Author Topic: Bike 365 days in a row  (Read 20346 times)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #50 on: July 22, 2014, 08:04:57 AM »
I'm going to say I failed the challenge this month. Missed 10 days in a row while bike was in the shop. Ended up getting sick of waiting and fixed it myself in 10 minutes. Urgh.

And it took me less than an hour to wash off and recondition my salt-encrusted MTB that had been my primary ride. There was NO reason to miss that many days. I was just being lazy.

So the clock starts over. I'll post my days in a row since the break at the end of the month.

Am I being too hard on myself?

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #51 on: July 22, 2014, 08:22:19 AM »
Am I being too hard on myself?

I don't think so. You're being honest with yourself. Read the name of the thread again.

There's nothing wrong with starting over. There's also nothing wrong with getting 352 of 365 days in a row either. It's an ambitious goal, so keep your head up.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #52 on: July 22, 2014, 10:58:10 AM »
You're being honest with yourself. Read the name of the thread again.

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. :)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #53 on: July 31, 2014, 03:37:53 PM »
Streak #2 (see reason I'm on second attempt above):

15/15 days, 248.4 miles

Bought a bike for DW and upgraded bikes for the goblins, so our biking cost per mile is through the roof at $0.42. I was only tracking costs for my own bike repairs, but since I'm with the kids so much, it makes sense to track it for the whole family. Plus, I think it will be an interesting financial experiment to see how biking costs translate for maintaining 5 separate bikes to replace 2 cars.

I haven't actively tracked driving cost per mile, but I made a best-guess starting point, and will be tracking it from now on. My best guess puts us at $0.39 per mile over the past 4 years including all fuel, maintenance, insurance, and vague recollection of repair bills.

Yes, that's right, biking CAN be more expensive than driving.

***Note: on both CPM figures, I am not factoring depreciated values at all, simply the full car and bike purchase price. It's simpler that way, and both types of vehicles can easily become worthless via an accident.

Sonorous Epithet

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #54 on: August 02, 2014, 08:14:10 PM »
I'm declaring Official Failure and resetting my clock.

Attempt #1 stats:
May, 29 of 31 days. Longest streak: 27 days, 226.6 miles.
June, 26 of 30 days. Longest streak: 13 days, 92.7 miles
July, 10 of 31 days. Longest streak: 5 days, 31 miles. FAIL.

I went on vacation, in which I got 1 day of biking in 2 weeks. After coming back, I rode 1 more day and then broke my bike, which was incapacitated for 5 days. I also lost 5 more days to sub-optimization and cargo carrying needs (the latter of which also counted today).

I am back on the wagon and will be aiming for a very nice August to kick off Attempt #2. Even so, I will be seeing how much I can still get done in my first 365 days. I dunno if I'll ever get TRUE success with 365 days in a row, but for me the benefit comes from trying to push my boundaries, and see what I can accomplish. I'm already insanely happy with my progress :D

Russ

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #55 on: August 07, 2014, 07:45:58 PM »
happy bday thegoblinchief. hope you got a good ride in

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #56 on: August 07, 2014, 08:32:23 PM »
happy bday thegoblinchief. hope you got a good ride in

More of a hiking day today, but thanks for the birthday wishes! We brought our bikes up to check out the bike trail at our favorite hiking spot (Pike Lake), but it was kind of disappointing. Didn't help it had the first hill I've ever encountered where I literally COULD NOT get up while hauling my kids in the trailer.

Tomorrow if my DW is up to it, we'll be hitting a local rail trail, possibly all 14 miles of it (28 roundtrip). Hills will NOT be an issue :P

Nudelkopf

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #57 on: August 08, 2014, 08:52:50 PM »
I've just finished 4 weeks of riding every day :D Unfortunately I'm a school teacher in a rural area, and I can't take my bike with me on holidays (which occur every 10 weeks lol).

YK-Phil

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #58 on: August 12, 2014, 10:32:59 AM »
I work in Yellowknife, NWT (typically I spend three weeks at work there, followed by two weeks at home in Calgary) and I bike 12 months of the year when I am there and at home in Calgary, even in the coldest weather when the temperature plummets to -45. Because I am "stuck" in Yellowknife alone, I have a second job most evenings and weekends. I was well on my way to bike 365 days in a row, but I have not biked in two weeks, and I am afraid that I might not be able to bike for another year or so while I am in Yellowknife. My excuse: I just got this permanent house-sitting gig, which involves a big dog (and a couple of cats but they are the least of my concerns) that requires a lot of my time and attention, such as early morning and late night walks, and zipping back and forth between my office and the house to walk him at lunch time and between my two jobs (one is from 8:30 am to 5 pm, the other is from 5 pm to 11 pm).  My workplace is not really far from home, about 4.5 km, but it is far enough that I can't really squeeze the commute by bike at lunchtime and between work so I have been using the house owner's vehicle to commute every day.  At least this house-sitting gig saves me a lot of money that I would otherwise have to spend on rent and food (house-sitting also involves finishing whatever there is the fridge, cupboards and freezers), and I also get to use the vehicle for which gas is paid for. The downside, my waistline is noticeably larger, and level of happiness is noticeably lower, because biking has always helped me mentally and physically go through our long and harsh winters, and as the GoblinInChief says, it is hard to be angry when you're on your bike

