Closing in on a Goal: Right Now I Hate Goals

Sometimes goals have been very helpful for me.  Witness this post from the end of 2010, the first real year of cycling for me.  Lately it hasn’t been as much fun.

My goal for October is to exceed 1,000 miles on the month.  I’ve had 30 day periods when I’ve exceeded 1,000 miles, but never in a calendar month.  With plenty of base miles already in October, this seemed like the month to achieve this milestone.

That meant that the last week of the month I needed to log about 200 miles.  That was going to be relatively simple.  I would ride 100 miles on Friday (25th) and just a little longer than usual on each of the remaining days between October 28-31.

The 100 miler on Friday wasn’t much fun.  It was chilly.  It was windy.  I was bored.  I was breaking in a new saddle.  To top it all off, my saddle slid back without me realizing it and my efficiency on the bike went downhill.  I didn’t understand why those 100 miles were such an effort!  An inch or two on the saddle position makes a huge difference.  Sixty of those miles were solo miles.

On Monday of this week, I could have stayed on the bike all day … but instead rode just 35 miles.  That’s about 10 miles longer than usual, and it felt good. This morning was a fast morning and I got in the minimum number of miles required to stay on track.  It was quite a bit of work.

Two more days of this.  I’m closing in on the goal.  I will make it.  It has become work and has stolen some of the fun out of riding.  I’ll be glad when that one is accomplished.

Malaria Campaign: 3,124.4 miles
Funds Pledged: $1,725.06
Contributed in support: $4,150.10

Total = $5,875.16