Cycling

The tables below hold a record of my cycling mileage from 2009 to the present day.  I was going well in 2011 and was looking to top 7000 miles in 2012 when unfortunately I got a bout of rheumatic arthritis which set me back a lot and I didn’t even make half that distance.

I got good medical care though and built up the mileage to 5000 over the next two years but then I required an operation for a new knee at the very end of 2014.  This once again set my mileage back a bit.  The new knee works well so I am pedalling away quite happily but I have to be careful with it so my mileage has reduced again.

2018

I am trying to add a little bit each year and was hoping for 4200 miles in 2018 but ailments, injury and bad weather set me back significantly.  Some good summer weather got me back on track but I had no reserve yet against  bad winter conditions.  I got slightly ahead of the game by the end of September and then bad weather and a pulled muscle ruined the end of October and the whole of November.  Luckily an unusually mild December let me creep over the 4000 mile mark before the end of the year.

2019

I started slowly this year.  We got surprisingly good weather in February. Unfortunately my feet started to trouble me in March and it took me a long time to get cycling again.  I had some good summer and early autumn months but cold weather in November brought things to a bit of a halt as I was determined not to fall off on an icy patch.  December didn’t improve things, being either icy or windy for a lot of the time.

2020

I am plagued by the infirmities of age but at least I got some cycling in during January and started this year better than four of the five previous ones.  February had the wettest weather on record but was followed by a dry March and April so I got caught up a bit.  The lockdown got me into a cycling and walking routine and I was able to keep up a steady mileage in the summer months.   The lockdown continued and I continued to mix cycling and walking so my mileage ended up not too bad in the end.

2021

The first five months of the year were in lockdown so there was very little variety in my outings, and I did a lot of short rides.  Very cold weather in January started me off slowly and it was still unusually cold until well into May so I was pleased to get some steady miles in, including one ride of eighty miles. The weather was pretty dry over the summer and I was able to do some good miles including an hundred mile outing in June. Early autumn was quite kind and November and December, in spite of severe storm at the end of November, allowed me to add some miles without having to cycle in bad weather as they remained pretty well frost free.

2022

We were still very limited by virus restrictions at the beginning of the year but the weather was kind in January, so I got off to a reasonably good start.  It wasn’t so kind in February which was very windy.  Spring was not too bad in general but there was a lot of windy weather so I didn’t get quite the mileage in that I would have liked.  Mrs Tootlepedal and I bought folding electric bikes in April and we have done a few hundred miles on them which I have added to my total.   The electric bikes turned out to be a very good purchase and between us, we cycled 530  miles on them in May and June.  July and August both had good weather and I was able to get some good rides in.  The weather in December was much more conducive to walking than cycling so I ended the year with rather fewer miles than I had hoped for, though anything over 4000 keeps me happy.  In the end I did 2600 miles on my road bike and 1400 on my electric bike.

2023

2023 started with some discouraging weather and I  had a poor start to the year as far as mileage went in the first two months, though I see that it was almost exactly the same amount in total as the previous two years.

	2024	total	2023	total	2022	total	2021	total
January			157	157	248	248	104	104
Feb			252	409	156	404	308	412
March					443	847	363	775
April					356	1203	506	1281
May					361	1564	478	1759
June					511	2075	503	2262
July					427	2502	410	2673
August					462	2964	447	3120
Sept					367	3331	413	3533
Oct					310	3641	304	3837
Nov					254	3895	317	4154
Dec					129	4024	165	4319

 2017 – 2020

	2020	total	2019		2018	total	2017	total
January	222	222	210	210	176	176	242	242
Feb	102	324	293	503	131	307	330	572
March	441	775	42	545	366	673	512	1084
April	357	1132	223	768	389	1063	431	1515
May	457	1589	161	929	446	1509	453	1968
June	427	2006	237	1166	520	2029	441	2409
July	426	2432	403	1509	426	2455	382	2791
August	459	2891	402	1971	566	3021	506	3297
Sept	404	3295	439	2410	379	3400	237	3534
Oct	428	3713	361	2771	240	3640	410	3944
Nov	292	4015	156	2927	27	3667	58	4002
Dec	195	4210	150	3076	345	4012	170	4172

