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John Roberts 2007 Cycling Year in Review


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#1 John T Roberts

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Posted 18 December 2007 - 11:11 PM

Including today, there are 14 days left in the year. I had several cycling goals for this year and some were met, yet others, were not. I also worked seven days per week for almost four months, which were originally not factored into the goal, nor was that amount of work expected.

I turned 50 this year, and several members of the Fort Worth Bicycling Association said that I had to ride twice my age in miles in one day sometime this year, but the preferable date was on my birthday. It had been a while since I did a century, so I said I was up for the challenge. By coincidence, my birthday fell on a Saturday, so it was physically possible with a work schedule to do the ride on my birthday. At this time last year, I stated that I wanted to ride at least 3,000 miles within 2007. I also said that I wanted to do a multi-day tour and at least go to Leakey. In my business, it is very hard to predict what my workload will be that far in advance. I said I would give it a try. At Christmas of 2006, I purchased a Garmin Edge bicycle computer, which is GPS based. It is the neatest bike computer I have ever purchased. In March, on the advice of a friend, I also purchased CycliStats software to keep track of all of my ride statistics. The Garmin has some software, but it doesn't do everything that CycliStats does.

January and February didn't start out well because of the weather and I caught the serious upper respiratory infection that was spread around during February. I rode very little in January due to the rain, and very little in February because I was too sick to ride. I was at home sick 3.5 days during this time and I never miss work. To make a long story short, I really started putting in the miles in March. It was about that time that we had a big project come in that would require about 3 months of hard work, but we weren't real sure when the client would give us the go ahead to start. The beginning of the project would fall anywhere from March to June. My original plan was to ride the 100 miles on my birthday, but as time went on, I began to realize that if I didn't do my century before the project started, I would have very little time to train for it in October if I had to significantly cut back my riding during the summer. I finally decided to do the century in April. I accomplished that goal and by the end of April, I was on track to get my 3,000 miles for the year. However, in May, more details were revealed about the project, and it really looked as if my riding would be severely curtailed during June, July, and August.

I started the overtime the first week of June and my time on the bike really went down. By July 4th, I could see that 3,000 miles would be very difficult (but still possible), so I revised my goal downward to 2,500 miles for the year. During the overtime, I averaged 50 miles per week on the bike, and that was all I could handle. The project was extended into September, so I was not able to start riding like I wanted until the third week of the month. In addition to this, I had a slight accident on July 6th, which injured my knee. For about eight weeks, I was riding very slow and in some pain.

The third week in October came around and I did get a chance to do the Leakey Death Ride. I had a ball, and it was really nice to ride my bike through the Hill Country, even though the hills were very tough. From about July 4th on, CycliStats predicted my mileage for the year would be about 2,750 miles.

During Thanksgiving, I had a week off and I thought that I would have a chance to ride nearly every day. I did ride the first four days of my vacation, but the latter part turned out to be too cold. On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I even planned to try to beat the cold front and put in a ride at daybreak, but found out I would have about one hour of riding. The front came through at 8:15 and the temperature dropped from 70 to 55 in thirty minutes. It was a good thing that I didn't gamble on a ride.

As of tonight, I have put 2,625 miles on my bike so far this year. On Thursday, I start another vacation to burn off the remainder of my allotted days for the year. If the weather holds up, I should be able to make 2,750 miles for the year. I will post all of my ride statistics at the end of the year.

By the way, the Fort Worth Bicycling Association has a 100 mile ride scheduled for January 1, 2008 to get a perfect start for the new year.

#2 John T Roberts

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Posted 26 December 2007 - 10:18 PM

Well, I rode on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (December 20-22). At the end of Saturday, I had 2701 miles. I decided to do something really harebrained and shoot for my original goal of 3,000 miles by midnight on December 31st. At that point, I would have to ride every day for the remainder of the year and average 33.33 miles per day to do it. So I set out for that goal by riding a route on the bike trail that is 36.81 miles. On Christmas, I rode a little more with at total of 40 miles. Today, because it was quite a bit cooler, I only rode 10 miles. As of tonight, I have 2826 miles, which is 7 miles shy of what my average should be to make my goal. With five days left in the year, I should be able to ride the 174 miles pretty easily.

#3 mbdalton1

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Posted 27 December 2007 - 04:58 PM

Way to go John! This is all very impressive. I am tired just reading about it!

Good luck on the remaining miles!

mary bess

#4 John T Roberts

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Posted 27 December 2007 - 08:32 PM

I did not ride today because it was pretty cold. This means that I now have to ride 43.5 miles every day for the rest of the year to make the goal.

Mary Bess, don't be tired just reading about it. Overall, the year was pretty easy and the only hard part is that I went down to Leakey not being in the best of shape. To give you some idea of what kind of hills are located along that ride, Condor's Nest is a 17% grade for about one mile. Putting this into a Fort Worth perspective, Ranch View Road between Bellaire Circle and Fox Hollow, a.k.a. Suicide Hill, is also a 17% grade with a distance of 1/10 of a mile. Still the food and the camaraderie at Leakey made the whole trip worth it.

