I ended up 2012 with around 155-160 rides (I got lazy about recording my rides at the end of the year, so I don’t have an exact number). I may stop keeping track of individual rides in 2013 because I’m not getting much out of it any more — I’ll continue to track mileage, mainly because it’s useful for knowing when to replace tires, chains and things like that, and I may “check off” days that I rode, just to have a count… but anything beyond that seems superfluous. OK, maybe I lied. I recently installed “Runkeeper” on my iPhone, and I’m using it for tracking my runs. It apparently also works for cycling, so I’ll probably give it a shot. If it’s easy and seems useful, I’ll let it keep track of my ride stats for me. Point being, I’m done manually recording detailed ride stats, other than total mileage.
I’m on the tail end of my 2-week holiday break, and I missed my last couple of rides to work due to illness, so I haven’t been on a bike for a while. I just got my mountain bike ready for winter. It’s now sporting studded tires, platform pedals with power grips, and my latest new gadget: Bar Mitts. Bar Mitts are large neoprene sleeves that cover the entire end of the bars, including brake levers and shifters. You stick your hands into them kind of like a giant oven mitt, and they’re supposed to create a wind barrier that keeps your hands warm. The weather forecast for my first day back at work (Thursday 1/3) is looking cold, so I’ll likely get to test the Bar Mitts out soon. Once I’ve ridden with them a couple of times, I’ll post a review.