2019 Miles and Cycling Goals

[FlashUNC]

I'm less concerned about mileage and more concerned about experiences and enjoyment on the bike.

So 2019 I got to experience the Forest of Arenberg in the Spring and descend Latigo down in Malibu in the Fall. With a lot of great rides in between.

Not a bad year all things considered.

[jojobos]

Mileage? Always not enough

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm less concerned about mileage and more concerned about experiences and enjoyment on the bike.

So 2019 I got to experience the Forest of Arenberg in the Spring and descend Latigo down in Malibu in the Fall. With a lot of great rides in between.

Not a bad year all things considered.

Well put. Can't quantify the views you experienced, the conversations with friends over a bike ride (or over beers afterward) or the memories you've made.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm less concerned about mileage and more concerned about experiences and enjoyment on the bike.

So 2019 I got to experience the Forest of Arenberg in the Spring and descend Latigo down in Malibu in the Fall. With a lot of great rides in between.

Not a bad year all things considered.

the catch-22 here is that, to fully enjoy many of these cycling experiences you need to have the base miles and fitness.

it may be nice to say, i dont care about miles, but want to go enjoy participating in a Spring Classic in Europe, but you sure will enjoy that experience more if you can comfortably finish!

in reality, this is the exact concept that motivates me. i have some really great cycling related travel planned for this year, and it relies on me bringing my legs to the party. that's what gets me through the boring miles

[Gphin]

I totally agree with Angry, Signing up for some Big rides is always a motivator for me to put in the mileage. So far I have the Hell of Hunterdon and the Farmers Daughter on my list of rides. Always wanted to try the D2r2 as well. I hope to crush my total of 5,250 miles from last year!! Cheers all..

[redir]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Somewhere in the 8000-10000km range all outdoors since I do not ride a trainer and ride from April-October with some incursions into March and November.

Now that Zwift and the likes are popular I have riding friends that do more miles indoors than outdoors. I would be more curious how many outdoor miles people ride than a combined total. Seems like people are willing to forgo an outdoor ride if the conditions are less than perfect and instead Zwift away...

The days of growing a winter beard and and getting a face full of icicles are over for me. So Zwift it is I can tolerate about 1 hour on Zwift which for me is amazing. And that's on the rollers. I still don't think I could tolerate indoor riding of any kind even on the smartest trainer.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by prototoast

I think we all know someone who averages 15 mph on the road, but then logs 25 miles for an hour on the trainer. This is less of an issue with smart trainers and apps like Zwift that convert power numbers to distance (though people still cheat and lie about their weight), but anyone using an old-fashioned odometer on a trainer is not accumulating miles in a way that's comparable to riding outside.

Totally agree! One reason I like Rouvy better than Zwift is I feel like it’s a better representation of riding outdoors. Zwift felt similar but maybe just a little easier than outside (I could avg 0.5-1 mph faster than I might be able to do on a comparable outdoor ride). On Rouvy, I feel like it’s almost harder on the smart trainer than outside.


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[pdonk]

I did about 2800km outside and 400km at the track. Goal was 3000 outside but losing 3 weeks to a pulled tooth and complications killed that goal.

The new bike motivated me to ride more.

Did not break 100km on any ride this year even though I rode more than any year in past 15.

As for 2020. Doubt I'll better last year due to changes at work and family stuff.

[alexihnen]

Managed 4,386mi this year. Probably 95% on Zwift, so discount as necessary. But I also was able to ride outside on some Saturdays for the first time in a couple years. It was a good year.

[ghammer]

Wanted to do more than past years, so i got 8,000km (5,000mi). Strava has a bit less than 8K but i did many indoor rides that were not tallied. Could have done 9,000km, but lower back issues plus home life dictated otherwise. Finished the year strong, though. Things worked in my favor and i plan on continuing the trend.

For 2020 I need to fix my lower back (am taking care of it) and do more than 8,000km, I'd like 10,000km by including a few centuries and races. Let's see. But I have to be smart and make sure i'm functionally healthy before tackling big kms.

Happy new year everyone!

[cgolvin]

Just over 6500 miles, down from last year, more disappointed at not eclipsing 500k' of elevation like last year. Still a good year, finally did Eroica with my brother (and mhespenheide), but no other organized rides.

I don't set specific annual goals, but I'd like to look back on 2020 with a greater elevation per miles ratio.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

I’m curious about your “semantic beef?” Tell me more.

It's simple: "Miles" is a measure of distance.

It is not a measure of work, hours, nor of the total number of crank revolutions, etc.

If these yearend threads were titled "2019 Hours On The Bike" or "2019 Work On The Bike" or "2019 # Of Crank Turns" yadda-yadda then time spent on the trainer would certainly qualify.

But they're not, they're always called "2019 miles" and I'm sorry but your trainer did not cover any distance in 2019, it sat in one spot in your basement no matter how many hours you spent on it and how many times the crank spun around.

[bowenarrow]

3750 miles between outdoor and trainer/Zwift. Really want to hit 4K this year with more outdoor riding.


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[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

It's simple: "Miles" is a measure of distance.

It is not a measure of work, hours, nor of the total number of crank revolutions, etc.

If these yearend threads were titled "2019 Hours On The Bike" or "2019 Work On The Bike" or "2019 # Of Crank Turns" yadda-yadda then time spent on the trainer would certainly qualify.

But they're not, they're always called "2019 miles" and I'm sorry but your trainer did not cover any distance in 2019, it sat in one spot in your basement no matter how many hours you spent on it and how many times the crank spun around.

It's not the crank, it's the wheel(s) turning. If you go 1 mile in a straight line, you've ridden a mile. If you go around a 500 meter track for a mile, you've ridden a mile. If you go around a 50 meter track for a mile, you've ridden a mile. A trainer is like riding around on an infinitely small track.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by prototoast

It's not the crank, it's the wheel(s) turning. If you go 1 mile in a straight line, you've ridden a mile. If you go around a 500 meter track for a mile, you've ridden a mile. If you go around a 50 meter track for a mile, you've ridden a mile. A trainer is like riding around on an infinitely small track.

Except that when you go around a 50 meter track for a mile -- or even for a meter -- you've physically moved some distance. You started at Point A, and then (regardless of how quickly you got there and however briefly you stayed there before returning) your body was at Point B, another discrete physical location in space.

When you ride on the "infinitely small track" of the trainer that doesn't happen. Neither the cyclist nor the cycle move any distance. Trainers are stationary.