585 miles in 23 days?

Forty days ago, I set a big goal - I wanted to finish my first round of Commute for a Cause with 850 miles in the last 60 (or so) days. Well, there are 23 days left in this first go (including today, since I'm writing this at 7am) and I've got 585 miles to go. Looking back over my bike log, I've been on my bike only 13 days since I set that goal 40 days ago. Thirteen days of riding in 40 days?! Really?? Why?? Flipping through my bike log for those days, here's what I had pencilled in on the days that I didn't ride. Keep in mind that every day that I didn't ride doesn't have an explanation:

• Disneyland (3 days)
• First big storm of the season, biggest since 1962 (1 day)
• Work stuff (2 days)
• Texas (3 days)
• Charlotte, NC (5 days)

So a little bit of travel and a little bit of work stuff has kept me off my bike recently.

If I'm going to make my goal of 850 miles in 60 days, then I need to average 27 miles per day for the next 23 days. The challenge with that, which I'm just now discovering, is that the type of riding I do doesn't support 30+ miles per day. I commute to work and I ride trails. I don't own a fast road bike - one that I can hop on and cover 50 miles in a few hours. That type of riding has never interested me, and if I had that type of bike I wouldn't be writing this post. So whether or not I make my goal, I've learned one thing - that I'm still doing the type of riding I love for the right reasons for a good cause.

And speaking of a good cause, take a minute to check out the Homeless Garden Project's current wish list. You can also click here to donate to Commute for a Cause. All the money I raise is going to support HGP. Thanks!