Mostly these days i track my mileage by the month rather than the day. I find it a more relaxed way, a compromise i guess. I've found a way to mount my cyclometer underneath my handlebars so i can't see it while i'm riding. I only reset it on the first of the month. I reset it yesterday, so i was aware of what happened today while riding home from Gene's house in Bremerton.
I passed my all time annual mileage record of 3,450 set back in 1980! I outrode my 16 year old self!! I have to admit i'm very excited.
In looking at the significant increase in my miles recently, i have to wonder why. I think i have discovered that there was an important change in my riding style. When i moved to Seattle in 1992 i had only the one bike, a Bridgstone RB-T, which i loved. It was a touring bike, kind of a cyclocross bike, but i had it set up as a road bike and used it really only as a road bike. I quickly found that i didn't like riding it in the city. It didn't feel like the right bike for conditions. Once i realized that i wasn't riding regularly, i gave in and bought a second bike, a Univega Rover -- a basic hardtail mountain bike with slick tires, i called it my Urban Assault Vehicle and i loved zipping around the city, hopping curbs, skirting along gravel trails and what not.
I soon noticed that my annual mileage jumped significantly. I was riding more. That was good. I had two bikes for different conditions. I had a transportation bike and a recreation bike. I had a bike that i hopped on with whatever shoes and clothing i was wearing, and a bike where i had to wear the right shoes, clothes, everything. I continued in that system for about 15 years. I had one bike that i used only for 40 miles or longer, and another that i used for 3 to 12 mile rides.
Last year i set up my Bianchi Volpe as a regular riding bike. It's a great bike, technically a cyclecross bike, it combines the best aspects of a road bike and a city bike, a mountain bike and a racing bike. It's durable, fast, comfortable. For the first year i had it i didn't really have it set up for me. It wasn't comfortable, it didn't feel right. But once i put some work into it, put a new stem on it, made it fit me and my riding style, i started riding it.
The real change happened when my Univega frame cracked in November 2007. After that the Bianchi became my primary bike. It quickly became my primary city bike, but since it is so comfortable and versatile, i slowly started using it as my primary road bike too. AND it goes off road on trails too.
Here's that same graph as above, only color coded by bicycle.
I think the biggest difference, the thing that most caused that big jump in mileage this year was getting rid of the distance restrictions on my bikes. Before, with one bike for 40-100 miles and one for 0-10, i didn't have any way to ride 10-35 mile rides. So... i didn't do any. Now most of my rides are in that range. More flexibility, more riding, more often. I like it.
I even sold the Bridgestone, so i am a one bike guy again. Sure, i sometimes wish i had a folding bike, or a neighborhood cruiser, or a hard core mountain bike, a feather light event bike or a big old cargo bike; and it's always nice to have a backup -- if something goes wrong. But i like just having one bike, it more reflects the way i live, my philosophy.
I'm not suffering, this bike does it all, and does it pretty well. It's a cargo bike, a city bike, a road bike, a touring bike, a neighborhood bike, a mountain bike. And i've found that having one bike, no choice, get on and ride, one bike that does everything, means that i ride more often. And that's good.
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