2013-2016

	2016	total	2015	total	2014	total	2013	total
January	83	83	0	0	400	400	311	311
February	268	351	98	98	503	903	403	714
March	500	851	308	407	444	1348	330	1044
April	411	1262	391	799	510	1858	395	1439
May	374	1636	307	1106	452	2311	419	1858
June	424	2060	446	1553	459	2770	401	2259
July	469	2529	225	1778	469	3239	502	2761
August	396	2925	478	2256	500	3739	498	3259
Sept	283	3208	514	2770	614	4353	348	3607
Oct	468	3676	441	3212	358	4711	302	3909
Nov	281	3957	170	3382	296	5007	238	4147
Dec	182	4139	162	3544	0	5007	220	4367

2009-2012

	2012	total	2011	total	2010	total	2009	total
January	344	344	297	297	155	155	327	327
February	200	544	527	824	354	509	434	761
March	415	959	713	1537	606	1115	507	1268
April	369	1328	690	2227	642	1757	619	1887
May	262	1590	614	2841	691	2448	419	2306
June	129	1719	627	3468	600	3048	500	2806
July	190	1909	807	4275	551	3599	569	3375
August	305	2214	613	4888	534	4133	539	3914
Sept	477	2692	599	5487	513	4646	702	4616
October	408	3101	439	5926	577	5223	507	5123
Nov	299	3400	483	6409	365	5588	390	5513
Dec	60	3460	272	6681	71	5659	0	5153

Bikes: I purchased an Avanti Blade with belt drive at the end of 2012. It is noticeable that I have never had to clean and oil its belt or buy a new chain and cassette since.

This is my ordinary road bike. It a Giant SCR with 30 gears. I use mudguards because I don’t like getting a dirty stripe up my back on wet days. I have done well over 14000 miles on this one and find it pretty comfortable for long rides. It has been very reliable apart from the odd puncture.

This is Mrs Tootlepedal’s town bike suitable for riding with a skirt on. This is her most used bike as she goes to work on it as well as visiting shops and going about her general business in the town. It is a Dawes and a very comfortable and manoeuvrable machine.

This is the bike Mrs Tootlepedal takes on our long rides. She has done over 7000 miles on this. It is also a Dawes and for the money it was a wonderful buy. It has been utterly reliable, very comfortable and a good workhorse with equipment for a back rack and two rear panniers.

Cycle Tours

We have done three longish trips on these bikes. First on 2006 we went to see Mrs Tootlepedal’s brother in Marlow in the south of England and that was just about 400 miles and took us a week. Next in 2007 we went to see her sister in the south of France and that took us 700 miles in two weeks from St Malo to near Toulouse. Then in 2008 we did the Land’s End to John O’ Groats, which was 970 miles and took us nineteen and a half days.

Later tours were shorter and less demanding.

Because lugging bikes about had become a bit of a trial for us old people we turned to hire bikes for our next foreign tours. In 2010 we went to North Holland and did a leisurely 200 miles in a week. enjoying the tulip fields and canals. In 2012 we managed 200 miles in the south of France some of it along the Canal du Midi. In 2013 we enjoyed a 150 mile five day tour with Cycling Languedoc based round Nimes in southern France.

Pictures of some of our end-to-end guests

John and Andy: May 2012

Scott and Cat on their honeymoon setting off to Edinburgh in the rain: Sept 2011

Dave on his way to Peebles, April 2011

Greg on his way south: April 2011

Colin Brackley

Oliver and Emily

Dave and Stuart

Claire and Sarah

Billy and Mark

Chris

Mick and Tina

Jaquelyn