In Which I Am Just 67 Miles from 1,000

I had hoped to go on a longish bike ride June 1, but it did not work out that way. Between some shopping and planting, and a very pleasant visit with two grandsons, followed by a Skype conversation with my oldest son in Paraguay (or anywhere else, for that matter), the day passed by quite quickly.

Then it rained and all hope of biking was done.

Still, biking is going well, if slightly behind schedule. I have ridden 926.4 miles in 2014, according to my estimates. Those estimates will be slightly less accurate for a while, until I get Francis back from the shop. The Beast has no computer, and Fancy Bike’s computer is reduced to a low battery warning, so recent miles have been guesses. But I’ve been riding relatively familiar routes, so I don’t think the accounting is wildly off the mark.

Anyway, I had hoped to be past 1,000 miles by June 1. I’m close, but not quite there. I’ll have to push for many more miles in June and July. I honestly want to be closing in on 4,000 by summer’s end, because I doubt I can do more than 1,000 miles once the school year begins.

Here is my monthly tally so far:

• January, 62
• February, 38
• March, 194
• April, 301.5
• May, 330.9

The miles are going up. And, I’m only a quarter century from my goal—one long day’s ride on RAGBRAI. I’ll get at least 120 miles in June in just two days—I just registered for the Tour the Raccoon Ride, which I’ll be completing with four other of the six members of RAGBRAI’s Team Joe.

From the web site of the Des Moine Bike Club, http://www.dmcycleclub.com/tour-the-raccoon/, the Tour the Raccoon logo.

Tomorrow? Some rain. Some sun. Some biking, I hope, when the clouds are gone.

Let the three most mile-filed months of the biking year begin!

Note: I know there is a math error in the headline. I'm 73.6 miles from 1,000. The figures are just estimates anyway, so spot me a few miles. I posted this and tweeted it and the headline is out there in cyberspace for all to see.