Tim Brink

Mid-term Report This is a tale of three goals. The one is the obvious, ride every day in 2018. I made my criterion a minimum of one hour, and it must be on the bike/wattbike, but that is just for me - the 20-minute thing is just fine, as is the mowing the lawn/walking the dogs/buying the sunday papers thing. I haven't kept track, but with young kids I do a lot of that, too, so there is probably at least three or four hours a week on daddy duty, over and above the running total. Ek wou mos. The important thing in this challenge, though, is that each of us has different time pressures, and my criteria are different from everyone else's. An effort a day is all that is needed to stay in our game, however it is done. I have not included the odd trail run, either, for the purity of my personal challenge... The half-term report shows 195 rides, with not a day skipped. A+ The other two are tailored to my idiotic brain, which (I am told by those closest to me) is more idiotic than most. Goal two is to reach 10 000 miles in distance. 16 100km. For no reason other than it is a round number, and a lot. The half-term report shows 8 436km. A+ Goal three is to average two hours a day. IE 730 hours for the year. Again, no good reason, just because it is there. The half-term report shows 354 hours, 11 hours behind but with some lovely summer months looming in the distance that should be catchable. A- I have been quite good with recovery rides - there have only been two little episodes where overtraining seemed imminent - so it has actually been fairly easy to keep going. I structure my week days around getting in front of the computer by 7am so I can work in my hour, or whatever the day holds, and then get on the bike later in the morning - this is a blessing in winter. Warm and light is much easier to motivate for. Flexi-time is the bomb. Fitness has been interesting to track (just using Strava's built-in version). I have had a few years in the last ten where I have started well, similar hours by the end of March, and then got lazy. This is the first time in decades I have managed to carry on. The graph shows how lekker that is - I am flipping tired a lot of the time (but not drastically so), but my base 'fitness' level just rises and rises. Riding at threshold on my favourite test segments, I can see the progression downwards in time, and I am hitting w/kg values over 5-minute-plus efforts that I would be happy with rested and ready to race. And that is without any structure or goal setting, other than just getting out on the bike and riding to feel. SO. Would I do this again? I thought about that a lot riding in the pissing rain this afternoon, and I think probably not exactly like this. I do need this kind of motivation to keep from getting lazy, so I have another 180-something days to come up with Project B... weekly mileage, weekly altitude gain... who knows what idiotic idea will drop in next. Suggestions welcome. This is so much fun, thanks guys!

I have wondered, mostly, whether I will ride on Jan 1, 2019. The rest would follow... or not. My missus would feel that this is not a repeatable exercise. That could be a current state of affairs, with toddlers at the garage door at 20:15 last night wondering when daddy will tuck them in. Not that she actually vocalised this... Anyhoo, back to the job at hand: Mid-term reports due this weekend?

Don't do it if you suffer from vertigo... What gearing did you use? The 42x36 on the gravel bike hurt.

Today is day #150 of 2018, according to Wiki. Only 215 to go... still having fun, even though it is getting a tad chilly... so let's do this!

Nice one! Still going strong. Got a bee in my bonnet and started running again after an 11-year absence (Cape Odyssey killed me in 2007), and actually enjoying it. Now to fit it in with the riding

Please don't spur on the discrimination debate.

Bladdy phone.

Sorry I forget the Comic Sans. ????

Sorry I forget the Comic Sans. ????

Cycling?

One tird of de way...

I will get my wood ready.

BDO 2019 is going to require new balls, then?

That was unnecessary.

Nope. I am too scared I will spell something wrong.

Is there anything you want to share with us, Sir?

It isn't flat so much down south. Only one of those 105 uploads is not recorded on the Elemnt, but on the phone, which chucked out an error of about 3 000m (and Strava won't let you correct). But still 45 000-odd. Now I must teach myself to gain them metres quicker. #goalswithingoals #vamforbreakfast

Day 100. Already wondering how it will feel missing a day in around 270 days time. The guilt is killing me.

RaceTec's lap count is properly wonky. Managed to not count three of my laps, too. Not that it makes any difference, 'cos Strava is the ultimate oracle.

It would have just looked neater to sit on 364 events with a day to go...

Indeed... Three uploads on "Argus' day (from home, the event, and then back) messing with the number of rides a bit... My best start to the year in a decade or more. Such fun. If I wan't so effing tired I might feel fit again <kidding, lots of recovery rides hidden in here> 3 months done, 9 to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The hardest part of 365/365 is proving to be thinking up new names for similar rides. Is this important, you may ask. Yes. It pisses people off on another thread...

Big things in April. <and I turn 50...> ​October, no plans yet, but sounds like we should go big.

Wait for April... <insert: evil cackle>

Sunday night. Slightly bored. So, checking in - how is everyone doing? 12 weeks done and dusted. Which sounds like a lot, until you subtract that from 52...