Today I passed over 2,000 miles on my bike for this year which means I still have 3,000 miles to ride before December 31. When I set my goal of riding over 5,000 for this year I had no idea what the weather had in store for me. January was not too bad (by Chicago standards), but in February we had the worst blizzard in over 30 years. In April we experienced one of our wettest months in history, and May has gotten off to a very wet and windy start.
Not only did I set a goal of over 5,000 miles for the year, but I also set goals for every month. If it were not for my monthly goals I think I might have skipped riding on some of the worst days. When the temperature is barely above zero or the wind is blowing at over 30 MPH it is very tempting to tell yourself, “I’ll skip riding today and make it up later.” However, big goals are only reached by passing a lot of smaller goals along the way. At the moment I am about 300 miles ahead of where I had planned to be by now, but it never hurts to build up a cushion in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Last year got off to a slow start because I had surgery in January which put me out of commission for six weeks, then in April and May I spent three weeks photographing ancient ruins in Turkey and Greece. During the past twelve months I’ve been able to ride over 5,900 miles.
Today I rode out to Fox River Park in Silver Lake, Wisconsin where I met a woman at the park who was kind enough to use my iPhone to take a snapshot of me today.
Fair Weather Cyclist
May 18, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Looks like blue skies and sunshine to me. What’s with all the belly-achin’ over inclement weather?
AllSeasonsCyclist
May 18, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Yes, the Chicago area is well-known for perfect 72 degree days all year long — and the winds never get above 3 MPH.