The sky's staying darker later into the morning. It's getting darker earlier at night. The din of Cicadas fills the evening air. After sunset, they give way to the sound of delighted crickets and the occasional blips of straggling fireflies. Folks, August is OVER.
Once again, I miss my target of 600 miles for the month, and my numbers for August look frighteningly similar to July's.
Commuting/Errand Miles: 474 (July was 467)
Recreational Miles: 62 (July was 72)
Total Miles: 536 (July was 539)
2008 Miles: 3,536
I rode the bus 14 one-way trips in August, and did not drive to work (or to the bus stop) at all.
I had 8 bike-only commute days.
A look at the past:
Week 1: DefCon in Las Vegas (not a lot of riding that week)
Week 2: Hybridzilla Gets Stolen :(
Week 3: Getting back into the swing of things
Week 4: The Twelve coming together nicely. I really, really can't thank you guys enough for helping me replace the essentials for my somewhat long-ish commuting adventures.
Coming up in September:
- Talk Like A Pirate Day and the second anniversary of getting into bike commuting (Sept 19th). Yes, I plan on flying the Jolly Roger again this year.
- My initial road-to-5,000 miles has September marked as a 400 mile month. I have some catching up to do, so I am going to push for another 500-600 mile month.
- I've been staying below 200 pounds reliably for the last 2 months. I still can't get below 190. I don't like setting weight goals, but I want to get below 190 before the end of Sept.
- Although I've written Hybridzilla off as a total loss, I hope to God she turns up somewhere. The Twelve works really well right now, but you know how you feel when something gets stolen.
2 comments:
Hi Noah, For a busy and tough month you have done well. I am sorry for your loss of Hybridzilla. I had not offered this sentiment earlier because I have lost bikes before. One bicycle disappeared from the hospital bike rack and I never saw it again. One motorcycle was stolen only to be found so heavily damaged that the police said it was a total loss. It went straight to the salvage yard. I never saw it again. So, from my experience, the most reasoned course of action is to start fresh and carry on. You made it through August in good form...well done.
It's one of those "Lessons Learned" - Kind of like buying a NEXT from Wal-Mart and expecting that to survive my heavy weight and frequent use, or breaking my face on the pavement. I simply can't leave a bicycle outside my door to dry off. Despite living in an upscale apartment complex a block from the police station, theft happens everywhere. I know it. that stuff just won't happen to me, right? WRONG.
So yeah, I've written the hybrid off, and started fresh bringing the road bike back into action in no small part thanks to you yourself. Tightening up all the spokes and using a combination of pitch and true-ness as my judge, I think this wheel will work well for as long as I need it to.
I've moved on, but maybe it'll turn up. In my mind, I'm just thinking someone stole it who needed a bicycle to get around on, or sold it to someone who'll put it to good use. It's probably not the case, but it's what I'll keep thinking until proven otherwise. One more bike on the road means one less car.
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