36,500km in 365 days - Cycling Against Living Miserably

'You're at the stage of having essentially cracked it but, because of the scale of the thing, it is still a hell of a long way to go in actual km and hours' This is exactly it.

I'm going to take a long weekend every month to keep on top of the distance and do some of my favourite longer routes. I don't want to go to mad with mini-challenges due to injuring with the idea of a racing. I'm keen on adapting my riding to training, some intervals and cadence work would help to keep my mind interested especially while on the turbo which I'm finding boring AF.

The Holland trip will be to test my new Isen r3 which hopefully I can get built up to where I want by late spring. Essentially i need a decent set of wheels for this and the frame will be ready by Jan/Feb.

The reason why I'm doing this challenge is definitely keeping me motivated, I'm keen to push the charity side of this more. I haven't had much correspondence with CALM so I'm going to poke them this week. I feel on top of the riding side of this challenge, it's just the publicity part which I haven't a lot of except for a little bit of Instagram.

May I make a few thoughts.

1. The final mknths or weeks will likely be tough mentally, you're just longing it to be over. Plan some fun rides in advance, things you can look forward to. Riding to see something new, see a mate, visit a nice cafe or restaurant.

2. Don't underestimate how lost you will feel once it is over. You'll be confused and all sorts of emotions running about. You commute to work right? That will be ideal to keep the legs spinning. And may I suggest making some plans for the weekends after if you haven't already, which could be a weekend away with your partner, plan it yourself, as a thank you. This will again keep the mind occupied.

Thanks

I'm going to make more of an effort to join groups at the weekend as that's always nice. New roads and new places should help, everything I do now is probably too comfortable.

That's a good idea, everything I plan for cycling now seems to be bigger than what I'm currently doing. Maybe a weekend away off the bike and a non cycling holiday will help with the challenge ending. It's strange progressing with this challenge as it's very normal now. Committing all my time and resources to something with a purpose is fun and there's not much spare time to faff. There's definitely going to be a void once I've completed this. Yes I commute, it's between 250-300km a week which will keep my legs ticking over till I start training for the next thing.

Just want to echo what many have said. This is an incredible effort and inspiring me to target a much more modest goal. Keep it up and make sure you don't get complacent, there is still a very long way to go.

Thank you, my target for next year will be a lot more modest :) Every goal is an achievement no matter the size. Cycling 22km in the rain yesterday was my biggest for months, that was definitely gritty

Currently sitting at day 261 at 26,222km. I had Friday off work and managed 215km with one of my mates, was great to do a big ride when the weather was nice. I've been pretty tired since this ride but it was definitely worth it as I'm now sitting at a day ahead.

You have just over 10,000 km to go, which, in the context of over 36,000 is not so much. That said, most of us would consider 10,000 km a big year and would have the long summer days to achieve much of it. I continue to be so much in awe of your drive and determination.

Thanks Clive, I should hit sub 10,00km to go tomorrow which I feel very happy about. Before this year the maximum distance I cycled over the year was 6,000km (There were a lot of kms on the Erg/Water though) so it's been a huge amount of riding.

In other news, I've just had a call from a reporter from the Metro so hopefully there will be a nice story out of it and I can raise a bit of awareness. It was my first call with a reporter so hopefully what I said had some meaning and I don't come across badly....

I have been reading this thread all year - what you're doing is nothing short of remarkable. Amazing to be raising the awareness of the importance of one's mental health. I hope this challenge continues to have a positive impact on yours now and in the future. Thanks - i'll continue to follow closely and donate. L

Have you got sick at all?

Luckily no, my diet is good and I'm attempting to sleep as much as possible. I had some fatigue after my first vaccine but apart from that it's been more injuries that have been the problem.

Day 264, celebrating 9,992km to go

1 Attachment

Well done, keep smashing it

https://metro.co.uk/2021/10/15/cycle-for-wellbeing-meet-the-man-cycling-100km-a-day-for-mental-health-15421875/

Well done - good story!

Nicely done.

nice read! well done !

Thanks all, I definitely was worrying about it as the call was quite chilled but it reads well so I'm pleased. The photo credits are wrong but that's no huge issue, hopefully they can change that

Reads really well, much win.

Can I make a joke?

Bet your partner slapped you when she read the opening sentence! ;)

Everyone who knows me knows I’m happiest when I’m on my bike

Nice read. And really good on you

Nahh she's pretty chilled, she also said that to me. Must mean she likes time apart... I won't read into it too much

Cheers and thanks for the share

Good article, Joel. Let’s hope it helps you meet your fundraising target. Still in awe of what you are doing.

Excellent stuff.

Just going to leave this here...
The distance around the circumference of the Earth is 40,075km...

Thanks

But the minimum distance to cycle around the world is 29,000km according to Guinness world records. I definitely googled this before i started :) I have debated going for that distance but it's too many kms for just a big week or two