4,873

4,873 miles on two wheels.

That’s my mileage total for 2010. That’s 30 fewer miles than in 2009, 249 fewer than 2008.

And I’m not unhappy with that.

After two marathon years that made sprite lament my time away from her (let’s face it: long distance rides take time, and most of the better long rides are far away from DC), I rejiggered my training and riding schedule, placing ride quality over mile quantity.

In other words, I blew apart the classic cyclist’s belief that more miles make a better cyclist.

How did that work? I looked into my riding needs – e.g. climbing, distance, power, sprinting – and broke my training into focused efforts on each, mixing and matching as needed. And this helped, as I had a late start to heavy-duty riding due to the excess of snow that socked in the DC area last winter (made for great skiing, though).

So there was some “winter weight” to contend with at the beginning of the season, and in a normal year I’d slowly drop the weight. But given the short build-up to Mountains of Misery, my focused plan paid off: between mid-April and mid-May, I shed most of my winter weight, built a lot of power and climbing shape, and had a superb Misery ride.

All of this happened with a minimum of back-to-back days of long riding, and I’m pleased that I was able to work out a new training scheme that balanced cycling life and non-cycling life. I plan on doing the same this year, though I’ll likely tweak it a bit depending on the winter. I also plan on adding more mountain biking to the winter riding plan, as it offers a better all-around workout.

Other data from 2010:
100+ mile days: 8
Longest ride: 125.88 miles (Garrett County Gran Fondo)
Miles on the Pedal Force ZX3: 4,416
Miles on the Jamis Eclipse: 302 (this bike is stored in Connecticut)
Miles on the Marin Indian Fire Trail: 155
Commuting miles: 830
Potomac Pedalers rides: 36, for a total of 1,801 miles
Chains used: 3
Tires used: 7 (two completely trashed, one via a deep cut, the other by wearing through completely)

I’ve already logged 94 miles in 2011, including an extremely fun mountain bike ride last weekend (pictures here) and the traditional New Year’s Day laps at Hains Point. My schedule in 2011 is busy (I’m the new chair of Potomac Pedalers, which will be a bit of a time suck), but I plan on making 2011 my best cycling year ever.