December 2013 and Annual Mileage Totals

That's it, my 2013 mileage came to an end today with a ride this morning, back to work tomorrow, so time to compile the annual statistics.


2013 has been a good year, I'd set a target of around 4,000 miles for the year, given that all my riding is done at weekends and the Garmin is reporting 4,092 miles, so it went to the wire or I'm very good at forecasting (perhaps some crossover from the day job).  

The mileage across the year has been spread below: -

Q1 - 911 miles/1,457km
Q2 - 1,429 miles/2,286km
Q3 - 1,063 miles/1,700km
Q4  - 689 miles/1,102km

Lower miles in Q4 were linked to a number of personal and professional commitments which meant quite a few missing weekends for rides.  Higher mileage in Q2 is attributed to the London to Paris ride of around 300 miles (480km).

Taking the annual mileage as an average across the number of rides completed (105), it means an average of around 39 miles (62km), which generally speaking is about where I'm at during the weekends.

Comparing to last year, my annual mileage was +32% up (2012 - 3,082), average speed was up 10% (2012 - 14.7mph), ascent was +80% up (2012 - 82,963), RAR was up +23% (2012 - 26.8).

So, this basically means I've ridden 10% faster, with route profiles being on average 23% harder, which I'm pretty happy with.  Fastest recorded long distance ride over the year was the Manchester 100 sportive over a distance of 100 miles (160km) which finished with an average speed of 18.6mph (29.8km/h).  I think that was my best ride of the year as I rode the event alone.

Most importantly, I've been in the saddle for 250 hours of quality thinking time.  You may not know this but when you are cycling your brain frequency steps into a state called 'alpha' thinking.  When you are in the grind of life with lights flashing, buzzers going, e-mails dinging and constant things demanding your attention, you only use around 15% of your brains frequency for thinking.  Jump on a bike and it leaps to around 60%.

So, not only does riding a bike make you fitter, allow you to ride great roads, visit new places and meet new people, it also the place to de-stress, creatively think and come up with your next big idea.  

I hope that 2013 has been a good year for you on the bike and you have achieved your goals.  We're all different in what we want to achieve as cyclists, primarily dictated by the time we can devote and what we do it for.  For me, it remains to stay physically fit, having dedicated thinking time and a passion for something away from the workplace.

2014 is now knocking, so for all readers, I wish you an amazing 2014, safe miles and a great tailwind.  Happy New Year!

Month  to Date

Mileage-  262 miles
Ride Time - 16hrs 32mins
Climbing - 8,606ft
Avg. Speed - 15.9mph
Avg. HR - 151bpm
Calories (estimate) -11,798
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 32.8 (Flat)

Year to Date

Mileage- 4,092 miles/6,547km
Ride Time - 250hrs 12mins
Climbing - 149,999ft
Avg. Speed - 16.3 mph/26km/h
Avg. HR - 146bpm
Calories (estimate) -147,346
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 33.1 (Flat/Undulating)

November 2013 Mileage

Coming into November after a low mileage October was tough.  The first couple of rides were just painful as my fitness had faded and it was just a question of getting through it.   Average speed was 16.0mph (25.6km/h), which tells the story in numbers, my slowest month vs. the previous four months in the saddle.  I'm not claiming to even be doing base miles as my average heart rate of 150bpm shows the effort it took to get there.

Year to date mileage is now 3,830 miles which puts me firmly in sight of getting to the annual target of 4,000 miles that I had in my head at the beginning of the year.  
I got out today for a 45 miler which means I should nail the annual target in the next three rides before the New Year.  I'll be pleased with that given the significant business and personal commitments that 2013 has presented.


Summary for November is improvement in the miles vs. October, average speed dropped due to a fitness fade.  My ride today I came back at 17.8mph, so feeling confident I've turned a corner again and back on the up, new bike has helped!

