I have a little computer on my bike that tells me how fast I’m going and how far I’ve gone. I don’t pay much attention to it. Most of the time I just have it set to show the clock time. The rides I take are almost always to get me somewhere that I need to be, so how far it is doesn’t really matter, I just need to get there. My trips are almost all just around Issaquah. It’s rare for me to be on the bike for more than a couple of miles at a time.

I point these things out because I get the impression people think of me as some endurance gonzo bicycle guy. And somehow when I tell them that my commute is 2.5 miles each way and I usually mosey along at 10-15mph, they still think I’m one of those standard recreational fitness racer wannabe riders. That is so not me.

The kind of riding I do is the kind that anyone can do. Other than rain gear and my helmet I don’t wear any special bike clothes. I ride slow enough that I don’t get sweaty so I don’t have to change or shower when I get where I’m going.

Which is why I was so surprised when I decided to reset the mileage on my bike computer at the beginning of the year so I could start paying attention to it. It was showing 7900 miles! How’d that happen? Granted I’m not quite sure when I reset it last. I think it was when I got this bike which was almost 7 years ago. So 1100 miles a year? Still sounds like a long ways. But that’s only 21 miles a week. 3 miles a day. I guess it’s not so much after all. Those little trips add up.