Cycling – January/February 2018

I thought I’d post with my ride summary for 2018 so far. We’ve had a wide variety of weather conditions so far in 2018 – from -20C to +15C. Lots of snow. No snow. Rain. Sun. Fortunately, I’m equipped to ride in all of these conditions and I’ve been able to get out and ride more than I have in past winters.

As I’ve mentioned before, I like numbers (as many of us engineers do). So here are a few:

January 2018:
- Total Rides: 8
- Total Distance: 211 km
- Total Time: 12.75 hours
February 2018:
- Total Rides: 8
- Total Distance: 254 km
- Total Time: 13.75 hours
Year to date:
- Total Rides: 16
- Total Distance: 465 km
- Total Time: 26.5 hours

For comparison, at this time last year, I was at 9 rides, 198 km, 11.5 hours. So I’m way ahead of last year’s pace, when I ended up with 4000 km.

My rides in 2018 have been either on my fat bike or my winter mountain/gravel/frankenbike. My shortest ride of the year so far is 11.5 km and my longest about 54 km. Temperatures have ranged from nearly -20C to nearly +10C.

And here’s a cool video I made of my rides to date (2018):

Many of my rides have been by myself and I find these solo rides to be calming. I truly ride at my own pace. Sometimes a fast interval. Sometimes a slow, scenic pace. I like being alone with my thoughts on my bike, but I also like the group rides.

One ride a week or so ago, I tried to make it out for a ride before the rain came, but halfway into the ride, it started to pour. But it was mild (5C) and I was dressed for the rain, so I didn’t mind. I wasn’t cold and the rain felt cleansing and refreshing somehow.

I didn’t take photos on all of my rides, but here are a few:

Back in January, we had our first thaw. The Grand River was previously frozen but the thaw and rain brought huge chunks of ice up the banks of the river.