Sam is thinking about setting goals and being reasonable – FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

Alison’s recent blog post has got me thinking about goals and their pupose. In Once More Round the Sun: on resetting year-end goals, motivation, and delight Alison talks about how it can be motivational to adjust your goals in light of challenges and circumstanced. You’ve still got a goal and that still pushes you and serves a purpose even if it’s not the goal you originally set.

In past years I’ve done that with various fitness challenges. Remember the burpee challenge? Here’s Tracy on why scaling back can work. Or our various running streaks?

Thinking about this made me realize that it’s time for me to have some real cycling goals. For the past few years, it’s all been about rehab from knee replacement surgery. My main focus has been getting stronger.

My current distance goals are the same ones I’ve had for years and they’re currently not serving a purpose. If they have an effect, it’s making me sad. They’re not motivational.

My annual distance goal is 5000 km a year and 100 km a week. I easily met that when I was doing weekday training rides (not just bike commuting), doing organized long rides on the weekend, and doing significant distance cycling holidays or charity riding events.

On the plus side, I’ve now got a bike trainer and Zwift so I can ride in all kinds of weather. In the old days, I met the 5000 km goal while not riding much at all November through March.

A more reasonable goal for me I think is 50 km a week when I’m in Zwift mode and say 75 km a week in the summer months. Let’s say summer is 12 weeks, so that’s 900 km. The other 40 weeks, I’ll aim for 50 km, and that’s 2000 km. If I add and then round up, it’s 3000 km.

If it looks like I’ll meet that too easily I’ll make some summer adjustments but from where I sit now it’s both a stretch from where I’ve been but also doable.

What else is on my cycling plate this spring and summer?

🚲 Definitely bike packing.

🚲 Definitely some Pedaling for Parkinsons charity bike riding.

🚲 The bike rally if we can figure out which chunk to do.

🚲 And I would like one stretch distance goal, either a metric century about 160 km or 200 km.

How about you? Do you scale your goals to your life and circumstances? Any examples to share.