Ten Miles a Day

[Mick F]

My mileage has dropped off over the last few years, not counting long tours at 70/80miles per day. I've been lacking the get-up-and-go for riding regularly enough.

It occurred to me recently, that if I set myself a modest target of averaging 10miles per day for the whole year and keeping a tally of credits and debits, it may give me the impetus I need. I constructed a spread sheet:

January (being 31days long) should have seen me doing 310miles. Today - Monday 28th - sees me 45.28miles short. Not riding today, so I've gotta pull my finger out! Mind you, I have 11months left to catch up.

I don't have the luxury of commuting by bike any more, so I do need a kick up the bum to get out and ride.

What ways do other folk employ to give them the "kick" to get out and ride?

[Mark1978]

I don't have many cycling friends near me to actually go out and ride with but I do know people online. We have challenges on Endomondo to see who can cycle the furthest over the full year and over each individual month. It can get interesting at the end of the month!

This month isn't so much cycling but walking, which I've been leading for most of the month, until last weekend my friend in Leeds did an 8 mile walk to get ahead of me in the standings, leaving a 5 mile deficit for me to make up before the end of the week, so I know what I'm doing at lunch time!

[[XAP]Bob]

I just commute.
Other transport related activities also exist, but commuting is almost all of my mileage.

[Mick F]

Mine was.
It was really the only reason to ride my bike.

I was looking at my old diaries this morning. The last time I cycled to work was 14th Dec 1995. Prior to that, I was doing 17miles each way two or three times a week - sometime five times.

Bike was put away that Christmas, then I left the RN, then we moved house, and Bike was put in the loft. Although it didn't stay in the loft more than a couple of years, I only rode it two or three times until guilt got to me. By that time, it was the summer of 2004 and I took up Leisure Cycling.

[Big T]

I've been keeping a spreadsheet since 1998. it's interesting to compare your mileage year by year. I cycled a lot on the early 00's but my mileage dropped off towards the middle of the decade, mainly due to taxiing my son around at the weekend. In 2008, he learned to drive, which freed me up and i'm now doing 3 times as much riding as before, close to 7000 miles last year.

I've also joined http://www.mycyclinglog.com and there's a facility to join groups, which then produces a league table for the group. I'm part of the YACF group and I find it very motivating trying to maintain or improve my league position. There are some serious mileaters on there. Last year, the league "winner" did around 16,000 miles. I think i ended up 16th out of over 100 in the group. Perhaps we could start a CTC forum group? (you can be a member of more than one group).

[rjb]

I went through a similar spell a few years ago. I got myself back on track by setting myself stimulating targets such as you have done in the past. ie visiting "Shops", railway viaducts, unusual place names. Sometimes a bit of internet research turned up local places of interest i had not noticed previously - unusual churchs with odd markings springs to mind. This led me to revisit old haunts so that old roads turned up new interests. After a couple of months i was back on track again.

[Ayesha]

My mileage has dropped off over the last few years, not counting long tours at 70/80miles per day. I've been lacking the get-up-and-go for riding regularly enough.

It occurred to me recently, that if I set myself a modest target of averaging 10miles per day for the whole year and keeping a tally of credits and debits, it may give me the impetus I need. I constructed a spread sheet:

Screen shot 2013-01-28 at 10.08.26.png

January (being 31days long) should have seen me doing 310miles. Today - Monday 28th - sees me 45.28miles short. Not riding today, so I've gotta pull my finger out! Mind you, I have 11months left to catch up.

I don't have the luxury of commuting by bike any more, so I do need a kick up the bum to get out and ride.

What ways do other folk employ to give them the "kick" to get out and ride?

Build the spreadsheet for the whole year with mileage for Jan 1st in D4.
Enter miles ridden each day. If 0, enter 0.
Sum the entries in a cell at the top. eg in D1. =SUM(D4:D372)
Count the entries in D2. =COUNT(D4:D372)
In D3, write a formula =D1/D2
This will display miles per day so far.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I only have to read Mic F's post's and if they dont tickle me of my seat
I would just try and out do him
If only I could bottle him but alas how to get his head in the bottle

Spead sheet since 2000, if I study this its normally gee's me up, new year's I will better myself over last year.

