Biking About (5)

    It is snowing today and I will not be doing any cycling. In fact, given that I am a fair weather cyclist, I am sure I won't be riding any more this year. So, I just ran through the wet snow to the garage to take that picture. I learned from it that I cycled 1547 km this year, since I put away the bike last year on Nov. 6. Although this 'series' represents my attempt to keep some statistics about my cycling, it is clear that I am not good at it. I didn't record when I started this 'spring', but it was likely sometime in April, maybe even March.  American readers are reminded that Canada has two 'seasons', July and winter, and that 1547km, is less that 1000 miles (960), I am sorry to learn. 
  While I am at it, I might as well document all of this, since I am as good at record keeping as I am in tabulating statistics. I do little jotting down of things, or keeping notes, so that is why you are learning these personal things here. If Google pulls the plug on "Blogger", however, we will lose all of the valuable posts in MM, and I probably won't even remember where I put my bike.
   It looks like I bought the bike on May 26, 2020, right about the time the plague hit. That means I have had the bike for five years and five months. I first recorded these valuable data on, May 1, 2023, after I had travelled 4574km. (Biking About).
   "Biking About (2)" does not mention me, but it does discuss how cycling affects one's sex life, so you might want to have a look. "Biking About (No.3)" contains the only known photo of the cyclist, so you may not want to have a look. "Biking About (No.4)", is here, and you are looking at #5. Now I will be able to find them next November if "Blogger" and I still exist.

The Bonus: It's Not About Me
   I am rather embarrassed about the pathetic data recorded above, particularly since this just happened: 
The French student, Oscar Delaite, pictured, just did a "Wheelie" for over six hours and travelled 93 miles. You won't believe me, so here is a note and a source:
  "Specifically, 150.4 kilometers (or 93.45 miles) over six hours and 31 minutes, completed in late September. The mark -- "Greatest Distance Covered While Performing a Continuous Bicycle Wheelie" -- is confirmed and in the books. Guinness World Records sent Oscar the congratulatory email on Monday."
"The College Student Who Did a Wheelie --for 93 Miles," Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, Nov.14, 2025. Here is an article that is not behind a paywall: "Oscar Delaite Shatters Wheelie World Record with 150 km Ride," Matteo, The Cycling Week, Oct. 15, 2025.

Biking About (No.4)

    

    Back in November 2023, I put away my bike and the odometer displayed the number 6009. Although the weather is nice now, I probably will not be riding it again this year. We leave for Vancouver today for two weeks and it is likely I will be shovelling rather than biking when I return. 
   I took this picture yesterday and it looks like I pedalled just over 1400K during our brief summer period. It appears that I did about the same distance last year. I probably could have gone farther if I had one of those fancy Spandex biking outfits. 
   The main purpose of this post is that it provides me with a record of my summer cycling accomplishments and it gives you something to read which doesn't involve the American election.
   For more fascinating details see: "Biking About (No.3) and this one. To see if biking affects your sex life read, "Biking About." It had no affect on mine. 

Biking About (No.3)

 

   On May 1, 2023 in a post labelled, "Biking About" there is a picture of the odometer on my bike and the number displayed is 4575.  In it, i indicated I would provide a tally in the fall and it is pictured above. I stopped riding around Nov.15, so during that six month period I rode about 1435K or around 890 miles. Serious cyclists will make fun of that total, but, as is the case with most things, I am not too serious about cycling. In my defence I will note that I rode mainly on nice, sunny, warm days of which there are not many in southern Ontario. There will be even fewer in the next six months and I will not be joining those riding on fat tires through the falling snow in the darkness. 

The Bonus:
   While looking for my earlier post, I found that I had done another one with the title, "Biking About," which illustrates my lack of creativity. But in it I did offer some observations about how cycling may affect sexual activity. 

Post Script:
   You have learned little from this post, but at least I have provided for myself some record of one of my activities. If I had wanted to impress you I could have offered my drinking statistics, but fortunately I didn't keep track of them. For persevering I will now provide a picture of "Octo Man" who is associated with MM. It is the only known photo of him taken during this century and it was done by accident. In attempting to take a picture of the Thames River along which the cyclist often rode, he didn't realize the phone was pointing in the wrong direction. Here is that first and last 'selfie', which, one hopes, only a few loyal readers of MM will notice.