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See also eg: 

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and:

https://mstdn.social/@eightzero

Rgo=0 September 17, 2022

Rgo=0 September 17, 2022

“Success four flights this morning all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas”

A thousand miles ago, I started pondering how to write this report. An alternative to the Wrights’ proclamation of success is of course In Medias Res, as every epic should; but I settled on the former because…well…aviation. And yes, I arrived at the destination with Rgo equal to zero miles, even if I never used MM305 or MM603. Those of you who know, know.

So here’s my claim: I now have recorded a total number of miles on a bicycle equivalent to the circumference of the Earth. Yes, dedicated and experienced cyclists will yawn at this. Pro cyclists do this about once a year. 24,901 miles seems like a big number to me, so I set the goal a few years ago. I report it complete as of today: one Rev.

Road cycling started in earnest for me in early 2005 as cross training for my chosen olympic sport of fencing. An eBay purchase of a used but promised-as-new Trek 1000 turned out well, and I put 10k miles on it. My Seven Alaris was built for me in late 2009, and has been my trusty steed since. I recorded miles first on a Cateye cyclometer on the Trek; then added those miles to its profile on a Garmin 705 GPS device. The Seven has a separate profile, as did a rental bike from Bicycle Adventures on an extensive bit of vacation cycling. I now have recorded proof of traveling 24,901 miles on a bike (well, a couple of bikes, but you get the idea….) And yes, before you ask, I can truthfully say that indeed my bikes each have exactly two motors: my right leg; and my left leg. Shut up, legs.

The Garmin has tracks and stats back some years. It is fun to remember many of these rides. In the 24,901 miles, there were many centuries, many epic rides, much tomfoolery with the Velominati (.com obey the rules!) All but a few miles on a vacation trip to Alberta Canada are in the US: 200 in Hawai’i, some in CA, OR, NM, MT, NV, and the vast majority in Western WA near my home in Seattle. A 135 mile Gran Fondo in Las Vegas. Several Mt. Baker Hill Climbs (including an epic one in sleet). Several Seattle-to-Portland STP double centuries. RAPSody. Flying Wheels. Chilly Hilly. Mt. Constitution. And oh yeah, that one stupid criterium race I went to that instantly made me give up actual bike racing forever. 

Using some basic maths, I see this likely took about 1720 hours on my bike. Interestingly, that is actually more than the pilot time I’ve logged, and I called that a “profession.” At the time I also called that fun, and retrospectively I can say that i was lucky to have survived it. I sorta feel the same way about arriving at Rgo=0 on my bike. Lucky.

Thank you, Bicycle Adventures. Thank you Cascade Bicycle Club. Thank you Frank at Velominati.com. Thank you Dr. Glover for putting up with my stupid sport, and for going with me on so many of those rides. Thank you Seven Cycles (and their agent Zac at Cascade Bycycle Studio) for building me the most beautiful and perfectly fitting titanium road bike on the planet.

The best part is: no major injuries, no crashes, no broken bones, no trips to the hospital. Yeah, brush backs and assaults by motorists and moronic road ragers, all merely annoying. Thankfully.

I declare success.