due to fog is interesting. Its kind of weird going up or down those bridges with no visual references. It looks flat but it ain’t.

A blinking headlight is a good idea, even in bright daylight. I’m convinced that more than a few drivers would have pulled out in front of me resulting in a crash, if not for the light.

Maybe I’ll get a better bike and those click-in shoes but, for now, the combined age of rider and bike is 95 and there is still some time left before winter sets in. 1750?

P.S. - No flats, no crashes or falls and no run-ins with motorists. Lucky, I guess.

2

Way to go! Just got back from 28 miles w/ my sister.

We try to ride 2-3 times a week anytime we can - and are willing to push each other to go though some pretty cold and wet weather! (The heat doesn’t bother either of us.) I figure we probably get 40 weeks of biking in and average 25-32 miles on our usual routes. So figuring 25 miles, 2x a week, 40 weeks a year, that would put us around 2k.

16 MPH is pretty quick in my mind - but we are on hybrid bikes, generally on crushed limestone paths. The other day we noticed we were over 17 so we pushed it - I got just over 19 before she couldn’t keep up (her bike has the computer.) But I bet we average in the high 14s-low 15s.

Funny, tho. The other day I asked her, if we really tried to race a 30 mile loop, who she thought would win. She said me, and I said her. So we’re pretty optimally matched!

We don’t see anything as interesting as you. Our paths are through Chicago area forest preserves. We see plenty of deer, and an occasional coyote. We both are interested in and try to spot birds and wildflowers - but nothing too exotic.

One thing new this year is electric bikes. I really disfavor them on “nonmotorized” paths - they just go too fast. The paths were VERY heavily used this past summer - seem to be more open with the restart of school.

On yer left! :smiley:

3

I’m at 768. I rarely bike on weekdays except for my monthly “bike to work”, which since I am working at home means I get creative. I decided that if I bike both before and after work, and I bike the equivalent of a round trip to my pre-COVID office (4.6 miles one way), that counts.
I normally do an annual 5 day supported bike ride in the MI UP Since it was cancelled I did go camping in northern WI and got in some good bike rides (61 and 45 miles, the 61 was into MI)
Neither my bike (a Trek 520 – steel touring) nor me are built for speed – I’m happy to top 12

Brian

4

Seeing the avatar, I feel I should ask - were you aware of this line of cycling kit?

j

5

Well done! Ignore those showoffs - they probably sleep with their bikes. Keep riding as long as you are enjoying it, and don’t feel like you have to limit cycling to exercise only - you may be able to replace some car trips with the bike and add a few more miles that way (altho probably more mundane miles) when the weather is nice. But, who’s counting anyway? - just keep rolling!

Well since you are counting - 1,000 miles would be from your house to ??? Or, from your house to ??? and back. Pretty soon you’ll be all the way across the country!

Oh, and what is a “turtle barrier”?

6

I commute every day (or at least, every day I’m working) by bike. Distances vary, but a half-hour each way is typical. During the time I had a bike computer, I got in around 4000 km per year.

My most common route is mostly down a big straight seven-lane road. Even though it’s not officially a bike-friendly route and the next street over officially is, it’s traffic-friendly enough that it doesn’t matter. I only get maybe one red light per trip, because the lights are all heavily biased to favor that road. It also doesn’t hurt that my commute is counter to rush hour.

I did actually see a rainbow in the morning a couple of days ago. Well, a faint fragment of a rainbow, at least. Fortunately I got to work before I got more than a sprinkling from it.

And yeah, I encounter some natural smells, too. I cross over the Rocky River Valley, and at the right time of year, there’s some sort of strong musky sweaty smell coming from the wild parkland in the valley. I still haven’t figured out what animal is responsible for it-- It doesn’t match deer mating season.

7

No, I wasn’t aware of a W&G bike jersey
Brian

8

Oh yeah - my sister calls the totally geared up bikers “fancy pants”! :smiley:

9

Diamond backed terrapins are common around here but come out of the water only to lay eggs, as far as I know. They seek high ground which means roads built over the salt marsh. Seeing smashed ones was a regular sight. Volunteers started placing barriers to keep them where they are safe. The current material is long lengths corrugated black plastic pipe, maybe 8" in diameter, cut in half length-wise. The concave side faces the water and seems to be doing the trick.

Regarding those click-in shoes - how much do they add to efficiency? Does the correct peddling technique become second nature or do you have to think about it ? I’m pretty sure I’m not doing it correctly now. The toe clips just keep my sneakers on the peddles, nothing more.

10

Depends on your goals. If you’re just into cruising around and not worried about time/distance, sneakers and flat pedals are fine. The soft soles of sneakers do rob power when you ramp up the effort. Toe clips (do you use straps?) work fine with sneakers but not so well with hard soled cycling shoes without cleats.
The clip in style is mainly to get the security of toe clips/straps and cleats but are far easier to get out of in a sudden stop or maneuver.

11

Interesting about the turtles. Our local American River Bike trail has many critters but the most interesting to see (and avoid) would probably be the western diamondback rattler - some of them are as fat as your arm, and look like a branch had fallen on the trail as you approach.

I would recommend the clip pedals and compatible shoes. Mainly, they keep your feet in the correct position without you having to think too much about it. The shoes will be very stiff-soled so you get all your energy of each pedal stroke going toward moving forward. Soft-soled shoes mean losing some efficiency, as well as possibly messing with your feet the more riding you do. The clip pedals and shoes are more comfortable, for me at least. Altho, if you do a lot of walking off the bike you should select shoes that allow for that - some of them have the cleat recessed so less “click-click” when you are walking. Just make sure you practice exiting the pedals some before heading out.