2008 review

Keuka Lake, century and a half ride, July2008 was my first full season of cycling. It was a great year.

I started serious riding in July 2007, and clocked 2,570 miles that year. I set my goals for 2008 at 5,000 miles and 250,000 feet of climbing, for an average climb of 50 ft/mile. I managed to beat my original mileage goal by over 50%, coming in at the end of 2008 with 7,648 miles. I passed my original climbing goal in September, and my final climbing total was 359,473 ft. For my average climb I came in under my goal, at 47 ft/mile, in part because I discovered the nice flat routes to the south of here...


Millard Hill Rd, October I also set a 2008 goal of a century a month. I ended up doing 17 century rides in 2008. I lucked out in January, with a 54 degree day ride, and suffered through February and March. The rest of the year I did at least one century a month, and in four months I did more than one: in May, August and September I did two centuries, and in July I did three.

My favorite century rides were the NY City ride in September, and my century and a half ride (which I'll blog about sometime soon) in July. I also had two almost-centuries -- the STBC "Crazy Eight" century in September, the other in Marin County, Calif. in November. Both ended early because of equipment failure: the STBC century because of a broken seat post, the Marin one because of a tire and wheel failure. My fastest 2008 century came in August, when I did a sub-6 hour 100 miles. My average on that 103 mile route (with 2,880 ft of climbing) was 16.89 mph.

2008 Mileage by month

Jan 305

Feb 307

Mar 292

Apr 310

May 716

Jun 748

Jul 1109

Aug 838

Sep 1162

Oct 905

Nov 551

Dec 404

St Lawrence River, from 1000 Islands Bridge,
September I explored lots of new roads, both at home and in other places. I biked a lot in the southern tier, discovering the joys of riding on flat roads. I did the Spencer-Waverly-Owego route a number of times, also the route between Richford and Owego, and I really liked the very flat route from Bath to Spencer on my century and a half ride. I also rode some great hills, including the beautifully hilly ride from Watkins Glen to Hammondsport, the back hills of Newfield, and the hills south of Ithaca.

I also managed to do a few rides outside of the region: in eastern Ontario; along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario and around Kingston; in the Niagara Frontier; and, one of my all-time favorite rides, in Marin County, California.


Fall Creek, Rt 222 at Lafayette, MarchI got 'bent this year, starting with my buddy Tommie's LWB Rans Tailwind, then moving up to his SWB Giro Bacchetta 20. I ended up doing 967 miles on the Tailwind, and 588 on the Giro, for a total of 1,555 'bent miles, about 20% of my total miles. I have no plans to go totally over to "the dark side," but will try to remain a bi-cyclist. I find that riding the 'bent helped me be stronger on my road bike, and since it uses different sets of muscles it can't hurt.

I did 92 commute rides in 2008, mostly on my Univega Activa Country hybrid, for a total of 487 miles of commuter biking. I climbed a total of 51,274 feet on my commutes, for an average commuting climb of about 105 feet/mile. If I only counted the uphill portion of the commute, that would come to an average to-work commute climb of 210 feet/mile.


Along Rt 34 between Ithaca & Spencer, MayI spent the equivalent of more than 22 solid days on my bikes in 2008 (536 hours 57 minutes 58 seconds). My average speed for all rides was 14.45mph. For training rides on my Felt road bike (minus commutes, errands and leisure rides), my average speed was 15.18 mph, with an average climb of 43.86 ft/mile. This was a nice jump from my 2007 Felt average of 14.30. My best averages on my Felt came in August and September: on non-commute and non-leisure rides, I was clocking between 16 and 17 mph averages. My fastest ride was in late September, with 17.74 mph over 23 miles with 1100 feet of climbing (my 'Conlon Rd loop'). As noted above, my fastest century ride, in late August, was 16.89 mph. I'm hoping to up those numbers over the next year.


Winter ride: February century, Rt 366Since I only started road cycling in July 2007, I learned a lot in this, my first full season. I bought some actual cycling clothes, including lycra biking shorts. On my last ride of the year I also wore my Lake Winter Cycling boots, conquering what had been one of the biggest challenges for my winter cycling: cold feet. I learned about cadence, and got a cyclometer that measures cadence, which has really helped me be more efficient cyclist. I dropped 30 pounds from my June 2007 weight (though I've put of few of them back on over the past couple of weeks), and finally got my HDL (good) cholesterol up into a nice healthy zone.


My Felt Z80 road bike, at Hickories
Park, Owego, SeptemberI joined Bike Journal in December 2007, which really helped me exceed my goals. I ended up ranked 255th for outdoor miles, and number 5 in New York State. I came in number 2 for the year among STBC members on Bike Journal, only 105 miles behind number one, karcod. I have to thank karcod not only for the rides we did together but also for inspiring me to pump out more mileage.

One of the best parts of my 2008 biking experience was hooking up with the Southern Tier Bike Club (STBC). My first group ride was their Watkins Glen event. That's when I joined STBC, and I ended up doing a number of their other events. I've met some great people, did some great rides with Karl, Reg, Denny, Doug, Jim, Mike and others, and am looking forward to doing a lot more rides with them in the next year.


On the Rans Tailwind, outside of GananoqueI also had a great time with the RARE (Rochester Area Recumbent Enthusiasts) crew, who in 2007 had provided me with my first experience of group rides. They're a great bunch of guys and I love riding with them. This year I actually did their annual Kingston ride on a 'bent. I'm looking forward to more 'bent rides with Michael, Dave, Cliff, Mark, Denny, Frank and the rest of the 'bent guys in the new year. And of course thanks especially to my 'bent buddy Tommie, who started me on this obsession in July 2007 by dragging me out on bike rides at 6 in the morning, and who's lent me his recumbents in a semi-successful attempt to lure me over to the dark side.

And of course the beauty of riding in the Finger Lakes was one of the high points and motivating factors this past year as well. Especially now, with the roads covered with snow, I look back nostalgically at those long warm days of summer, when I could just jump on my bike and ride the hills and valleys, enjoying the lakes and countryside of the region.


One of my favorite stretches:
Forest Home Drive, in AugustSo my goals for the coming year are modest. I want to set goals that are do-able, and my totals depend on weather, work and health, none of which are certain at this point. So I'm setting them, in metric terms, at 10,000 km and 100,000 meters, or in other words, 6,500 miles and 330,000 feet. I'll also set a challenge goal for myself (thanks to brucew for the concept) of 8,000 miles for the year.

I'm also going to try to do 18 centuries this coming year, and hope that I don't have equipment failure. I'd love to do another northern California ride, but may not make it out there. But I'd like to do at least one new century ride this year, maybe the Highlander if my schedule works for that, or the ride in the Adirondacks. I may also do a multi-day tour from home down to the Virginia Beach area in early summer.

Apart from those tangible goals, my more important goals for cycling are to stay healthy, to hang out with cycling buddies and meet new ones, to enjoy the beauty going by as I ride through the Finger Lakes or anywhere else I happen to be.