Month  to Date

Mileage- 281 miles
Ride Time - 17hrs 33mins
Climbing - 11,144ft
Avg. Speed - 16.0mph
Avg. HR - 150bpm
Calories (estimate) -7,565
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 39.7 (Medium/Undulating)

Year to Date

Mileage- 3,830 miles
Ride Time - 233hrs 39mins
Climbing - 141,393ft
Avg. Speed - 16.4 mph
Avg. HR - 146bpm
Calories (estimate) -135,598
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 33.1 (Flat/Undulating)

October 2013 Mileage

October was a bit of a write-off, primarily due to having limited ride time during the weekends of the month with personal commitments. Average speed was 17.8mph (28.5km/h), which is a marginal improvement on the previous month and thankfully not too much of a drop off in fitness. It was actually the lowest mileage month I've recorded all year.

Year to date mileage is now 3,548 miles which puts me ahead of where I thought I'd be at this point in the year, annual target remaining at 4,000 miles.  I'm planning to get as many miles as possible in between now and the year end.  Heart rate was up for the month, primarily due to the windy conditions and having to put a bit more effort in to keep the average speed up.


Summary for October is, lower expected miles vs. plan and average speed still in good shape.

Month  to Date

Mileage- 145 miles
Ride Time - 8hrs 10mins
Climbing - 4,681ft
Avg. Speed - 17.8mph
Avg. HR - 154bpm
Calories (estimate) -6,788
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -32.3 (Flat)

Year to Date

Mileage- 3,548 miles
Ride Time - 216hrs 06mins
Climbing - 129,992ft
Avg. Speed - 16.4 mph
Avg. HR - 146bpm
Calories (estimate) -127,983
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 35.8 (Flat/Undulating)

August 2013 Mileage

A slightly better month mileage wise than I'd planned.  August saw us take our annual holiday, so two weekends off the bike.  In my head, thought I'd only manage a couple of hundred miles (two weekends), but managed to squeeze a long ride in the day after we arrived home which boosted the overall total up to 360 miles.

Average speed was - 17.6mph (28km/h), which is a dip on the previous month.  Two reasons, putting the weight back on that I'd lost coupled with a slightly higher ascent ratio per mile vs. the previous month.  So, nothing to worry too much to worry about.  Back to the diet!

Year to date mileage is now 3,022 miles which puts me ahead of where I thought I'd be at this point in the year, annual target being 4,000 miles.  Tomorrow I'll be cycling the Manchester 100 sportive, so that should give me a good start to September.


Ride ascent ratio (pink line) increased slightly, miles were relatively flat compared to the blocks that I put in during May and June.  Two reasons for that, firstly with a couple of weeks off the bike your fitness can quickly deteriorate so I didn't want to go too hard.  Secondly, I've been having a little discomfort with my hamstrings feeling tight post-ride, so I've been taking things a little easier whilst I get checked out.  Heart rate average for the month was 149bpm vs. my maximum of 186bpm (80% of max).  

Ride Ascent Ratio- www.race-pace.net (@roadphil)

Looking back to the start of the year, you can see the relationship between the amount of miles you do, the intensity of those miles and your average speed by looking at these two charts.  Starting steadily, building the base mileage, then dialling up the intensity of the miles has worked for me according to this data.  It all starts with the base fitness, long rides at lower intensities to give you engine to start tuning up when ready.

Summary for August is, higher expected miles vs. plan, clicking over 3,000 miles for the year and average speed still in good shape.

Month  to Date

Mileage- 360 miles
Ride Time - 20hrs 23mins
Climbing - 12,216ft
Avg. Speed - 17.6mph
Avg. HR - 149bpm
Calories (estimate) -10,529
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -34 (Flat)

Year to Date

Mileage- 3,027 miles
Ride Time - 186hrs 29mins
Climbing - 112,688ft
Avg. Speed - 16.2 mph
Avg. HR - 145bpm
Calories (estimate) -108,065
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 37.7 (Flat/Undulating)

July 2013 Mileage

My fastest ever month in terms of average speed, 18.5mph (29.6km/h), a few things have contributed to this: -

a) Flatter route profiles.
b) Riding with some faster riders.
c) Weight loss.

I had a few rides with other people during the month, which inevitably meant route profiles were flatter as you want to talk plus the capability of the people you ride with is different.  I'll begin to build back in the hillier routes on a Saturday as I feel part of my increased speed on the bike has also been about riding tougher miles during training.

