I thought I spent a lot of time on a bike and amassed a large number of days ridden each year. A recent post on the RBR newsletter showed me I have a long way to go:
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Great Scott!
At the end of each December, we've updated you on the streak owned by
RBR contributor Jim Langley. He's now in his 14th year of riding
(indoors or out) at least one hour every day.
Imagine riding 4,797 days in a row. That's Jim's total today.
We've said that his streak may be a world record because none of us
had heard of anyone claiming a longer string of consecutive days.
Well, it turns out that Jim, 53, has a ways to go.
We've learned that Scott Dickson, a 57-year-old former college
professor in Newark, Delaware, has a steak that will reach 24 years in
May. He's approaching 8,700 consecutive rides — and counting.
All of Scott's rides have been outside despite living where winter is
harsh in Iowa, Kansas and Ohio. (Jim is in Northern California.) Even
Delaware is no day at the beach in February, as those of us living in
the East were reminded last week by a crippling winter storm.
From 1988 to 1998 Scott's minimum daily ride was 20 miles (32.2 km).
It's been 3 miles (4.8 km) since then, meaning Scott could keep his
streak alive on just 21 miles (33.8 km) a week and little more than an
hour of effort. Jim, meanwhile, would total at least 7 hours of
pedaling during the same period.
Do not, however, even begin to think that Scott would take the easy
road. Get a load of his astounding career stats (as of late January):
—710,000+ lifetime miles (1,143,100 km) since January of 1973.
—549,000 miles (883,890 km), 1,472 centuries, and 381 race victories
since his last day off the bike.
—23,200 average annual miles (37,352 km) for 25 years.
—27,513 miles (44,296 km) in biggest year, 1987.
—21,397 miles (43,449 km) in smallest year, 2001.
—1,826 century days (days with 100+ miles, 161+ km).
—At least one century per month for 301 consecutive months.
—Feb. 28 & 29 and Dec. 5 & 13 are the only calendar dates on which
he hasn't ridden a century.
—442 race victories since 1965, including three first-place finishes
in Paris-Brest-Paris and three U.S. masters championships.
Scott says the idea of riding every day was born in 1973 when he read
a news bit in a bike racing magazine. The clipping has been in his
cycling log ever since: "Merckx's other golden rule is never to let a
day go by without riding the bike, no matter what the weather."
We hooked up Scott and Jim, figuring that if any two roadies had
something in common it's these guys.
Scott was pleased to make contact, and told RBR, "All these years I
pretty much kept the streaks to myself thinking that nobody else would
ever be into this, let alone understand."
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