I decided to enter the Trek Challenge. You join the challenge, and ride 100, 500, or 1000 miles during the month of July. To document the miles, you upload a gps file of your ride data to strava.com. July in Kentucky isn’t always the best cycling weather, with heat, humidity, wind, storms, and rain – but you fit rides in where you can and make the most of it.
I started pretty strong, with 3 good rides on the 2nd through the 4th. I knew that heat and wet weather might make the miles difficult to come by later in the month, so I wanted to get as many miles logged in the early part of the month as I could.
July 1 through July 7, I rode 157.1 miles. a really good start.
July 8 through July 14, I rode 131.5 miles, for a total of 288.6 miles.
July 15 through July 21, I rode 160.4 miles, for a total of 449 miles. The goal is in sight.
July 22 through July 28, I rode 105.6 miles, for a total of 554.6. The 500th mile was on a ride with Mike and Carrie, on a 42 mile route south of Hopkinsville.
But I wasn’t done, there were more riding days in July. July 29th I got in 26 miles at the shop ride, and then the next day I rode 36.8 miles in the Land Between the Lakes. I got rained on the last 10 miles or so in LBL, but it didn’t matter. Those last two rides for July put me at 617 miles and 25,123 feet of climbing.
It was hot and humid in July, so you mostly ride early in the day to try and avoid the hot afternoons. The rides from Bikes and Moore on Wednesday evenings were pretty warm and sweaty, but they were fun and the group is a very good one.
I’ve set goals of 2,500 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing for 2020. That’s not a lot for some cyclists, but if I get there it will be my biggest year ever.
My ride data is recorded on a Garmin Fenix 3HR watch, and is uploaded to ridewithgps.com and to strava.com, as the challenge requires.
My friend Rob rode 1000 miles in June of 2019 for charity, and that is an incredible achievement. Completing my challenge made me realize the level of committment and effort it took for him to reach that milestone. I’m not at that level yet, but maybe next year?