2014 Mileage Review

06 Jan 2014 Mileage Review

At about this time last year, I talked about my bicycle mileage review in general. Reading that article and looking at my current situation right now, I can’t but feel proud of my accomplishment. So many things have happened in one year that we need to jog down memory lane and revisit 2014 from a miles-to-miles perspective.

Best Year Ever

In the last paragraph of the article, I was doubtful that I will reach the 2011 mileage for 2014. Guess what? I did just that and surpassed it by almost 300 miles. In the same article, I mentioned that the Surly Cross Check had the most mileage a year ago. That has been eclipsed by my Salsa Vaya, which now has 1600 more miles than the Surly. As you may recall from my 5000 mile review, I love riding this bike! Much more comfortable to ride all day long. That is why I’m selling the Surly. I love the way the bike looked, but really did not like the feel of the ride, so I must part way with it.

Me on top of Ballard Canyon Rd.

Highlights

There were a series of events that led to this high mileage count.

1. I participated in #30daysofbiking in April.
2. I left my job at the end of April and did several different local bike tours with Topanga Creek Bicycle Shop for their Unpredict Your Wednesday ride.
3. I volunteered for more rides this year than last year. Those local mileage added up, as well as the commutes to and back from the ride locations.
4. I participated in more Ciclavias last year, which gave me bonus mileage.
5. The obvious mileage booster was my long bicycle tours: Chino Hills to Joshua Tree, New England foliage tour and my epic Pacific Coast tour.
6. I accompanied my friend, Evadne, to finish her last day of her own Pacific Coast tour from Ventura to Los Angeles.

Bikes lined up on the Ventura Pier.

Interesting Insights

There were some other interesting facts and realizations about the mileage breakdown.

• I had my worst month in December with only 156 miles. I actually thought I rode a lot during this month, but apparently not.
• My best month was July at 1169 miles due to the Pacific Coast tour. The next best month was May with 551 miles. This is surprising since I thought I rode more in April because of #30daysofbiking.
• I only rode 155 miles on the Surly Cross Check last year – another sign that the bike has made its run and needs to be sold.
• I’ve explored more of Los Angeles than I have ever done before on bike, or by car for that matter.
• The day with the most mileage came on April 23rd when I rode 93 miles. This was our return trip from Ojai to Los Angeles where I rode down the coast with Topanga Creek Bicycles, and then proceeded to ride to Hollywood before I gave up and took the Metro home.
• My average mileage per day in 2014 was 12 miles a day. Not bad considering I didn’t ride every day. It just means that when I did ride, it usually allowed me to put on more mileage.
• I saved 1.07 metric tons of carbon emissions last year by riding my bike instead of driving my car.
• In the 5 years since I started riding my bike again, I’ve logged 16,788 miles. That’s 4.2 metric tons of carbon emissions that I didn’t pollute in our environment.
• I’ve ridden my Salsa Vaya for 4290 miles last year – the most out of any bicycle I have ever owned in a year.

Clutter Be Gone

I also mentioned last year that I was riding my motorcycle more in 2013, but this was not the case in 2014. As a result, that motorcycle was sold recently. If it’s not being used regularly, it’s not worth keeping around. That has been my mantra since I started to downsize after selling my house. That’s something I’m going to continue in the new year.

Being My Best

I can’t help but wonder what this year will bring. Will I finally break the 5000 mile barrier on mileage? Will I even come close to the miles from 2014. I think with the upcoming cross Europe trip, that would give me about half of the miles needed to be on par with 2014. I am going to make it my mission to blow past the 2014 record and set a personal goal of hitting 5000 miles this year by bike.