Yesterday, I hit 1,000 miles of riding so far this year. I’m running a bit behind where I thought I would be by now, but I don’t mind — especially given the fact that I was out for at least two weeks when I got my wisdom teeth removed. Last year, I hit 1,000 miles on May 27, so I’m well ahead of where I was last year.

Monday night, I rode on Shilo Road after work. It felt great to get in about a 25-mile ride after work, I haven’t done enough rides like that lately. Shilo Road is always a fun challenge, with lots of twists and turns and a very rough road surface where you must choose your line very carefully. I stopped by Bean Blossom Creek to rest for a moment.

Bean Blossom Creek

An interesting gate alongside Shilo Road that I hadn’t even noticed before

After Shilo I was on Anderson Lane for a while, where I saw a wild turkey and a couple of deer. As I was heading back on Old 37, on the big climb near the fire station, another rider passed me. He was going a lot faster than I was, and I was impressed with his climbing abilities. I greeted him as he passed, but he didn’t say anything.

Old 37 climb

Wide open space

To keep things interesting, I decided to go home a bit of a different way than usual, going by Lake Griffy. I often avoid this because of the big climb on the other side of the lake. The lake looked gorgeous as the sun was getting low in the sky and reflecting off the lake. Lots of people were fishing, both in boats and on the shore.

Lake Griffy

The climb wasn’t as bad as I remembered it being, and also served as a reminder of how far I’ve come in the last year or so. It was still tiring, but it was a lot easier than it’s ever been before. I passed another rider on the way up and said hi, but he didn’t return my greeting.

Reaching the top of the hill

Thousands of dandelions by the Bypass

Overpass

Part of campus


Plaque

The rest of the trip home followed my commute route and was easy and relaxing. A great post-work ride.

April was not a good month for cycling for me. Despite the fact that spring weather finally arrived, I spent about two weeks off the bike. I had two of my wisdom teeth extracted, and had some really bad allergy problems. Shockingly, looking back on my riding, I only rode my road bike once in April.

The flipside of this has been increased productivity in other areas. I had more time for some geeky projects (and even made a little extra money), photography, hiking, and music. I am looking forward to getting more time in the saddle again, but I may need to find a better balance between riding and … well, everything else.

All told, I rode 135.10 miles in April. That’s least I’ve ridden in a full month since I started tracking my miles. That’s breaks down to 47.30 road miles,  54.30 commuting miles, and 33.00 mountain biking miles. Oh, and one half-mile errand.

March was pretty rough, with some snow, a lot of rain, and cold weather that seemed to stick around forever. I rode as much as I could, though, and my mileage broke down as follows:

Commutes (14): 82 miles
Errands (4): 15.9 miles
Road rides (11): 255.67 miles
Mountain biking: none, trails too muddy

Total for March, 2008: 341.17 miles
Year to date: 713.43 miles

For the sake of comparison, I rode 258.66 miles last March.