After 122 straight days of running, I took a day off. On that day, I rode a bicycle. That was August 1st and 30 days later, I had rode a bike every single day in August.
After all of my runs for the last 4 months, I wanted to keep my exercise streak going, but figured I would switch it up from running, so I started biking. Whether the weather was chilly, sunny, windy or even rainy, I always found time to bike every day. I ended up biking 402 miles during the 31 days of August. Nearly an average of 13 miles per day. Definitely the most days I have ever biked in a row and the most miles in a month. I have never been a serious biker, and probably haven’t rode a bike more than a few hundred feet in the past 10 years, maybe the last time was the “Runt Races” from 2009 but did my best during the month of August (although no rides on the runt, as it was sold a few years back). As they say, you never forget how to ride a bike.
A few shots from throughout the month. Bike rides in New Lenox, Naperville and South Haven, Michigan. Rachel joined for a handful of rides!
Now that you enjoyed the visuals of my rides, take a look at a breakdown of each day. Some days longer than others, some a bit slower than others, but regardless, I always found time to bike a minimum of five miles.
Here is a breakdown of biking days in August
August 1 - 5.11 miles
August 2 - 7.48 miles
August 3 - 10.05 miles
August 4 - 6.25 miles
August 5 - 8.88 miles
August 6 - 8.80 miles
August 7 - 9.09 miles
August 8 - 15.00 miles
August 9 - 18.06 miles
August 10 - 6.06 miles
10 day total - 94.78 miles
August 11 - 5.24 miles
August 12 - 15.00 miles
August 13 - 12.32 miles
August 14 - 10.00 miles
August 15 - 9.26 miles
August 16 - 20.01 miles
August 17 - 11.11 miles
August 18 - 26.02 miles
August 19 - 10.14 miles
August 20 - 10.10 miles
10 day total - 129..20 miles
20 day total - 223.98 miles
August 21 - 20.20 miles
August 22 - 10.34 miles
August 23 - 13.31 miles
August 24 - 12.36 miles
August 25 - 8.78 miles
August 26 - 15.30 miles
August 27 - 15.13 miles
August 28 - 10.05 miles
August 29 - 50.50 miles
August 30 - 10.11 miles
August 31 - 12.25 miles
11 day total - 178.33 miles
31 day total - 402.31 miles
Here are the maps of where I biked, the distances I biked and the time it took for my first 31 bicycle trips of 2020.
Benefits I found from daily cycling:
Nice to get out and about, clear the mind. Biking makes you feel good inside and out, and makes you feel free. The wind in your hair (or in your eyes) feels amazing.
Consistent, relatively easy exercise. It was nice to be able to go outside and get fresh air every day. Whether my bike was 20 minutes or an hour long, it felt great to do.
It is easy on the body! Especially compared to running… I never felt “tired” or “hurt” from a bike ride. No pressure on the joints or knees! And we live in Illinois, the land is so flat, so there are very few “hard” rides that have a lot of hills.
Working out = stronger legs and healthier heart from cardio.
Something to do and look forward to every day; and you can do it alone or with friends (a new way to explore your neighborhood and build lasting memories). I highly recommend music or podcasts. Biking is “boring” in the sense that it takes a long time and you’ll want something to do while you ride.
Gets you off the couch and outside of your home! Coronavirus lockdown specific: Biking is mostly away from others, just don’t bike behind (or in front of) someone for an extended period of time. “On your left”
Struggles I found from daily biking:
Time. Biking takes so much longer than running. In order to get a decent workout, I found that I had to bike at least 45 minutes.
Weather - I started this biking adventure in August, which was still very warm in the Chicago area, however, it was hard to maintain this for 31 straight days. If there was rain in the forecast, you had to fit in the ride when it wasn’t raining.
Sunlight - the days are getting shorter and shorter as the year goes on. That means the sun sets earlier and there is less sunlight. Trying to fit a bike in after work becomes less reliable as the season goes on. I’ve started to ride in the morning more often.
Boring rides - Welcome to Illinois. It’s flat and there isn’t much to see. However, if you find the right trails and routes, you can enjoy each ride and actually find some pretty unique routes. Hills, bumps, forest, animals and more. You just need to find the right spots.
Dat Booty - All I can say is do what you can to prep that booty. It will take a beating for the first week or two of riding. Even the short rides of 5-10 miles will do some damage to the butt. Once you taking a pounding it becomes natural and you’ll manage. Just gotta get used to it.
I highly recommend everyone try a 30 day biking challenge of some sort. Cycle at least 5 miles a day for an entire month. I usually bike around 15 miles per hour when I am pedaling the entire time. This means each mile takes about 4 minutes. If you do that with a 2 minute cushion, it shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to bike 5 miles and you won’t regret it!
Tour De Ashbury - Drove by Adam, Brian, John and My childhood houses all in the Ashbury subdivision in Naperville. Only 1 of us still have parents living there in 2020 (it’s me).
My Gear
I used a Garmin Forerunner 35 watch for all of these rides which has GPS built in, so I did not need to carry my phone with me. It is pretty affordable at only $99. But I tell you right now, I did take my phone on every bike ride and suggest you do the same, not only for music/podcasts to make the ride easy, but also just in case of emergency.
The 2 bikes that I primarily rode during the month of August were both mountain bikes. A Specialized “Hard Rock” bike that was my brothers when we were growing up as kids (I rode this in Naperville) and my Father in law’s Trek 800 bike (that I rode in New Lenox). I’m sure the pro’s will recommend bikes that fit your size and stature and all the other fancy items, I just suggest getting out there on any type of bike and doing it.
My biking attire was mainly athletic shirt and shorts, nothing special for 30 of my 31 rides. I did buy “special” biking shorts with padding in the booty for my 50 mile ride which you can find here. Highly recommend if you have an uncomfortable seat or plan on being on the bike for 3+ hours.
Helmet. Definitely recommend a helmet for anyone riding a bike. Why risk taking a fall, even if you don’t think you’ll need it you never know what can happen. Get a helmet and wear it for every ride. Safety first.
And that concludes my month of biking every day in August.
Get excited for my next monthly task of lifting weights every day in the month of September.
Josh