I managed to make it through July with no health setback. Considering recent events, I’m considering that a big win. I ended up riding 325 miles in July. And there I am, talking about miles again. Tracking mileage, and working to make mileage goals, is a great way to keep yourself motivated to keep turning those pedals. But I’ve gotten some very strong reminders this month that mileage isn’t the most important thing to consider about my riding.
When I moved to Gun Barrel City in 2013, I had been riding over 7,000 miles a year (that’s averaging over 140 miles a week) for several years. With that move and my change in jobs, I knew that my mileage would have to become less. My lifestyle no longer allowed for that much riding. I also knew that, living out here in BFE, there would be few organized rides in my future; it would mostly be just solo rides. I settled on 100 miles a week as a realistic goal. At my 15 mph average on the bike, that would be 7 hours a week of riding. 7 hours a week is seen by many as the gold standard goal for aerobic exercise. And studies had shown that if your heart has diastolic dysfunction (which mine does), 400 minutes a week (just under 7 hours) of aerobic exercise was the amount that showed the best gains and maintenance for that condition. So 100 miles a week became my new goal.
But I knew all along that the day would come when I could no longer average 15 mph on the bike. Much sooner than I expected, that day has arrived. I’m still making improvements in my speed since I’ve gotten back on the bike, but the gains are very gradual now, and I have doubts that I’ll ever reach that 15 mph average again. I’m currently averaging just under 14 mph on the bike. With that average, 90 miles a week gets me the 7 hours of riding I think I need. Last month, I had ridden 100 miles three weeks in a row when I suddenly had unexplained pneumonia. I was forced to consider the possibility that I was overdoing it with my attempt at getting fit again. So for this month, I cut back to 90 miles a week. I’ve just been doing three 30 mile rides a week. If I do get faster on the bike again, I could always increase my mileage goal again.
But then another mileage complication came along. Two weeks ago, after completing my three rides for the week, I went fossil hunting, hiking along two new creeks. Both creeks were especially difficult hiking, and I realized when I got home that I had gotten as much of a workout from that hiking as I do from a 30 mile bike ride, if not more. And I was feeling like I had overdone it that week. So, from now on, any difficult fossil hunting hikes I make will be taken into consideration for my aerobic exercise hours that week. That’s another hit to my mileage goals. So, I’m thinking it’s time to move on from mileage goals. I need to do my best to get my seven hours of aerobic exercise every week that I can, and call it good.
And speaking of fossil hunting, I have added that to my blog. When I started this blog, I did it retroactively, putting together posts from a couple of years of posts in two cycling forums and a lung cancer support forum, and changing the blog dates on those posts to back when I had first posted them in the forums. I’m doing the same thing with my fossil hunting. I started fossil hunting in April of last year. I had taken a month off work at a time when so much was shut down because of COVID, and I was already working enough less hours that I decided it was time to add this hobby I had been fascinated with for many years. Up to now, the fossil hunting posts in this blog have been taken from posts I made in The Fossil Forum, and dated with the dates I posted them there. From now on, I will make separate posts here. I may make some posts here on days when I didn’t find anything of enough significance to bother posting in The Fossil Forum. And if I post in both, I’ll likely make the post here less technical. It’s a great hobby, and I’m having a blast with it.
The route for my last ride of the month on the 29th.
