Cycling personal goals

[Oblivious Recidivist]

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

Topic

[Geoff]

@Crickey7 100714 wrote:

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.

Somewhere in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series (a four or five part trilogy, IIRC) we learned that the secret to flying is to throw yourself at the ground, and miss.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Geoff 100716 wrote:

… (a four or five part trilogy, IIRC)….

Common Core math is so confusing.

[dkel]

@Geoff 100716 wrote:

Somewhere in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series (a four or five part trilogy, IIRC) we learned that the secret to flying is to throw yourself at the ground, and miss.

Pretty sure that’s exactly what things in orbit are doing all the time.

[cyclingfool]

@dkel 100739 wrote:

Pretty sure that’s exactly what things in orbit are doing all the time.

Perpetual free fall FTW!

[Steve O]

Just looked at my 2014 miles for the first time in a few months, and I’m at 4535. That’s 465 from 5000. A little more than my usual average over the next 31 days or so, but….

Hains Point 100, here I come!

[Dirt]

2015 Goals
Make the DC area a little bit better place to ride a bike
and
Top $10,000 made for charity between my two charity rides. We made $8500 this year which was amazing!

Thanks so much for all of you that helped make 2014 so great!

Dirt

[Steve O]

@Steve O 100778 wrote:

(posted 11/25) Just looked at my 2014 miles for the first time in a few months, and I’m at 4535. That’s 465 from 5000. A little more than my usual average over the next 31 days or so, but….

Hains Point 100, here I come!

Now I’m at 4784, so I’ve knocked off 239. 216 to go, but I leave for Cancun on Dec. 27, and I don’t want to depend on finishing up there (might prefer relaxing on the beach with some drinks with umbrellas in them). Plus holiday busy-ness. Still a stretch goal, so feel free to send me encouragement.

[dkel]

@Steve O 101889 wrote:

Still a stretch goal, so feel free to send me encouragement.

Move those legs! My grandma can pedal harder than that! Quit being such a wimp!

(Nothing like a little CX-style heckling to get a cyclist going!)

[PotomacCyclist]

How impressive would it be if I said that I have ridden 10 miles total, over the past 3 months? (Quad muscle strains are awesome!)

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Steve O 101889 wrote:

Now I’m at 4784, so I’ve knocked off 239. 216 to go, but I leave for Cancun on Dec. 27, and I don’t want to depend on finishing up there (might prefer relaxing on the beach with some drinks with umbrellas in them). Plus holiday busy-ness. Still a stretch goal, so feel free to send me encouragement.

Well what are sitting around here for? Got off yer rear and bike.

[Dickie]

I am so close… 7320 towards my 7500 goal. If I stay out of the ER this week I should make it… fingers (working ones) crossed.

[creadinger]

@Steve O 101889 wrote:

…and I don’t want to depend on finishing up there (might prefer relaxing on the beach with some drinks with umbrellas in them).

At no time should a person in Washington DC, call Cancun “up there”. It is down. It is south of us, and in this northern hemisphere-centric world, south is down. Exception – If Cancun was at a high elevation, then “up there” might be acceptable. It is not though.

Best of luck trying to achieve your goal!!

I got my goal of 4000 miles last week. In 2015 I think I need to challenge myself more. I’m thinking 5,000 miles.

[bobco85]

@Steve O 101889 wrote:

Now I’m at 4784, so I’ve knocked off 239. 216 to go, but I leave for Cancun on Dec. 27, and I don’t want to depend on finishing up there (might prefer relaxing on the beach with some drinks with umbrellas in them). Plus holiday busy-ness. Still a stretch goal, so feel free to send me encouragement.

I’m in the same camp as you, albeit I’m (jealously) not going to some tropical resort before the end of the year. My goal is also 5000, and I’m about 150 shy of it.

Keep going, you’re almost there!

[bobco85]

@creadinger 101993 wrote:

At no time should a person in Washington DC, call Cancun “up there”. It is down. It is south of us, and in this northern hemisphere-centric world, south is down. Exception – If Cancun was at a high elevation, then “up there” might be acceptable. It is not though.

Best of luck trying to achieve your goal!!

I got my goal of 4000 miles last week. In 2015 I think I need to challenge myself more. I’m thinking 5,000 miles.

Ha! You’re a year behind me (my 2013 goal was 4000 miles, 2014 goal is 5000 miles), so my prediction is that in 2016 you’ll be looking to get more quality than quantity out of your bike mileage (i.e., more centuries and overnight trips) as you add running to your repertoire in training for your first biatholon (it’s a stretch, but I’m up for the challenge).

[creadinger]

@bobco85 101995 wrote:

Ha! You’re a year behind me (my 2013 goal was 4000 miles, 2014 goal is 5000 miles), so my prediction is that in 2016 you’ll be looking to get more quality than quantity out of your bike mileage (i.e., more centuries and overnight trips) as you add running to your repertoire in training for your first biatholon (it’s a stretch, but I’m up for the challenge).

Wow! Hey, thanks for the futuristic advice! Fortunately, in the first 6 months of 2015 I’ll be trying to complete the 2nd half of my R-12 from RUSA, so I’ll get my share of long training rides, 200Ks, and hopefully a 300K or two in as well. I have my eye on a 400K, but I’m not ready to commit quite yet. The 2nd half of 2015 I may be recovering from the long rides with shorter, more utilitarian rides. Who knows. This winter will be a big part of how my spring plays out.

Running? I doubt I’ll be trying to run more, but never say never!

[Author]

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