September (and the countdown) begins

Happy Labor Day weekend! As of Saturday night, September 5th, I've already ridden three times this month, with more likely to come.

On Thursday, September 3rd, I broke the 1,000 mile mark for 2009, my second consecutive year of achieving that goal. Ironically, last year I also exceeded 1,000 miles on my first ride in September. On this day, I left work early and started riding at 5 o'clock. The weather was great, with sunny skies, temperatures in the mid-70s, low humidity, and very light breezes. I retraced part of my earlier route in reverse, passing the spot in Hanover Park where I camped out awhile on my last ride to fix a flat tire. This time, my 22.8 mile route carried me through Streamwood and Schaumburg before turning southward toward home.

On Friday, September 4th, I left work an hour early (again) and started my ride at 4:40 p.m. This time, I rode to the Starbucks on Irving Park Road, had a refreshing cold beverage to celebrate the start of the holiday weekend, then continued northward through Schaumburg roads. On my way back, I passed through the Meacham Grove Preserve and along the Lake Street bicycle bridge. My ride today was only 17.1 miles long.

On Saturday, September 5th, I started my ride shortly after 4 p.m. The sky was much cloudier, due to a weather disturbance in southern Illinois, but the temperatures were still in the low 70s with light easterly winds. My ride carried me through Bartlett along the Wilcox Trail, the name of an otherwise unnamed one-mile paved trail that parallels Wilcox Drive. I then worked my way to the Bartlett Trail, another paved trail (in somewhat disrepair), and then along Struckman, Bartlett, and Schick Roads to the Hawk Hollow South Trail, which I traced to Lies Road. I continued south and westward along residential roads, passed Sonny Acres, then joined the Elgin Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail before following Kuhn Road back home. My ride this day was 25.4 miles, bringing my seasonal total within 184 miles of my new goal -- exceeding my 2008 seaonal total.

All this year, I've consistently stated that I wasn't specifically trying to exceed my total mileage for 2008, which was 1,226.2 miles. However, now that I realize that I'm almost exactly on par with where I was last year at this time, it's hard not to re-think my position. So . . . I guess I'll go for it. Reviewing my rides during September and October of last year, I see nothing out of the ordinary that makes my job this year any more daunting. So why not break my own record? With all these factors floating in my mind, I can think of no good reason not to.

So my "One for All" webpage now carries a small number underneath the "Miles ridden in 2009" number that shows the remaining miles needed to match 2008's total. As the days (and rides) pass, this number will drop.