30 Days of Biking, April 2014 Wrap-Up

Another 30 Days of Biking is wrapping up, and for me, successfully. This is the third year I’ve participated in the challenge. There were only maybe two days when getting on a bike was a conscious decision; the remainder were just part of my day-to-day life, riding bikes for recreation and transportation in a small town.

I really like this little program: “Very simply, it’s a pledge to ride your bike every day in April, however far you want, no matter the weather! Next, you share your adventures online, with #30daysofbiking. That’s all there is to it.”

For me, it’s about establishing healthy habits, about making biking just a normal and natural part of everyday life.

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” ~ Samuel Johnson

It ended up being a pretty big month for me, mileage-wise, with over 600 miles spread out over 50+ separate trips, on several different bikes. About a quarter of those miles were for basic transportation (trips to the grocery store, errands, etc.), and the remainder were just for fun and exercise.

I had four weeks in a row of at least a single 100Km (62.5 miles) ride. I’d not been that consistent with my distance for quite some time, so it felt good to get out on at least one long ride each weekend.

Some photos from the month:

This shot was from early in the month, on a gravel ride. At this point, the weather was warmish, but the grasses were just beginning to green up.

This is a low-water crossing of Little Deer Creek in Allen County. The next day, heavy rains would turn this little stream into a raging flood, and this road would be underwater.

As the weather warmed, traffic picked up on the local trails. Great to see so many folks on bikes!

One of the best things about Spring is the re-emergence of windflowers along the roadsides. The Blue Phlox, along a gravel road in Allen County, were especially pretty.

Riding through downtown Elsmore, Kansas. It was once a vibrant little place, but sadly, there’s not much left. But the main street is wide enough to use as a runway.

This is my favorite image from the month … “My Kind of Life” indeed! This is located in Katy Park in Chanute, Kansas.

For me, an exciting event during late April was the installation of sharrows in Iola. It’s a modest beginning, but this is the first on-street bicycling infrastructure of any kind in this small town of 5700, so it’ll be interesting to see the reactions from local people.

Kick-biking on the Southwind Rail Trail. I picked up this Diggler Dirt Dawg up at a garage sale, just to try it out and see how it feels. And, well, it’s kinda fun, but I don’t expect to be making it my full-time ride. It’s about twice as fast as walking, and about half as fast as biking. It was quite a workout, just for two miles on the gravel trail.

My month wrapped up with a group ride in Parsons, the Osage Prairie Tour. It was raining on the way to the event, but by the start of the ride, the rain had moved on, though it was still cool and overcast. The sun soon came out and the wind picked up, and it turned out to be a great day to ride 65 miles in southeastern Kansas.

Did you participate in 30 Days of Biking this year? Feel free to comment with your results and thoughts.

As for me, I’m excited to take part in the upcoming National Bike Challenge, so this biking life will hopefully continue to just keep rolling along!

Post tags: DirtBum