#5 guest

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Posted 28 December 2007 - 10:39 AM

John:
What bike do you ride and how much time and money did you spend this year maintaining it?

#6 Bernd

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Posted 28 December 2007 - 01:06 PM

John-

Are you planning to ride the FWBA New Year Century? I hope to make it, despite a cold windy forecast. Hope to see you there.



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#7 John T Roberts

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Posted 28 December 2007 - 08:26 PM

First of all, I will answer the questions and second, I will give the forum an update on where I am in the quest of my goal.

Concretist, I have a Klein Quantum Race Road Bike. I don't really keep track on how much time that I have spent on maintenance for the bike, except that I do try to tinker with it after a ride if I feel or hear something not right. Just before Christmas of last year, I noticed some extreme wear on my tires, so I replaced both of them with top of the line Continentals. I put about 2,000 miles on them before I had one flat on my front tire. That is also the only flat that I had this year. Before Leakey, I actually took the bike into the shop and had them look everything over. I felt that it was probably needed, since that tour has some very extreme road conditions, like monster hills, hairpin turns, and long downhill straightaways with speeds of 50 mph. Overall, I guess that I spent about $300 total for maintenance and replacement of worn out parts.

Bernie, before I decided to ride all of the miles I needed to reach my original goal, I was planning to do the FWBA New Year Century. Now, I'm kind of waiting to see what the weather will be like. I will admit that in my old age, I have become much more of a warm weather cyclist. When I was much younger, it was very rarely cold or windy enough to make me stay at home. Even then, I didn't like to ride in the rain, so if it was raining at the start, I probably didn't ride. Now, I'm finding that if it is below 40, I probably won't go to a ride, even with the promise of warming some. Now, if the forecast is for 65 that day, then I might start at a little below 40 degrees. It was in the 30's at the Ride For Heroes in March, but it warmed up quickly and I had fun on that ride. I guess I will have to wait and see what the cold front will do for the Century.

Here is where I stand for my goal of 3,000 miles in 2007. I put in 49.52 miles today, and that brings me to 2,875.67 miles for the year. I now have three days to ride 124.33 miles. I'm still planning to ride 50 miles each day that is left in 2007. By the way, I have put off doing a lot of things that I was planning to do around the house because of all of this cycling. Since the weather was good and I had the time, this week has been very interesting for me. I have already ridden the most consecutive days in a row for this year at seven. This week so far has been my highest mileage week. If I complete the next three days at about 50 miles per day, then December will be my highest mileage month for the year.

#8 Jim Wilson

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Posted 29 December 2007 - 10:40 PM

GoOoooo Johnny!
Good luck with your goal John!
Happy New Year.

#9 John T Roberts

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Posted 29 December 2007 - 11:13 PM

Today, Saturday, December 29th, I put in 50.99 miles. I now have 2,926.66 miles for the year. I may try to put in more than 50 tomorrow, as they are now predicting the cold front to come in on New Year's Eve. I will check the weather tomorrow and maybe adjust my mileage so that I won't have to do as many miles on Monday. If that front comes through, it could very well be that I will barely have my 3,000 miles.

I realize that to some cyclists, 3,000 miles is not much, but for a guy who works a regular 8-5 job without any flexibility in schedule or hours, I have found that is the most realistic goal. Granted, in many of the years that I have made that goal, it was exceeded, but for the most part, it is a goal that works for me. Many years, my total has been between 3,000 and 4,000 miles. The most miles that I have ever completed in one year was a little over 5,200, averaging a little over 100 miles per week.

#10 Dr Quest

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Posted 30 December 2007 - 01:51 PM

John, I've had a Klein Q-Carbon Pro for several years but ashamed to admit I don't have 5000 miles on it. I rode 2200 miles from early spring to HTH 2 years ago and haven't touched it since. As an oft injured runner you have inspired me to at least think about dusting it off. My house backs up the the trail and its a quick shot to Lake Benbrook so I really have no excuses. I'm assuming you ride some Aledo loops...all those trucks kinda spook me. And yes there are more hard core riders out there but 3000 is pretty impressive with as much as you're working. Congrats

#11 John T Roberts

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Posted 30 December 2007 - 07:28 PM

Dr. Quest, if my house backed up to the trail, I would be on it nearly every day! I don't live that far from it, but it is far enough with short daylight hours that I can't make it to the trail without having to turn right around to come home before dark. You really should get back out on the bike. It is a shame to let it sit there and not be used. For the most part, I ride with the Fort Worth Bicycling Association. We don't ride the Aledo loops very often because of those trucks. We figure that the club would be better off not using those roads frequently.

Here is where I now stand. I put in 59.67 miles today, giving me 2,986.33 miles for the year. I only have 13.67 miles to ride tomorrow to meet my goal. As I said earlier, when I complete the miles, I will post some PDF files and graphs detailing all of my cycling information for 2007 to share with the forum.

If the forum is interested, maybe we could get together some forum bike rides on Sunday afternoons. I don't ride with the FWBA on Sundays because of church.