I spoke in a recent blog about riding with faster riders and putting that into action went out with a fast group a couple of weeks back, returning home with an average speed of 19mph (30.4 km/h) over a 60 mile (96km) route.  A strong, well drilled group meant that speeds go up but not in relation to effort as you can get a good drag along behind other riders, so I'll be doing more of that.

Since the record June miles and with some pro-activity, I've managed to knock a couple of kg's off and I can feel an immediate difference in ride speed.  It's given me a real incentive to stay on the right track and get a few more kg's off although August is holiday month, so it could be back to zero! 

I pulled this chart together which shows average speed (blue line) vs. the intensity of the miles covered (pink line).   The spike in June really contributing to July's speed improvement (harder miles), it's easy to see why professionals go off to training camps to really kick start their engines.  You can also see how your speed can go up by dropping the intensity (July).  The lesson here is that average speed is - amongst many things - relative to your route profile.

Year to date mileage is now 2,667 miles which is slightly ahead of where I'd planned to be for the mid-year point.

Ride ascent ratio (pink line) dropped for the month due to those flatter miles.  Another way to measure effort is to look at your heart rate and my average for the month was 149bpm vs. my maximum of 186bpm (80% of max), showing that it's been an intensive effort to hit this months average speed.

Summary for July is, expected miles vs. plan, mostly flatter miles and a big increase in average speed.

2013 Mileage and Ascent Ratio - www.race-pace.net/@roadphil

Month  to Date

Mileage- 327 miles
Ride Time - 17hrs 42mins
Climbing - 10,058ft
Avg. Speed - 18.5mph
Avg. HR - 149bpm
Calories (estimate) -10,138
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -31 (Flat)

Year to Date

Mileage- 2,667 miles
Ride Time - 166hrs 05mins
Climbing - 100,473ft
Avg. Speed - 16.0 mph
Avg. HR - 145bpm
Calories (estimate) - 97,536
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 37.7 (Flat/Undulating)

July 2013 Individual Ride Data

Ride 1
Distance - 56 miles/90km
Avg. Speed - 18.1mph/29km/h (lone ride).
Ascent - 1,820ft
Avg. HR - 154bpm
Conditions - Dry, Warm, Sunny!
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 32.5 (Flat)

Ride 2
Distance - 50 miles/80km
Avg. Speed - 17.7mph/28km/h (out with friends).
Ascent - 1,476ft
Avg. HR - 148bpm
Conditions - Dry, Warm, Sunny! 5mph wind
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 29.5 (Flat)


Ride 3
Distance - 70 miles/112km
Avg. Speed - 17.8mph/28.5km/h
Ascent - 2,101ft
Avg. HR - 153bpm
Conditions - Dry, Warm, Sunny! 5mph wind
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 33.3 (Flat)


Ride 4
Distance - 71 miles/113km
Avg. Speed - 19mph/30.4km/h (out with a fast group).
Ascent - 1,306ft
Avg. HR - 147bpm
Conditions - Dry, Warm, Sunny! 10mph wind
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 29.5 (Flat)

June 2013 Mileage

A record month for personal mileage since I started cycling back in August 2009 - 625 miles.  This month saw me complete the London to Paris ride of 300 miles, so combined with the other rides, that's been the key reason for the boost.

Pretty much all my training has been geared towards participating in this event, hitting the start line with the right level of fitness.  Thinking back to how tough January was, getting on the bike and getting to the end of the month with a ride average of 14.6mph, things looked pretty bleak and it has taken some structure to get to this point.  It was re-build time.

Today, I returned from a 40 mile loop and hit my highest average speed for a ride of 18.6mph, despite some very windy conditions.  A clear leading indicator that a good month of intensive miles just gives you a great base to build on.  So where from here?  I reflected after London to Paris on three things: -

1.  Spend more time with some stronger riders.  Now I have a base fitness, it would be good to try and build on that with some faster rides with stronger riders.
2.  Lose some weight and work on conditioning (core + strength).
3.  Do some pilates to assist with (2) and general flexibility.

