May is National Bike Month and I’ve been busy supporting activities at work to educate and engage employees about riding their bikes and in particular, bicycle commuting.
I decided that in honor of “Bike Month” I’d set a goal for myself — 400 miles in 30 days. I succeeded at 300 miles in one month last May, completing about 333 miles by the time June 1st arrived. I’m finding 400 miles is quite a challenge so far!
It averages to about 13 miles a day. This means that everyday I don’t ride, I start falling behind the goal pretty quickly! I’m tracking this goal on Garmin Connect and MapMyRide – both web sites feature some fun tools to let you see your progress.
Garmin Connect even has a indicator that shows where you SHOULD be at any given moment. On days when I complete my 20 mile round trip bicycle commute, I get close to this indicator or exceed it. On days I drive, it quickly jumps out in front of me!
Setting this goal has been great because it’s made me seriously think about my transportation options. ”We need a gallon of milk. Hey, I can ride my bike for that! Need lunch? Hey, there are like 10 restaurants within 5 miles round trip.”
So, it’s driving the right behavior which is great!
Wish me luck…I just noticed the indicator has once again jumped out in front of me!
Great plan, good luck! I ought to get a bike computer I think just because it would be interesting to know how many miles a month I do on average, then I can work from that starting point. Do you know how your monthly cycling changes over the year?
Good luck with your commuting goals. I cant wait till they finish construction on Blanco north of 1604 so I can get back to riding to the shop in Helotes.
[...] May, I successfully pedaled 406 miles to just barely achieve my goal of 400 miles in May as a celebration of Bike Month. It was a true challenge since a few days of inclement weather left [...]