Commuting to Work
March was a fantastic month for commuting to work by bicycle. The best so far, in fact. Since there are so many months in the running right now for Best Month, that’s saying a ton. Of the 21 work days, I rode 20, resorting to driving only once. The weather was much nicer. Though there were plenty of days below freezing, none got down to the tear-freezing negatives of January. It got misty a couple of times, and out and out rained on me once, but since I love that weather, it was a Good ThingTM.
Training
It was a terrible month for training rides. 28.07 on the first day of the month, and 56.2 the last weekend. The weather, oddly enough, was better for riding in January! I logged 147.39 miles on the weekends then. Not a fantastic number, but better than 84.27, certainly. Bah.
Errands
There were no errands run by bicycle for the month of March. This is probably the toughest part of cycling for me. Making a switch from recreational to utilitarian cyclist is difficult, and frankly, aside from commuting to work and back, I’m not sure I want to. I’m on the fence on this one.
Mileage Goals
At the beginning of the month, I was 244.35 miles behind. At the end of the month, I was 225.19 miles behind.
For my mileage goal of 5,000 this year, March was little but treading water. Clearly, my daily commute will keep me ahead of my daily goals, but only barely. To meet my 5,000 mile goal, I need to ride ~13.7 miles a day. My commuting gives me ~95 miles a week (19miles * 5 days). But a week has 7 days. 13.7 miles a day for the full 7 days totals 95.5 miles. Therefore, if I do nothing but commute my regular route, I’ll fall behind by half a mile a week. This can easily be turned around by going around the block an extra time once a week… but that assumes I’m all caught up to begin with. I’m not.
Overall, though I’m behind for the year, March itself was a good month. I rode 457.07 miles, which was 107.93% of my goal for the month of 423.5 miles, putting me ahead for the month by 33.57 miles. That drops my yearly deficit from 258.76 to 225.19.
The conclusion, from a pure mileage point of view, is that I need to get out on the weekends for some epic rides and make up those miles. The ride on Saturday helped, but I need to get out for more of the same. With the promise of warmer weather, there will be ample opportunities for longer weekend rides. April has the 2008 JCBC Spring Classic, as well as the Headquarters Life Support Rally rides, both of which I’ll be participating in. On my own, I’m going to give it my very best to get out for some rides of my own, solo or accompanied.
Memorable Moments
- The driving rain of an evening commute home.
- A glorious sunrise.
- A dramatic increase in the number of cyclists, runners and people generally outdoors.
- Ron
- Record times and coining a new (to me) word.
Final Thoughts
I’ll repeat what I said at the end of February:
The spreadsheet says February sucks, everything else says “Eh. So what? It wasn’t that bad.” I have time, and the weather is looking up.