Year to date is now 2,340 miles which is slightly ahead of where I'd planned to be for the mid-year point.  I'll have to book a couple of sportives in the diary to give some further incentive for training to keep goal focused.  My current goal is around 4,000 miles for the year.

Ride ascent ratio (pink line) increased to the highest level for the year so far, which means the miles have had more ascent per mile than at any other time this year.  This is what I'd been building up to since around April, ensuring that my rides continued to offer a good balance of harder rides on a Saturday with a flatter recovery ride on a Sunday.

Summary for June is, good miles, harder miles, heart rate stable and a great base for me to build on from here.

2013 Mileage Log vs. Ride Ascent Ratio

Month  to Date

Mileage- 625 miles
Ride Time - 39hrs 37mins
Climbing - 30,368ft
Avg. Speed - 15.8 mph
Avg. HR - 142bpm
Calories (estimate) -21,537
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 49 (Medium/Undulating)

Year to Date

Mileage- 2,340 miles
Ride Time - 148hrs 23mins
Climbing - 90,415ft
Avg. Speed - 15.7 mph
Avg. HR - 144bpm
Calories (estimate) -87,398
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 39 (Flat/Undulating)

May 2013 Mileage

May was my second ever highest month for mileage, so a good result.  

The bank holiday weekend helped, delivering another free riding day and I was one short ride away from clicking over 500 miles for the month (800km), however the nominated day for that was consumed by a higher priority.  Individual ride data you can see here.

Year to date is now 1,715 miles which is back on track with the original goals I'd set myself, despite carrying a 150 mile (240km) deficit from the poor January and February weather conditions.

Ride ascent ratio (pink line) dipped slightly for the month, which I'm not too concerned about as the figure is still verging on the hilly profile, which is what I'd planned (harder rides).  Strength wise I'm feeling good and May saw me break my average speed for a ride personal best twice.  Summary for May is, average speed is continuing to improve, mileage up and heart rate is stable.

Month  to Date
Mileage- 466 miles
Ride Time - 27hrs 59mins
Climbing - 17,887ft
Avg. Speed - 16.7 mph
Avg. HR - 147bpm

Calories (estimate) -17,282
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 38 (Flat/Undulating)

Year to Date
Mileage- 1,715miles
Ride Time - 108hrs 45mins
Climbing - 60,047ft
Avg. Speed - 15.7 mph
Avg. HR - 145bpm

Calories (estimate) - 65,861
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 36 (Flat/Undulating)

May 2013 Individual Ride Data

Ride 1
Distance 48 miles (77km)
Avg. Speed - 15.7mph (25km/h)
Ascent - 1,605
Avg. HR - 141bpm (Zone 3.1 - Aerobic Endurance).  
Conditions - 14mph SSW wind/30mph gusts
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 33 (Undulating)


Ride 2 
Distance 71 miles (114km)
Avg. Speed - 17.2mph (27.5km/h)
Ascent -2,411
Avg. HR - 150bpm (Zone 3.8 - Intensive).  
Conditions - 10mph wind/22mph gusts
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 34 (Undulating)


Ride 3
Distance 65 miles (104km)
Avg. Speed - 16.2mph (26km/h)
Ascent -2,143
Avg. HR - 148bpm (Zone 3.8 - Intensive).  
Conditions - 9mph wind/20mph gusts
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 33 (Undulating)

Ride 4
Distance 65 miles (104km)
Avg. Speed - 15.9mph (25km/h)
Ascent -3,558
Avg. HR - 147bpm (Zone 3.8 - Intensive).  
Conditions - 9mph wind/20mph gusts
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 55 (Undulating/Hilly)

Ride 5
Distance 57 miles (91km)
Avg. Speed - 17.9mph (28.6km/h) - new PB
Ascent - 1,932
Avg. HR - 143bpm (Zone 4.2 - Intensive).  
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 34 (Flat)

Ride 6
Distance 65 miles (104km)
Avg. Speed - 16.9mph (27km/h) 
Ascent - 2,569
Avg. HR - 146bpm (Zone 3.8 - Aerobic).  
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 39 (Undulating)


Ride 7
Distance 52 miles (83km)
Avg. Speed - 16.2mph (26km/h)
Ascent - 1,831
Avg. HR - 151bpm (Zone 4.2 - Intensive).  

Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 28 (Flat)

Ride 8
Distance 42 miles (67km)
Avg. Speed - 18.1mph (29km/h) - new PB
Ascent - 1,406
Avg. HR - 153bpm (Zone 4.4 - Intensive).  
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 33 (Flat)

April 2013 Mileage

April has been about increasing the amount of ascent per mile in my rides.  If you take a look at the pink line in the below which measures ascent per mile, you can see it has climbed to 44 for April (up 13%). 

Although my mileage was down a little on March, the amount of climbing I've done in relation to those miles has increased.  Having worked on base miles mostly for January and February, I'm now ensuring my Saturday ride has an ascent per mile of at least 40 or more, followed by a Sunday ride with a flatter profile.  

What's interesting to see is that I'm now maintaining my average ride speed over hillier profiles, which means the cardio base is doing it's job.  You can see the detail behind the individual rides here.

Comparing Ride Distance with Ascent

Conditions during April have been unpredictable as usual.  Strong winds have been a big feature on the back half of the month and this has made the going tough, with a higher heart rate needed to push through the gusts. It can be quite debilitating when you're out there on your own, heading home into a strong headwind, I think they call it character building!

If I take the last 30 days (which brings in another weekend), my consolidated distance is 428 miles (685km), it's been great to get a string of weekends together. My target for April was 320 miles, similar for May is the plan.

I missed my final opportunity to add another ride onto the April mileage today due to a late night.  Having got up late, feeling a little worse for wear, I looked out the window and could see the trees blowing in the wind.  Checking the met office, another day of 11mph headwind and 25mph gusts lay ahead.  Having battled through that yesterday, sensible choice today was to leave the bike today and re-group for next weekend.

Summary for April is, hillier profiles, average speed is continuing to improve and heart rate is stable.  All going the right way.

Month  to Date
Mileage- 338 miles
Ride Time - 20hrs 55mins
Climbing - 14,703ft
Avg. Speed - 15.7 mph
Avg. HR - 144bpm

Calories (estimate) -11,639
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -44 (Medium/Undulating)

Year to Date
Mileage- 1,249miles
Ride Time - 80hrs 46mins
Climbing - 42,160ft
Avg. Speed - 15.4 mph
Avg. HR - 144bpm

Calories (estimate) -48,579
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) - 33.8 (Easy/Flat)

April Individual Ride Data

I've had a few requests of late to show my individual ride data in addition to the monthly summary I publish.    I plan to do this each ride, updating as I go.  I hope new cyclists find this useful as a benchmark for a recreational road cyclist that rides around six hours per week.  Here's the first entry for April: -

Ride 1
Distance 63 miles (100km)
Avg. Speed - 15.9mph (25km/h)
Ascent - 2,271
Avg. HR - 148bpm (Zone 3.6 - Aerobic Endurance).
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 36 (Easy/Flat)

Ride 2
Distance 45 miles (72km)
Avg. Speed - 16.5mph (26.4km/h)
Ascent -1,571
Avg. HR - 135bpm (Zone 2.7 - Basic Endurance).
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 35 (Easy/Flat)

Ride 3
Distance 50 miles (80km)
Avg. Speed - 15.3mph (24.5km/h)
Ascent - 3,094
Avg. HR - 148bpm (Zone 3.6 - Aerobic Endurance).
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 62 (Medium/Undulating)

Ride 4
Distance 49 miles (78km)
Avg. Speed - 16.2mph (25.9km/h)
Ascent - 1,972
Avg. HR - 143bpm (Zone 3.2 - Aerobic Endurance).
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 40 (Medium/Undulating)

Ride 5
Distance 70 miles (112km)
Avg. Speed - 15.0mph (24km/h) - Had a new rider with me today, so slower than usual.
Ascent - 3,752
Avg. HR - 141bpm (Zone 3.1 - Aerobic Endurance).
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 54 (Medium/Undulating)

Ride 6
Distance 60 miles (96km)
Avg. Speed - 16.1mph (25.8km/h)
Ascent -2,451
Avg. HR - 150bpm (Zone 3.8 - Intensive). Very windy conditions, hence high HR!
Ride Intensity (Ascent/Distance) = 40 (Medium/Undulating)

March 2013 Mileage

Is your fitness yo-yoing? Mine certainly has been with this weather disruption, you just can't plan for being out at the minute. Snow was the biggest surprise, impacting a weekend and knocking 80-100 miles straight off the March plan.  

