4.5 Days Left, 3 Hours to Catch Up, 2 Days of Miserable Weather Ahead, 1 Goal to Achieve.

So as of this moment, I am just more than two hours short of meeting my goal of riding my bike for more time than I spend commuting to and from work in my car this year. I have ome more trip home this afternoon, which should be about 40 minutes, and then no more work until 2013.

This afternoon I plan on a healthy wellness bike ride. It's supposed to be sunny but very windy, like 25 mph steady with gusts up to maybe 50, so that'll be really fun. If I plan the rest of my work day right, I should be able to get more than an hour of actual riding time in.

When I get home, my deficit will likely be a little under two hours.

It appears that we're going to get snow on Saturday, so tomorrow (Friday) will need to be the main day to ride to get ahead. It's supposed to be cold, but that's okay- two of my long weekend rides were in the cold, and with those chemical footwarmers in my shoes, I didn't freeze up too much.

So probably I'll be able to get two hours of riding in tomorrow morning.

Then I'll only have that pesky 45 minute spin class to make up. I think I can do that on New Year's Eve. By that time whatever snow will be cleared away or melted. This goal will be achieved.

Put into diffeent terms, when this is all done, I'll have spent more than twelve solid days riding my bike, and over 4,700 miles logged on a bicycle.

I regret that I had planned to but have not actually made charts to document what percentage of my bike rides were at work vs. at home. Without the healthy wellness opportunities, I am certain I wouldn't have been able to make this goal.

I'm proud that my recent rides have raised my average bike ride time to 80 minutes.

My main bike has been used almost exclusively for this effort. The yellow one was used about 100 miles, and the silver hybrid was used once, and I didn't even count it as I just went around the neighborhood for about ten minutes. Since acquiring the Windsor off the internet, I've ridden that bugger almost 7,000 miles in about a year and a half.

One thing I've learned on this effort is that it's pretty easy to enjoy almost every bike ride. There's usually something new to see, a moment where all is at peace, or an experience to share at the dinner table.

2013 probably won't see me riding as much as this year, and that's okay. I bet it'll be close, because if I don't ride for a couple three days, my body really feels out of sorts, like something's missing. It's still fun above all.

I am thankful that I have found something that I love to do that's also widely considered to be exercise. My morale at work remains high because they encourage such activities at my office, and my metabolism is thankful because I can eat pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want, and not gain much around the middle.

This has been a good year. I've enjoyed tracking my commute times, bicycling times, and gas mileage data.