A whopping 400 miles!
I remember in 2005 being a bit proud of myself at the end of summer of my first season of riding (note that I don't have riding seasons now -- there's no beginning nor end to when I ride). I had logged a whopping 400+ miles and I was exuberant over my accomplishment when I informed one of my managers (Julie) in the EMC2 office. She was an avid cyclist so I thought she'd appreciate the significance of such a big number.
She did smile, but in retrospect I think it have been just a case of her being polite out of respect for my position. I was a director of Quality Assurance at the time, soon to move into director of Engineering, with my sights set on VP titles and beyond. Needless to say that my career was pretty important to my self-identity. I viewed my work title as partly defining who I was, and the title shed some light down the path of life and what I wanted to be.
A lot has changed since then.
The Meaning of 10,000
I do admit to having a bit of pride in now crossing 10,000 miles for 2011, but not too much. I celebrated the less than momentous occasion for all of about 2 minutes this morning. Partly because it was a milestone achieved at 5 AM in frigid temps. Had I celebrated for any more time than the 2 minutes it took to shoot this photo of the moment, I'd have lost to frostbite some essential body parts required for me to cycle again.
The main reason though that I didn't pop open a bottle of bubbly is that its not like winning a race or climbing some monstrous mountain peak. To be honest, it is not really an accomplishment, other than the fact that I am able to put in lots of hours on the bike.
Yet the number 10,000 does have some significance to me. First, it served as a reminder that I'm darn lucky to have the time to rack up so many hours of enjoyment out on the bike. I'm in a pretty special situation right now with work/life balance, my health, and the support of Mrs D and the girls. You don't get to 10,000 miles without those key ingredients and for that I consider myself both lucky and extremely grateful.
Second, I do take a bit of pride in how I've been able to get many of the hours in w/o infringing upon family time. While I'm certainly lucky with the situation I now find myself in, you also don't get to 10,000 without lots of dedication and determination. I'm certainly not the toughest guy in the world, far from it. However, you don't get a whiff of 10k living in New England while trying to maintain a decent balance with work and the family unless you can tough out a lot of early morning work-outs, either in the basement or in nasty weather.
But perhaps the reason I now find 10,000 of such significance is that it served as a sort of stamp on the paperwork to officially change the way in which I define who I am -- I'm a cyclist now! I'm clearly no longer defined by work; that chapter of my life is closed, at least for now. If a stranger were to ask me what I do, my first response of course would be a dad, but quickly followed by "I'm a cyclist". To be honest, if I ever have to look for a new job now, my path up the career track would only a secondary consideration in the job search. Of primary concern now would be how I could fit cycling into the equation. Would the company's location allow me to commute by bike? Or would they offer the option to work remotely, allowing me to use commuting time instead for cycling? Or maybe would the new job somehow do something to support other cyclists? If so, then let's talk about future career growth and benefit packages if time permits during the interview!
So if you asked me what I did today, I might not even mention the 10,000 miles (OK, that's a stretch). My response should be that the day was nothing out of the normal; just another day in a cyclist's life.
