1998: Week 13 (w/e 29 March 1998)
Miles: 77.2
In the previous entry I mention that in the equivalent week in 1998, I only posted a score of 77 miles. This made me curious. After all, I've previously stated that '98 was the year when I
really went for it, dashing out there on the bike whenever I had any spare time to really push the totals along. So what happened in week 13? Looking at the stats made me even more curious, as it stands out as a rare flop in an otherwise impressive parade of mile-tastic weeks. Indeed, prior to week 13 I'd posted 8 consecutive weeks of 100+, at an average of 130.55 miles per week. After week 13 came 38 consecutive weeks of 100+, a run that only came to an end in the very last week of the year - and then, oddly, only by a flimsy deficit of 8.2 miles, which was about half an hour's pedalling. I may have to review that week in the future.
I dug out my diary to have a read.
Back in 1998 I wasn't quite as particular as I am now with recording my daily progress, but I can estimate the totals from the journeys I wrote about. I used to commute to work when the weather was ok, which was a round trip of 20 miles. Speaking of work, I was frantically busy in week 13 organising a big office move which meant I had to go in for overtime for both days of the weekend. This had a lot to do with the sad failure to secure a ton of miles, as in those days it wasn't unusual for me to do 100 miles just over the two days of the weekend. Crazy. The week unravelled like this:
Monday - Off to a good start with cycling to work and back, despite the overcast skies. So that would be a total of around 20 miles.
Tuesday - Rain, so I drove to work.
Wednesday - Raining again, so I drove to work again.
Thursday - Still raining! So I drove to work. The skies cleared in the evening, apparently, but I didn't take advantage of this and add some more miles. I must have felt guilty since I recorded this fact in the diary.
Friday - More rain! So another drive to work. I did, however, manage to nip out in the evening for an hour, so that probably added 17 miles to the total - I was faster in those days on my road bike. So that probably took me to 37 miles on the clock.
Saturday - I had to go into work to oversee the office move so I drove in, despite it being a sunny day. Damn. I sped off in the evening though, for 75 minutes (it says), coming home with 57 miles (it also says).
Sunday - Back into work in the morning for more overtime, but I cycled in. But along came more rain in mid-afternoon... I got a soaking on the way home. Presumably it was still raining in the evening or I didn't feel like getting out there for more miles. Surely the former? Either way, that meant I finished with the reported 77 miles.
So there you have it. Defeated by a combination of wet weather and a weekend of work.
