Biking About

 

   The screen shot above is from a photo on my iPhone. It is a picture of the odometer on my bike and the startlingly large number represents the number of kilometers I have ridden to date. You are looking at it because I put it in this blog and I did so, so I would know where it is. I never know where my photos are and frequently lose them and will probably soon lose my phone. 
   My plan is to take another shot of the odometer at the end of the summer and put it in this blog so I will know where it is as well. Another purpose will be served, in that, the already impressive number will have increased dramatically, I'm sure, and I will have publicly documented the private promise made to myself on this May 1 to be more active this summer in an attempt to be less fat by winter.
   I know that those statisticians among you are thinking that the number is only "startling' if you know when I started, or got the odometer. If the recording began in, say, 1957, the number would only be startling because it is such a small one. Well, it looks like I got the bike on May 26, 2020 which was almost 3 years ago, or 1070 days. Riding only 4575 kms in 3 years is not that impressive, unless one remembers that in Canada a wimp like myself will only ride on the very few days when it is not freezing or raining (these were also the Plague Years.) Unfortunately I didn't keep track of those days, but I can assure you that there are very few; few enough that the number is again rather startling.
  On the other hand, the Americans among you will say the number is not so impressive because it is in kilometers. I have really only ridden about 2840 miles which is not that startling, but it is still almost a 1000 miles a year and each of those years only had a few rideable days. 
   Finally, there are sure to be a few among you who feel the need to be critical and will have noticed the BATT in the picture and realized that the odometer sits on top of the handlebars of an E-bike and argue that 2840 miles, or even 4575 kms, is not that startling after all. Perhaps I will still startle you, if by summer's end the number has increased significantly, but I may not since it is too cold and rainy today to go riding which is why I am blogging.

The Bonus:
   Is really a question. What is the kilometer/metric word that would be the synonym for the meaning expressed by the word "mileage?"