Cycling personal goals

Our Community Forums General Discussion Cycling personal goals

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  • #916128

    I’m interested in hearing about the personal goals folks set for themselves in cycling (or if you don’t, why not).

    I’ve been biking to work twice a week for about a month now and definitely getting into it, especially as I get to know my route better. And tracking everything with Strava really makes it easy to see my metrics.

    Here are my informal goals of the moment:

    * Step it up to three days a week instead of two, and eventually make it my default mode all five days. It’s a 36 mi round trip, so I’m figuring this will come easier as my fitness improves
    * Get my inbound time down to 60 min and my outbound time down to 75 min (more uphills in the outbound). I’m currently taking about 68 min to get in and my fastest outbound time so far is 81.5 minutes.
    * Raise my average speed each way … inbound average is 15.5 mph … outbound is about 13 mph. So for now the goal each way is to get avg speed up to the next whole number in each direction.
    * Make it all the way through winter, to make it a year-round deal. So far this has been easier than I’ve thought it would be. With the right gear, even riding in mid-20s temps hasn’t been uncomfortable except for my toes (and I just bought the toe covers).

    Thx for your comments, sharing of your goals, and advice on additional metrics to obsess over!

    Brian

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 54 total)
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  • #1015645
    Orestes Munn
    Participant

    @Crickey7 100588 wrote:

    My goal is to be less dogmatic about my own preference for minimalist, fast gray/black bikes and more open-minded about all flavors and colors of bikes, drivetrain systems, footwear and attached portaging accessories.

    Hey, I thought we were talking realistic, doable, stuff here!

    #1015672
    Steve O
    Participant

    Some of the things I did this year:
    – Assisted two cyclists with chains that fell off
    – Helped a cyclist with a brake adjustment
    – MacGyvered a problematic fender
    – Gave directions to about a dozen cyclists
    – Taught several WABA cycling classes and assisted with two of their rides
    – Had conversations along the trail with several cyclists who were new to the area and/or new to biking
    – Invited them to BAC or Coffee Club and told them about the Forum
    – Met some new cyclists at Coffee Clubs and other events
    – Gave out dozens of lights on Lights for Bikes day
    – Volunteered at BTWD
    – Volunteered at the Arlington County Fair
    – Am active on the Arlington BAC
    – Attended a DC BAC meeting
    – Contributed occasional wisdom (and occasional drivel) on this here Forum
    – Gave unsolicited (and possibly useless) ideas to BikeArlington staff
    – Whined and whined until the Underpass of Eternal Darkness was fixed
    – Secretly removed a bunch of bollards in the middle of the night (JK. I wish, tho)
    – Chipped in to help make Freezing Saddles a totally fun and successful activity
    – Gave friendly greetings to others on the trail (but not nearly as much as FFG!)

    My goal for next year is to see an increase in all these kinds of things. That will mean that there are more and more cyclists out there–including new ones. I wrote about embracing the newbies a month ago. I still wholeheartedly believe in that.

    The point being that the more of us there are, the more successful we are likely to be to accelerate the kinds of improvements we seek. So everything we can do to encourage and help people to bike or bike more or broaden their use of cycling, is good.

    On the personal side, my goal remains minimum 300 miles a month.

    #1015683
    Subby
    Participant

    1. Never drive to work.
    2. Lead by example.
    3. Eat 3,000 calories per day.
    4. Do stupid human rides every chance I get.
    5. Live forever.

    #1015687
    vvill
    Participant

    @Steve O 100620 wrote:

    My goal for next year is to see an increase in all these kinds of things. That will mean that there are more and more cyclists out there–including new ones. I wrote about embracing the newbies a month ago. I still wholeheartedly believe in that.

    Agreed. I vaguely remember helping people trailside with bikes at least twice in the last 12 months, but I don’t recall specifics. I think I showed up to help at BtWD this year too although it was very rained out.

    #1015688
    mstone
    Participant

    @Subby 100631 wrote:

    3. Eat 3,000 calories per day.

    I got 1 out of 5. Not bad.

    #1015689
    Geoff
    Participant

    @Subby 100631 wrote:

    1. Never drive to work.
    2. Lead by example.
    3. Eat 3,000 calories per day.
    4. Do stupid human rides every chance I get.
    5. Live forever.

    6. Wake up once for everytime I go to sleep.
    7. Do not get smushed by any cars.

    #1015690
    Subby
    Participant

    @Geoff 100637 wrote:

    6. Wake up once for everytime I go to sleep.
    7. Do not get smushed by any cars.

    Those are both subparts of #5. :D

    #1015691
    Steve O
    Participant

    @vvill 100635 wrote:

    I think I showed up to help at BtWD this year too although it was very rained out.

    You did! We were there cowering inside Freshbikes. More volunteers than riders if I recall.
    See you next May on a warm, sunny day.

    #1015697
    dkel
    Participant

    I’m in the process of working on one of my goals: build up a bike myself. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but I have made lots of plans and learned a lot, so the actual work won’t be too difficult (part of why I chose to build up a FG bike: automatically simple!).

    Other goals: ride a century. I did a metric on the 50 States ride, so the next step is pretty obvious, though I don’t know when I might possibly get it done, due to other obligations.

    I think I’ve already destroyed my mileage goal for the year, so that’s good.

    Speaking of other obligations, I have a dissertation to finish. (Yes, “finish.” That means I have actually started!) I consider that a cycling goal, because it stands in the way of other cycling goals, like that century, not to mention the possibility of spending more money on n+1 and less on Degree in Progress tuition.

    #1015702
    cyclingfool
    Participant

    @Subby 100638 wrote:

    Those are both subparts of #5. :D

    In which case #1 is a supart of #2. :D

    #1015703
    cyclingfool
    Participant

    @dkel 100645 wrote:

    Speaking of other obligations, I have a dissertation to finish. (Yes, “finish.” That means I have actually started!) I consider that a cycling goal, because it stands in the way of other cycling goals, like that century, not to mention the possibility of spending more money on n+1 and less on Degree in Progress tuition.

    As someone nearing graduation from my masters program, I can identify!

    #1015710
    dkel
    Participant

    @cyclingfool 100651 wrote:

    As someone nearing graduation from my masters program, I can identify!

    I hope you’re farther along than I am: this crap is going to take forever. :( I should be finished in 2015…

    #1015751
    cyclingfool
    Participant

    @dkel 100659 wrote:

    I hope you’re farther along than I am: this crap is going to take forever. :( I should be finished in 2015…

    Well, I just found out that my capstone paper is defensible,though it needs some additional work and changes in the next month. I have my research presentation and defense in two weeks. Assuming I don’t royally screw things up, I’ll have a diploma in my mailbox in January. Working full time and having a family all while doing grad school part time over three years has been quite taxing. I’m ready for it to end.

    Good luck on your work. You can do it… the end is nigh. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

    #1015760
    Greenbelt
    Participant

    I’m too lazy to look them up from another thread, but I think my goals for this year were to 1.) keep my weight under 200, and 2.) not crash. Double fail.

    #1015762
    Crickey7
    Participant

    @Greenbelt 100711 wrote:

    I’m too lazy to look them up from another thread, but I think my goals for this year were to 1.) keep my weight under 200, and 2.) not crash. Double fail.

    It is a cosmic inevitability you will crash. The longer you tempt fate, the more inevitable it becomes. It’s always best to start the year off with a clean cosmic slate by purposefully riding into a tree or hurling yourself to the ground on January 1st.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 54 total)
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