2024... by the numbers
Some of it is not on Strava either
It’s a new year and I thought it would be fun to look back and see what (numerically) was going on with me the last twelve months. Like a lot of cyclists I have a Strava account - it has several features that I find useful but the main draw for me is the social part of it - you can ‘friend ‘ other cyclists and see what and where they are riding. If a riding buddy moves away you can still see what they are doing in the new locale and stay connected too. Even if you are stuck inside sometimes I find it inspiring and motivating to know what my cycling posse is up to.
The other feature often seen around now is the year-end summary. Strava will log all your activities and give you a fancy little wrap up - mine looks like this:
You might notice some of my numbers were down from before - a less than average year for me but given I was working through some health issues until end of April it’s all fine. I actually exceeded the mileage goal I set at the beginning of the year and I guess I can thank the doctors for that one.
Real numbers nerds can connect Strava to other platforms - or extract the data and do their own thing with spreadsheets or whatever. I am a nerd but maybe not the nerdiest… I find it motivation enough to set a goal and track against it.
This year I actually used Strava to track some hiking and other activities - it’s pretty flexible. My daughter logs pickleball sessions on her account!
There is a saying I have heard more than once… ‘if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen.’ This is almost always offered as a jest but it got me thinking about some of the fun and fulfilling things we did this year that are not recorded on Strava.
For example I have written before about my volunteer position with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency [MPCA]. This year I was checking two streams and one river for water clarity and temperature. The very wet spring made for some wildly variable results - especially in the Cannon River. By August things got very dry and it was sometimes hard to even get a bucket of water to sample from Spring Creek. The monitor season tracks from April to September and I managed to get out there 23 times this year. This does not include the half dozen lakes I was able to measure while in the Boundary Waters with the guys in July. It’s fun and easy to contribute and this year I was able to attend a year end lunch in St. Paul. Volunteers from all over the state convened for a program and nice picnic lunch. There is a lot of energy in a room full of volunteers!
Another thing not recorded on Strava [at first] were some strength and balance sessions we started doing in June. My wife is looking at knee surgery soon and in the lead up to that her doctor suggested that some kind of movement program like this would be good. Not exactly PT but definitely exercise - I found myself enjoying it very much. I won’t speak for Sheri but it has been fun for me to get out and do something new together. We have been working with Tina Moen at Well Fitness Studio in Northfield and we like how she can accommodate older athletes just getting into the gym for the first time.
Something else my wife and I had never done together happened in September. I took her to see a world tour pro bike race! I’ll probably write more about this experience later but the trip was a blast in many ways.
For now I will just note we drove a lot - Minneapolis to Montreal is more than 1200 miles. Did a bunch of sightseeing on the way there and back [hello Niagara Falls] and enjoyed just about all of it. It was our first big trip since before COVID really and we want to go to Montreal again - probably longer than a weekend next time. We’re not city people but it is beautiful there in September and the neighborhoods we saw felt really intimate - almost small town!
The last numbers I’ll throw out have to do with me and Substack. I’ve been a happy reader here for a couple years now but my first writing this spring was definitely an experiment. I had one or two things written for other assignments and I thought this would be an easy place to keep them altogether. I also thought it might be a convenient way to broadcast group bike rides - turns out that didn’t get much traction. I didn’t really guess how much I would enjoy writing the odd essay on all kinds of topics - not just cycling. And I definitely didn’t expect reader counts going into the hundreds but the stats are there and I thank you for that validation. This is for me mostly but I like to think it’s light entertainment for those who have the time to look. Here is a link to my most read post last year:
Happy new Year!
“Hold on - let me start my watch.” 😉 Love seeing what you’re up to on Strava! You’re kind of the only reason I have it actually ❤️ Another great year in the numbers for you!