Well, another year is in the books; 2022 is history (or herstory), and here it is 2023. The changing of the calendar is always a shock to the system, but also has the hope of doing better. Before we can move forward with resolutions, goals, and the like, it’s helpful to look back. While in many ways it was not a good year for A Dude Abikes due to illness, work, and life conspiring against me, I still managed to get out there* every single day, still streaking, and string together some solid Strava stats. Let’s go to the numbers.

The * mentioned above is the thing that allowed me to almost achieve my bike mileage goal of 5,200 miles: a Garmin Speed Meter. I mentioned it before, but it’s placed on the rear wheel hub and records mileage while the bike is inside on a home trainer. So in December, with very cold subfreezing weather (wind chills under 0 F are unheard of in Austin, Texas), I made up some miles inside. However, I still got outside for my 30 minute walk every single day. Like I said last month, not having to navigate traffic, stop lights or signs, and in fact moved the upper body much at all, the trainer decreases the distractions so you can increase the miles. And although I burned fewer calories, I still worked up a good sweat.

Another advantage of the indoor trainer is despite it’s inherent boringness, you can watch your Netflix or other streaming shows and even read if you want. The disadvantages are that it’s noisy so I had to quit early to not bother my downstairs neighbor, so having to use noise-cancelling headphones which get sweaty. And did I mention it’s boring? Another downside is you’re less likely to get off the saddle since there are no hills or stops. This creates pain in the undercarriage, so to speak, so more breaks are needed.

In terms of walking, I had a bigger year by about 100 miles over usual. That was thanks to having some job gigs that involved hoofing it. It increased my steps on some days to 15,000-17,000. Normally I get under 7,000. While it did nothing for my fathletic physique, it was really exhausting. Though that had something to do with talking to people. Sometimes it was in the rain or cold, but I have a good poncho and layers so was okay.

Here are some photos of my stats from Strava fitness app annual report. Elevation is like going uphill 27.17 miles.

As one image below says, 706.4 miles in December was my biggest because of the trainer. As for the 1%, with 95 million members, that’s a pretty elite club I’ve joined the last three years.

In other news, one thing that’s helped a lot is a loaner bicycle. It’s been an ongoing question as to whether I’ll be keeping it, because it doesn’t quite fit and the wheels are super skinny. That was one reason it was given to me; the previous owner didn’t like them either. It’s too easy to hit a small rock and crash, which so far I’ve managed to avoid. And another reason why I haven’t formally named her or introduced her properly.

She reminded me of my stalwart faster bike when I got into riding more seven years ago, Sookie the Fuji Silhouette. In fact, this bike is also a Fuji, steel, but even lighter and faster than Sookie who was aluminum before developing a fatal crack in the frame. However, another gift may be on its way. My current thought is to keep this bike for use on the trainer, but it should maybe go to someone else. It’s almost been\n a year since Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer was stolen from me.

Meanwhile, Sonnie remains my main ride. Speaking of which, it’s time for my daily or nightly bike ride. I may add more to this post later. Although I might just do more wrap up in a follow-up post. I’m contemplating a return to more blogging, although not the three posts a week I used to do. Maybe weekly, or when there’s something noteworthy to report.

I would like to thank my readers for your attention, support and kudos and to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

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