BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

3,969 I'd have gone over 4K, but I blew out the meniscus in my knee 2 weeks ago: surgery soon.

I rode my bike. Rarely tracked it. Ignorance is bliss.

3,794 Miles Highlights of 2014: MS Escape to the Lake Century (first one ever) Bike Virginia tour (400 + miles with two more Centuries) Mon Valley Century Every PGH neighborhood ride during bike week (awesome) Dirty Dozen scouting rides - Thanks to Jim and Stef Completing first Dirty Dozen Hopefully 2015 is just as good.

I track during the National Bike Challenge, but it's kind of relief not to bother with it afterwards. I know a ride a lot, probably more than is good for me. So why bother keeping track?

3,359, all of it commuting, errands, and an occasional fun ride. I track it reliably every day. I notice, going back through the log, that I almost never ride on a Saturday, and only rarely on a Sunday. My miles are way up since I let the annual bus pass expire. In 2013, I figure I paid $1,608 for a Zone 2 pass but if I'd paid cash fare, would only have used $1,200 in fare. I haven't figured it out to the dollar, but I think I've saved $900 in bus fare over 2013. And the bus was already way cheaper than driving.

8568 I was hoping for 9000, which I may have had, had I not had a stomach virus for the last week and a half of the year.

5,573 It's always nice to do more miles than you did the previous year, which I did. But a lot of this year's miles were easy river/rail trail miles instead of faster/hill miles from years past. Maybe we should be comparing Watts instead? Elevation gained? Thigh circumference? Components worn out? Better yet - I only bought 5 gallons of gasoline last year, and used the bus less than a dozen times.

Five gallons of gasoline! That is really amazing! I occasionally wonder about my mileage but never track it. I think it's really awesome that you guys can track your mileage and not let that get in the way of having fun riding. I am pretty sure that once I start scorekeeping, that's where my attention goes instead of to the ride itself. So ... I rode some! A good bit! I commuted by bike a lot and had camping adventures and rode in the mountains in Spain and was generally delighted by life. But I bought a LOT more then five gallons of gas. Woof.

Yale Cohen biked over 13,000 miles in 2014. I think he's already got 60 miles in the bag for 2015 as of yesterday evening.

13000 / 365 = 35.6 miles per day. Yale is not a super-fast biker, but I can see this being doable. I average ~8-9 mph in the city; so let's call it ~4hr/day, maybe a bit more. You can always do a more detailed analysis from his data on the NBC site Not too bad a a way to spend your days, though I'd hate to be going through tires that fast (not to mention tubes, pads, chains and cassettes). But speaking as someone who just has a 2nd flat in a month (is it true that you should give up after the 3rd patch?)

I've had as many as 8 patches on a tube. Maybe they don't make 'em that well anymore.

OK, I'll come in small at 2775... I have a 2.5 mile (each way) commute, so by biking that 300 days I get 1500, which means I only put in 1275 of recreational riding, which is kind of depressing. As a climate scientist, if my Prius gets 40 mpg city, that 1500 miles saved 37.5 gallons of gas. I also made Delta Diamond this year, meaning 125,000 miles of air travel. I am quick to point out in talks that I bike to work because I like to and it is convenient; I could fly an F15 to work and have a lower carbon footprint than my work travel.... (@Kristopher may actually have *done* that...).

@neilmd: I live a pitiful 1.65m from the office but I aim to get in maybe 10m a day. There's plenty of options in routes. And when you need to, the bike is still the fastest way to get in. Oh, and congrats on the Delta Diamond; to me that would mean a lot of Asian trips; don't forget to take those aspirins... @fultonco: Hey, I read it on the interweb. So it's true, right? I'm a little hazy on the patch kit prices ($4-5 each?), but that's at least a couple of kits. At some point you're start paying more for patches than for a whole new tube. Not to mention the time (is money too).

Yea, I've been known to commute via Hazelwood. East Hills would be nice -- I've become a fan of Dornbush. Probably doing 2x China, 3x Finland and 3x Switzerland at least this year, so yes I do pile up the miles. I have an Italian buddy who is a postdoc in Switzerland who is a cycling fanatic, so I try to figure out how to ride with him....

I’m a little hazy on the patch kit prices ($4-5 each?), but that’s at least a couple of kits.

I buy my high pressure PK at Thick. It's less than $4 (used to be -- I buy 3-4 at a time) , provides enough for 6 patches, holds 140 PSI with no problem. After 6 patches I reuse camera (make a lot of rubber rings or black ribbons for the Ride of Silence). 3,700+ miles this year.

You can buy a box of 100 patches for like $15 and then get a big tube of glue. http://www.cheapbikeparts360.com/products/rema-patches/ I buy the glue as needed from BikeTek. I keep patching until the valve wears out, or there's a hole too near the valve to patch. And keep a spare tube in my kit so I don't have to patch on the road unless I get two flats.

I keep an 8 oz can of tire patch glue from Pep Boys (or sim.) at home, nice brush in the cap, doesn't dry out like the little tubes that are always dry just when you need'em, and like $5 a can. I always carry a good tube to change on the road, not worth trying a patch on the roadside, unless it's like your second flat of the day. I once bought a 30 yr old 3 speed with a tube that looked to be the original Made in England Dunlop, 3 patches, still held air like new. In fact, I think I put it back in, with new tires. Why waste?

1,200ish

2902.7 (commuting, road, mountain biking)

3710, mostly commuting, some group rides and long rides