Mission accomplished. Today's temperature was mid 40's and the wind was out of the SSW at 15 mph. The forecast for the next week drops into the mid 20's so I figured I had a small window to finish my year biking 10,000 miles. 59 miles was the number of miles I needed to ride which was doable. Nearing the finish the bike computer reached 9,999.9 I was about half a block from my house. So, I stopped and carried my bike so it wouldn't turn over to 0. That was the most I had ridden in a year so next year I am going to cut back. Mission accomplished

Still stuck on the 9,941 mile mark for the year. Weather is too harsh...6 inches of snow and -2 degrees temp. Friend said if I weren't such a wus I would bike in those conditions to get the 10,000 miles in by the end of the year. That was my goal. I must be a wus cause it ain't gonna happen unless the weather improves. Looking at getting a new bike. Possibly like the one above. Ha!! Yea, right!!

Getting closer. Rode outside on Dec. 1 on my way to finish the year with having ridden 10,000 miles. Currently only 59 miles to go. When it happens I will take a picture and post it. After tomorrow the rest of the week goes to single digits with a high in the 20's. No riding on those days so if possible I will to the 59 tomorrow.

This is the view one block from my front door. Ninety miles to my goal of 10,000 for the year. Nevertheless, I will be taking time off the bike to help friends during these trying times. Keeping everything in its proper perspective.

This is my new mantra

My Fifty Friday turned out to be a Happy 100. And, this time it wasn't with a tailwind. Those who have criticized me for doing my 100 mile ride from Washington to Champaign, only if there is a tailwind, will now know I had a crosswind and a quartering headwind the entire way. Ha, that was not exactly the plan since the weather channel was wrong in its prediction of wind direction. Nevertheless, I decided to ride the 100 miles anyway. The good news is that there were no close calls with motorists, no one shouting foul insults with accompanying hand gestures, and no flat tires. All in all a good ride. That was the 5th century I've done since Spring. I will wait until next Spring before my next one. On another note, I was intrigued by the Africa ride from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa until I read Magic Mikes e-mail post. After he had inquired into the same ride he was told the major problems were "rocks being thrown at riders, kidnapping and being shot". I suspect that removed the intrigue for me. I still have the Great Alaska Highway on my list of rides but it's still in the planning stage.

Just returned from a week vacationing on the Outter Banks of North Carolina. I took my bike and rode many of the same roads we took on the East Coast Ride. I forget how much sand can get into the bike gears and how difficult it is to keep bike clean. Also, it got quite windy so, depending on the direction I would bike 20 miles into it then fly on the return with the wind at my back. All in all a great week of biking the coast of North Carolina