The arrangement is pretty sweet financially, but the impacts of not being able to bike are tangible, and I am debating whether I should find a different house-sitting arrangement very soon.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2014, 10:35:12 AM by ykphil »

Russ

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #59 on: August 12, 2014, 10:39:35 AM »
bundle up the dag and bike it to work?

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #60 on: August 12, 2014, 10:49:01 AM »
Hmm, that's a tough situation. I've seen people walk their dogs on the bike, but unless the dog is off-leash trained or not jittery, that's a really good way to get hurt.

YK-Phil

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #61 on: August 12, 2014, 11:01:12 AM »
Hmm, that's a tough situation. I've seen people walk their dogs on the bike, but unless the dog is off-leash trained or not jittery, that's a really good way to get hurt.

...I have seen some folks biking with a dog bike leash and was thinking about doing the same, but the beast is 130 lbs, very well trained but I am worried that when he decides to stop and smell the roses, my bike ride might end very abruptly...

Russ

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #62 on: August 12, 2014, 11:18:38 AM »
heh there is exactly the same conversation happening on the other forum I read... what you need is one of these:



keeps the dog away from the wheels, and a spring on the end of the leash gives you time to react to any surprise pulls

YK-Phil

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #63 on: August 12, 2014, 11:45:28 AM »
heh there is exactly the same conversation happening on the other forum I read... what you need is one of these:



keeps the dog away from the wheels, and a spring on the end of the leash gives you time to react to any surprise pulls

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't want to hijack the original post but I will check out this contraption. But I am sad to say that because of my quest to live as cheaply as possible, I failed the "bike 365 days in a row" :D

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #64 on: August 31, 2014, 06:45:40 AM »
Great month!

31/31 days, so the streak is now at 46 days currently.

Miles on the current streak: 655

Current biking CPM : $0.51 (sigh)

Successfully completed a few rides I hadn't yet attempted (Costco and the cheap, faraway through the ghetto grocery store). I don't know how frequently I'll keep doing these, since it's an awful big time commitment which takes away from time with my wife, but it's cool to have done them at least once.

FunkyStickman

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #65 on: September 01, 2014, 08:04:22 AM »
Good job! I'm working on getting back on the bike. Not there yet, but you're all encouraging to me! It's been close to 10 weeks since I've ridden to work.

I will get back to it. Just a matter of time.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #66 on: September 18, 2014, 06:12:44 PM »
Sadly, I think I'm going to have to give up on this for now. There's been too many days lately where "getting a ride in" - especially with the kids - isn't exercise, transportation, or even all that fun.

Today was the kicker. We got plenty of exercise, hiking about 5 miles. Got home, kids were tuckered out and we'd just had plenty of park time...so saying "let's go to the park" would be really silly. My wife had a rough day at work, so the last thing I wanted to do - even though she would have said yes - is to leave her with the kids and not catch up so I could get a ride in, even a short one. At that point it's only about a silly streak, not exercise/mood/saving the environment.

Sorry to be uninspiring. Maybe I'll give this a go sometime in the future. I still plan on logging plenty of days and miles, I just want the freedom to leave a day off here and again.

FunkyStickman

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Re: Bike 365 days in a row
« Reply #67 on: September 19, 2014, 05:52:30 AM »
Sorry to be uninspiring. Maybe I'll give this a go sometime in the future. I still plan on logging plenty of days and miles, I just want the freedom to leave a day off here and again.

Don't kid yourself, it's not a small challenge. Add in the fact that some days you just don't need to go anywhere, and you know... taking a rest day sounds pretty good. You're still doing better than me.

My stupid job makes me get here at 6:00 AM and I live 9 miles away. That means I get up at 4:30 to ride to work. And my kids (who are homeschooled) go to bed whenever they are tired, which is around 11:00. So I nap every day to fight off sleep deprivation. Biking to work just makes it worse most of the time. I haven't come up with a solution yet.