Stupid Inspirational Jerks As some of you may know, I'm an off-and-on bicycling enthusiast. I also own one of those funny-looking types of bike called a recumbent, which I love with an almost religious zeal. Not to bore you too much, as you are likely to come across a recumbent rider in person at least once in your life, and he or she will most likely bore you to death with the advantages of recumbents over those other inferior bikes. This is also the same argument as Macs versus PCs. Just substitute 'Macs' for 'recumbents' and PCs for 'bikes'. And since I'm also a Mac user, this should show you that at least I am consistent in my delusory assertions. At any rate, I love my 'bent, because it is so comfortable. I'm past loving pain for pain's sake, and truth be told, I was at best a lukewarm disciple of it. So I don't see any reason to put up with sore shoulders, neck, and the worst result of riding upright bikes, the dreaded seat-butt (or crotch, to put a fine point on it). So if you get a chance to ride one, give it a go. I've ridden far more miles in the last eight years because of this bike, because after a layoff I don't have to endure three weeks of pain in order to begin to enjoy riding again. Plus I can see more on my 'bent, blah, blah, blah-I'm boring myself now.

But the preceding paragraph is only context for my actual point. I've begun riding again, just 10 miles a pop over the last couple of days, to see if my cardiovascular system will actually leap out of my body and choke me to death in a rage over its neglect this last, oh, two years or so. And I'm getting a little older, so I was worried about being able to ride 100-200 miles per week to and from work. After suggesting to myself that that might be an unrealistic goal, I had to go and read this. I'll spare you having to read it, because it's dry, but here are the high points:

1) This guy won Bentrider Online's contest for the most miles logged in one year.*
2) He is 54 years old, and has only been riding bikes of any kind (during his adult life) for seven years.
3) In those seven years, he has logged 165,000 miles.
4) In four of those years he averaged 28,000 miles each year riding only nine months.
5) His longest one-day ride is 412 miles. 412 miles in 24 hours.

So, he slacked off this year and racked up only 22,000 miles. I also infer from the interview that he rode those miles over the entire year, and not just nine months, the big layabout. Even so, that is over 423 miles a week, all 52 weeks of the year. And he's 54. He's obviously kept very fit over the course of his life, but that is impressive. Maybe 50 is the new 40.

But, in conclusion, I hate you Rand Milam, for being so selfishly inspirational, and in the process, robbing me of all of my excuses. Curses be upon you!


*I think the contest was weighted for age, since the first paragraph notes that at least one person logged over 28,000 miles.  ¶ 14:02