2013 Week 12

Week 12 (w/e 24 March 2013)
Miles: 108.9

Another week of attritional mile-collecting.

The week began in a dank and wintry fashion. The rain kept me indoors during the afternoon and the drizzle in the evening had much the same effect. Tuesday was fine and dry until 4 pm, then steady light rain moved in. I didn't get out on the bike because of this until the evening, when I got the week's run chase underway with a 30 minute trundle along the usual loop. 8 miles later, I was back home. Wednesday was grey and cold, but at least it was fine. An hour's ride in the afternoon pushed me on to 22 miles. This became 30 miles once I'd been out and back in the evening.

The weather turned cold again on Thursday for a few days: A finger-numbing chill thanks to that unwelcome eastern wind. I took myself out in the afternoon, with 43 miles the result. I nipped out again at 10 pm. The wind had really whipped up in the hours in between rides and it was damned hard work. I came back with 51 miles. Friday was a wild day, with a blustery wind pushing in sleety showers. I struggled out there for 40 minutes to move on to 60 miles, but it wasn't fun. The wind appeared to haved dropped a touch in the evening, although there were still bursts of drizzle here and there to endure. I dragged myself out and came back with 67 miles.

Saturday continued to be bitter and wintry, with occasional flakes of sleet blowing around. I didn't bother making my customary trip into town, as the weather wasn't great and I didn't really need to go for anything. I went out for a ride instead a little later, coming home with 80 miles. A second trip at 9 pm resulted in a new total of 88 miles. That 100 was edging closer. Sunday was clear and sunny, but that bitter wind was still howling in. It seemed to be gusting a bit harder that it had been. I went out in the late afternoon for a 12 mile ride - just enough to get the ton sorted, then scurried back home into the warmth. Conditions were still fine in the evening, so I nipped out on the usual loop to add another 8 miles to the weekly total.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 7 hrs 4 mins
Total for 2013: 1287.2
2013 average weekly mileage: 107.26
Consecutive 100s: 8
Miles needed for 6000: 4712.8
Percentage of target reached: 21.4%
Required average weekly mileage: 117.82

20% of the way to 6000. Another slow week (average speed of 14.14 mph to get to 100) thanks to that grinding, bitter east wind that arrived mid-week.

Meanwhile, back in 2012...
A total of 167.3 took me to 1417.5 miles. A lead of 130.3 miles takes 2012 somewhere over the horizon. On my averages, that's effectively a lead of a whole week's worth of pedalling.