On July 26th, 2024, less than two months after I wobbled through my first 0.7 mile ride, I did a half century. Fifty point six miles! I named the ride "First Half Century" on Strava because I'm creative like that.
50.6 miles. July 26th, 2024. My legs stopped working afterward.
It took me about 5 hours and 20 minutes of riding at an average of 9.5 mph, which real cyclists would laugh at, but I genuinely did not care. I did FIFTY MILES on a bike that I learned to ride eight weeks ago! The last 10 miles were pure suffering. My neck hurt, my hands were numb, my butt was destroyed. I loved every second of it. Sort of.
Then on August 12th I decided to one-up myself. First metric century! 100 kilometers. 63 miles. I had to look up what a metric century was because I didn't know it was a thing. Fred told me about it and I was like "that's basically a regular century but in kilometers so it sounds more impressive, I'm in."
63 miles. First 100km. August 12th, 2024.
Average speed was 10.4 mph with 2,287 feet of climbing. Six hours on the bike. I started getting a little delirious toward the end, that kind of tired where everything is funny. I ate three bodega bananas and a questionable gas station sandwich somewhere around mile 50 and it was the best meal of my life.
September and October were my peak months. 37 rides each month, about 360 miles per month! I was riding almost every single day.
Some highlights from the fall:
The Coney Island Loop on September 3rd. 45 miles. I accidentally rode through East New York which was... let's just say not my best route planning. But I made it to Coney Island and back and the boardwalk section was worth it.
Coney Island Loop, September 3rd. 45 miles. "Accidentally rode through East New York, bad idea."
Holly got an e-bike on September 1st, a Trek Electra Townie Go. We named it... actually I don't think it has a name. But the first ride together she absolutely smoked me. She was cruising at 17-18 mph in zone 1 heart rate while I was redlining trying to keep up. Humbling!
Holly's new e-bike day. She immediately left me in the dust.
Then on September 27th, I crashed. Got some road rash, scraped up pretty bad. But I still logged PRs on that ride, so I consider it a net positive.
September 27th. I crashed. "Still got some PRs though."
October 12th was my longest ride ever: 67.7 miles with 2,600 feet of elevation! Almost an imperial century. Average speed of 11.9 mph, way up from my early rides. I was getting genuinely fast.
By the end of October I'd been riding for less than five months and had already logged over 1,400 miles. I did the math and I was spending more time on my bike than I was sleeping some weeks. That might not be healthy but the Strava data doesn't lie.
Things slowed down in November and December (cold + starting at Google) but by then cycling had become part of who I am. Fred created a monster.