Thankfully it co-incided with a virus I caught, so it didn't feel like a complete waste.  I've put a good few days in with the long bank holiday weekend (150 miles) so it's helped catch up some of the deficit from the weather to get me closer to my monthly target of 420 miles. 

March felt like two steps forward with one back, so I was grateful for the additional days as the month drew to a close. Without the snow and virus, I'm confident I would have ended nearer 450 miles. Last year I managed 550, a good result in better conditions.

Reviewing my ride data from the last three months, my average speed is increasing, my heart rate to achieve that is reducing and I've upped the ascent profiles of the rides I've done (see the line in pink in the chart below).  Things are in the right direction of travel - up!

Ascent vs. Miles - March 2013

Today I'm resting.  Effective training is not about riding to exhaustion, it's about good training, rest and recovery.  If the weather improves in April, plan is to put in around 320 miles in the saddle but to spend more time in the gym again working on core conditioning and strength as I run up to London to Paris in June.

Month  to Date
Mileage- 366 miles
Ride Time - 23hrs 27mins
Climbing - 12,872ft
Avg. Speed - 15.6 mph
Avg. HR - 144bpm
Avg. Cadence 94rpm
Calories (estimate) -14,248
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -38.9 (Flat/Moderate)

Year to Date
Mileage- 911 miles
Ride Time - 59hrs 50mins
Climbing - 27,457ft
Avg. Speed - 15.2 mph
Avg. HR - 144bpm
Avg. Cadence 83rpm
Calories (estimate) -36,940
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -30.14 (Easy/Flat)

February 2013 mileage

Looking back over the past three years my combined January + February mileages have looked like this (2011 - 581 ), (2012 - 515 ), (2013 - 543).  So, Jan 2013 looks like business as usual.

Ascent wise it has been (2011 - 8.1k), (2012 - 12.3k), (2013 - 14.6k), so this Jan and Feb has been a little different from my usual profile.  The primary reason for that has been two hillier rides on the last two Sundays of February.

First was the Onix Twitter ride (post here) and last weekend it was the Polocini Winter Sprinter (post here).  Between the two rides, they represented 105 miles in distance and 5.5k of ascent.

2013 Mileage - @roadphil

Fitness wise, the slow base miles during Jan and first part of February paid a good dividend in re-starting my aerobic engine.  Despite more climbing (x2 vs. the month before), I managed to increase my average speed by around 5% to 15.3mph, which I'm really pleased with.  Let's just hope the weather carries on being clear so that I can build on that.

I'm aiming for 400 miles in March if possible, to get me up near the 1,000 mile mark for Q1 as a total.  I'll have some challenges doing that as my diary is pretty full, nevertheless I'll look to get out at every opportunity.  

Met loads of really nice people out on the bike last month, many of who are regular blog readers.  I really appreciated the feedback from them about the content and I'm always staggered by just how many people continue to stop by - including you.  

Blogging can be time consuming however it makes it all worth it when you hear someone has bought a product, implemented a tip or shared an article with a friend, so thank you.

Month  to Date
Mileage- 320 miles
Ride Time - 21hrs 02mins
Climbing - 10,015ft
Avg. Speed - 15.3 mph
Avg. HR - 147bpm
Avg. Cadence 73rpm
Calories (estimate) -13,289
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -31.5 (Moderate)

Year to Date
Mileage- 545 miles
Ride Time - 36hrs 22mins
Climbing - 14,586ft
Avg. Speed - 15.0 mph
Avg. HR - 145bpm
Avg. Cadence 73rpm
Calories (estimate) -22,692
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -26.9 (Flat/Moderate)

Jan 2013 Ride Stats

January was a month of two halves for me.  I blasted into the New Year determined to re-build my fitness.  By the end of the first week I'd completed three rides covering 143miles (230KM).  An encouraging start by my standards. 

