On March 13th 2016 I decided that I would try and cycle every day for 12 months to try and instill regular exercise as an essential part of my life.

Much to my surprise, I actually managed to do it and logged a ride on STRAVA every day to prove it too! (Summary of the stats down below)

Insert celebration music here!

It’s simply been a fantastic 12 months. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time and certainly the fittest! Not that this streak was a feat of athletic performance, but it was a convincing win for willpower, determination and single-minded devotion to a goal…something I’ve struggled with in the past.

When I decided to begin this streak, I had been vegan for 6 months and starting to change my ways after a decade of poor food choices and inactivity. But even at this time, my willpower was weak. I kept falling back on junk food choices and repeatedly failing to get any regular exercise.

After watching durianrider’s video (expletive warning!) I wanted to start using my bike for commuting every day. I thought “why not fill my weekends with riding too?” and the idea of cycling daily was born.

How I Did It

Your mind will be a powerful ally or enemy, you just need to decide what side it’s on.

Being accountable to someone or something also helped I was met with weird looks from family and friends when I shared what I was doing but it was fun to remind them every couple of months that I was still chipping away at that stupid challenge. STRAVA is awesome here too. I developed an impulse to upload a ride to my training log so there would be no gaps! Accountability helped on off-days but I quickly reminded myself I was doing this for myself, not for anyone else. Otherwise, accountability will fade.

But the off days were rare, I never really had to drag myself out of the house. I was grateful to be able to ride a bike and enjoyed the time to myself without any distractions. A great form of meditation.

I realise a challenge like this isn’t practical or even necessary for everyone. But if you think you’d benefit, give yourself a 7 day, 30 day or 365 day goal and get it going!!

Now For The Stats!

Total distance: 8,915km

Time on the bike: 495 hours

Average distance per week: 171km

Average time per week: 9 hours 30 minutes

Average distance per day: 24.4km

Average time per day: 1 hour 20 minutes

Bikes acquired: 2

Started with a hybrid bike and ended with hybrid, road and cyclocross bike. Hey, a man’s got to have a backup plan (or two), right?

Commuting distance: 4,236km/2,632 miles.

That’s 1.2 tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions saved from not driving. For comparison, the average Brit has an annual CO2 emission of 10.92 tons (excuse you) of which, 1.5 tons is used for heating the home and 1.4 tons is used in the production and storage of a person’s food and drink. Quite the handy saving.

Crashes: 2

First was to avoid an over excited dog chasing another dog into the road :]

Second was putting too much power through the pedals on a wet and greasy painted white line :[

Left STI lever of my bike took a battering on both occasions and so did my left hip but no lasting damage to man or machine 😀

Calories Burned: 197,300 or 56.4 pounds of fat

Assuming a pace of 10-12mph & a weight of 145 pounds

Memories made, fun had & attitude changes: Countless 😉

Massive thanks to everyone who has supported me on this challenge, left kudos and comments – you’re all awesome!

Highlights

Day 8: Enfield Lock to Ware

This was the first ‘long’ ride of my life. I remember being so nervous about taking enough food and water. Think I took enough food for a trip to Mars!

Day 72: First ever Metric Century, from outside London to central London..and back!

Day 100: London to Brighton BHF 2016 to top off 100 days of cycling

Day 114: London to Cambridge

Day 141: Morning Ride with Dan, smashed Mott Street PR + KOM

Day 183: First ever century to celebrate 6 months of daily cycling!

Day 237: Amazingly fun off road ride with Kevin & David – toughest ride yet!

Day 315: Nah, screw the stationary bike

What’s Next?

I need to take some time now to think what to do next. I think I have a good base to start some proper training but really need an event to target to get the most motivation. I’m also passionate about doing something else that’s a bit kookier or unique.

Open to suggestions!

For the moment, I will keep cycling daily.