202 miles in 2013, I'm well off

Keep it up Mic F,

[tatanab]

January (being 31days long) should have seen me doing 310miles. Today - Monday 28th - sees me 45.28miles short. What ways do other folk employ to give them the "kick" to get out and ride?

Your milage is up on mine. I will not top 200 miles for the month primarily due to the weather and partly apathy.

Like you I no longer commute anywhere, but when I did my annual milage was even lower because I worked so many hours. I have never been one to "go for a ride" just for the sake of it, always needing a target or reason. These days my targets might be going to the cafe/pub to meet cycling clubs, or going to the local farm shop (minimum 19 mile round trip). The only time I had any motivation to go out just for the sake of it was about 4 years ago when I had planned a longish (1500 mile) fairly hilly camping tour for June so needed to get some regular riding in my legs. Last year the weather affected me and I only had a short tour so rode only a bit over 4000 miles.

My advice, like others here, would be to find a purpose or target to a ride. Let me know when you find the magic formula

[Ayesha]

256 so far in 2013. Inc 10 days of zeros due to snow.
9.143 per day.
12.776 last year.

There will be some out there who will have commuted to work 20 miles per day and done three 200 k randos already.

[eileithyia]

256 so far in 2013. Inc 10 days of zeros due to snow.
9.143 per day.
12.776 last year.

There will be some out there who will have commuted to work 20 miles per day and done three 200 k randos already.

Well 35 mile commutes but no randonnees....

I do similar to Mick either on my calendar or by spreadsheet with a + or - esp when I am pushing for a daily average to complete a specific mileage for the month or year...

[Brucey]

My advice, like others here, would be to find a purpose or target to a ride. Let me know when you find the magic formula

I have, in the last year, only been food shopping two or three times by car. The result is that I have a reason for going out and getting a few miles in, on my (heavy!) utility bike, every day or two, and my food is fresher.

Between this an other utility riding, I reckon I easily do five or ten miles a day on my sit-up and beg bike. These miles are probably worth about half as much again as miles on a lightweight!

In addition I get out for a longer ride two or three times a week. More in the summer, obviously.

I don't normally keep track but in the last few days;
25 miles
~5 miles
~5 miles
~15 miles
~30 miles (25 so far but another 5 by the end of today).
and so on...

cheers

[tonythompson]

Start an argument with your husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/sig other/ in fact if you can upset anyone you live with who will then go on and on and on. That will surely give the impetus to get out of the house and onto your bike.

I personally haven't tried it so please let me know if it works and that the doors arn't locked and barred by the time you return.

What I do it have a projected ride/activety planned and booked for later in the year meaning that I have to get myself fit.

But it does seem harder the older I get,

[jezer]

I certainly find it difficult to get motivated at this time of year. Fortunately, my lady friend is a fitness fanatic and she visits the gym nearly every day of the year, as well as cycling or walking regularly. She kicks my a** to get out, but tbh we have done more walking than cycling so far this year. We reward ourselves with a cafe lunch at the end. Both being retired, we really have no excuse

[Tigger]

My advice, like others here, would be to find a purpose or target to a ride. Let me know when you find the magic formula

Agree that some purpose/ target is a must but interesting how we are all motivated differently! A 'virtual competition' based on total distance wouldn't work for me.

I'm chuffed cos I've ridden 115 miles this year - that's 115 more than same time last year Or probably any January since about 20 years ago! Here's how it has worked for me...

Don't want to lose all my fitness from last year because of my tour in May
==> find group(s)/ individuals to cycle with. Tick!

Don't want to be the one holding up the group, and can't make all rides due to shifts, so...
==> go on short-ish rides cos tend to get miserable after an hour. Tick!
AND/ OR
==> longer rides with tea stop and CAKE (don't normally do this on my own). Big tick!

I can't actually say the rides have been enjoyable but this is mainly due to my wonky temperature control, which I may never overcome. But I'll accept tolerable - no pain/ no gain!