Week two, saw two rides across the weekend, totalling 81 miles (130km), so things weren't looking too bad by this point.  I'd set myself the target of covering 300 miles for the month, two weeks in and I'd covered 234 miles (360km), could well be a 500 mile month if things carry on at this rate.

And they didn't.  The bad weather came and all my plans of a big January fitness re-build went to the wall.  My fitness is yo-yoing all over the place at the minute, it feels like one step forward and two back.  The weather was better today so I took the opportunity to get out for a few hours and it felt like my first ride in January, painful, slow and hard work.  The headwind didn't help.  Nevertheless, it was great to be back in the saddle and fingers crossed the conditions will improve.

This weekend, Jaguar are launching their new Sportbrake model and dealers across the country are doing cycling related things in their showrooms as they see road cyclists as a big target market for the car.  

One of the dealers, Royles in Wilmslow, have organised a ride out with former track supremo - Craig Maclean MBE - at 9am (details here).   I've registered to go along and do the ride, but judging by today's performance, I'll likely be in the support vehicle!  Still, nothing ventured.  Reckon I need to pull out my Onix RH Pro, rather than haul myself along on my winter hack.

Talking of which, Onix Bikes are hosting a ride out themselves later this month (details here).  I plan to go along to that too.  Track and road supremo - Rob Hayles - will be leading that one, so better get some miles in!

January Ride Stats

Month and Year to Date
Mileage- 143 miles
Ride Time - 16hrs 06mins
Climbing - 4,762ft
Avg. Speed - 14.6 mph
Avg. HR - 142bpm
Avg. Cadence ---rpm
Calories (estimate) -9,713
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -20.5 (Flat)

December and Year End Ride Stats

My first zero miles month since I started cycling over three years ago.

Christmas is always a low miles month for me so no big surprise, last year I only managed 119 miles, the year before that 32 miles.  Significant personal commitments plus the bad weather meant that the one or two times I found a window to ride, the weather was awful - strong winds or driving rain, so I ended up not riding.

Resultantly, my year end mileage stats remain unchanged at just over 3,000 miles.  Last year I did 3,545 in total and the critical period has been October to December.  I managed only 143 miles compared to the 639 the year before, completing only four rides vs.15 over the comparable period the previous year.

It's had a huge impact on my fitness.  I was determined to go out today and put in some New Year miles, so I'd earmarked three hours to kick things off positively.  Strong headwinds made the going really, really tough.  My heart rate was right at the top of zone three (150bpm) as a ride average for the three hours and my average speed was a paltry 13.4mph as I got home, I can put some of that down to the strong headwind and gusts, however the rest is down to the drop in fitness.

To give you some idea, I did the almost identical route in early September and my average ride speed was 16.1mph, with an average heart rate of 144bpm.  This is a difference in average speed of 17% (faster) with a heart rate 4% lower. 

When I review my 2012 mileage, I'd completed 1,056 miles in Q1, 1,140 miles in Q2, 733 miles in Q3 and 143 in Q4.  Those missing 500 or so miles from Q4 really have made the difference, it clearly goes to show that to maintain a base level of fitness, it's good to have around six hours or so a week in the saddle if time affords it. 

It's all about re-building for me now - some good base mile rides in January will soon see to that.  I've got some events booked already as additional milestones to aim for.  My cycling objectives are much simplified nowadays and focus on enjoyment, weight management and relaxation. I'm less focused on the miles in terms of year on year gains, however it seems that around 3,500 per year is where I need to be at and the account got opened today. 

YTD
Mileage- 3,087 miles
Ride Time -206hrs 37mins
Climbing - 80,887 ft
Avg. Speed - 14.7 mph
Avg. HR - 140bpm
Avg. Cadence - 82rpm
Calories (estimate) 118,192
Ride Ascent Ratio (Ascent/Miles) -   26.3