#12 gdvanc

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Posted 31 December 2007 - 03:14 PM

John, I know from sad experience how easy it is to let the demands of our personal and professional lives waylay even the most cherished of our personal goals. Few things open the door to procrastination as widely as do stress and fatigue. Long-term goals offer the sweet temptation of saying, "Oh, I can catch up next week". Fitness goals are particularly difficult to meet when life is busy; although I jog a few miles when I can, about the only exercise I get with any regularity these days is herding my "cats with hands" while wandering the spacious well-lit aisles of my local suburban SuperTarget or carrying the Sleeping Beauties upstairs at the end of a long day.

Knowing how busy you were this year - to the point at times of not being able to spend as much time tending to the forum as you like to do - I have to say that your perseverance to the end has been most impressive. I don't wear hats often, but when I get home I'm going to put one on just so I can take my hat off to you. Probably the "Rookie Dad" ball cap I received from my fourth of six for Christmas this year. That's my favorite and only the best will do for an accomplishment like this.

Way to go, John.

You've inspired me to make a fitness goal for myself for 2008. I'll try to come up with something, and I'll try to make it as challenging for me to meet as 3,000 miles might be for you. I look forward to hearing of your progress in the coming year.

I think your idea about having Sunday rides is a wonderful one. I probably wouldn't be able to attend them very often, though. I'd really love to, but 1) my oldest trashed my bike (brat!) and 2) my sweet wife is working weekends now so I'm like a single parent Friday night through Monday morning. (I get an allowance now, though!) I hope some of you are able to do it regularly. That's a great way to spend time on the weekend: exercise and camaraderie.

Happy New Year!

#13 John T Roberts

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Posted 31 December 2007 - 04:45 PM

Donnie, thank you for your very kind comments.

I did make my goal for the year. However, if I had not had the vacation time available, I would not have made it. Today, I rode 18.41 miles, for a final year end total of 3,004.75 miles. I will post my year end statistics and some PDF charts of my year later this evening.

The one thing that the bicycling did hamper in relation to the web site was that I did not have the opportunity to change many of the pages on the site to the new format. However, over the coming days and weeks, I will work on those pages.

#14 John T Roberts

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Posted 31 December 2007 - 11:22 PM

I'm going to post the statistics on New Year's Day. Sorry for the delay.

Bernie, I've decided it's going to be too cold and windy for me to go to the Century Ride tomorrow. My cousin is also having a New Year's Day lunch, so I'm going to her house for the food.

#15 John T Roberts

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Posted 01 January 2008 - 05:38 PM

I'm finally posting my year end statistics relating to my bicycling. As mentioned in an earlier post, I finished the year with 3004.75 miles. I am a member and a former President of the Fort Worth Bicycling Association. Our club posts our ride statistics at http://www.bikejournal.com and you can see my position in total number of miles in relationship to the club on that site. Our club has about 600 members and only 56 of us post our rides on this site. My 3,000 miles put me in 23rd place out of those who post and list the FWBA as one of their club memberships. I finished 14th in those who list the FWBA as their primary club. I ride with the club as often as possible, but due to my overtime schedule and my desire to ride in warmer weather, most of my miles were put in by myself.

Here are my stats for 2007:

Total Distance: 3004.75 miles
Total Number of Rides: 98
Total Time on bicycle: 231 hours, 14 minutes, 42 seconds
Total Feet Climbed: 146,269

Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm
Average Speed: 13.0 mph
Average Ride: 30.66 miles
Average Time Per Ride: 2 hours, 21 minutes, 39 seconds
Average Times Per Week Riding: 1.9
Average Times Per Month Riding: 8.2
Average Distance Per Week: 57.61 miles
Average Distance Per Month: 250.50 miles
Average Climbed Per Ride: 1,493 feet

Shortest Distance Ridden on Single Ride: 2.40 miles on 01/25/07 (errand in neighborhood)
Longest Distance Ridden on Single Ride: 107.75 miles on 04/29/07
Started Some Overtime Work: March 1, 2007
Mandatory Overtime Schedule: June 3-September 17
Minor Bicycle Accident: July 6, 2007 requiring trip to emergency room and really slowing me down for about 6 weeks due to knee pain while riding.
Weeks with Least Miles: 0.00 miles during Jan. 7-13, 14-20; Jan 28-Feb 3; Feb 11-17
Week with Most Miles: 224.83 miles in week of December 23-29
Month with Least Miles: 42.22 miles in January
Month with Most Miles: 465.54 miles in December
Bike Tour: Leakey Death Ride, October 19-21, 205.22 miles
Pay Rides: Moritz Ride for Heroes - Aledo, Cruisin' de Hood - Granbury, North Texas Classic - Saginaw, Paluxy Pedal - Glen Rose

2007 Daily Distance Graph

2007 Weekly Distance Graph

2007 Monthly Distance Graph

I will start posting my graphs for 2008 in a separate thread. The software that I use can chart any statistic, so if there are some others that you would like to see, please post that when I start the new thread.




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