Another 2,000-Mile Year in the Books

Kennebec Pass, Durango, CO. Photo: Marcel Slootheer

I've officially passed 2,000 riding miles this year! ✅ It was down to the wire, but 2020 was only the second year in the past 6 that I've managed to break 2,000. The last time was in 2017, and before that it was 2014.

After tracking my mileage for years, I decided that 2,000 miles was a pretty accurate threshold to determine whether or not I'd had a good year of mountain biking. Anything above 2,000 qualified as respectable, but if I didn't hit 2,000, it meant that something had gone wrong that year—usually an injury of some sort. This standard has held up to scrutiny fairly well. For example, I passed 1,800 miles last year and spent most of the year traveling far and wide with my mountain bike, but a month or so with very little biking in mid-summer due to an overuse injury kept me from passing my 2,000-mile threshold.

Of course, mountain biking wasn't the only sport I did in 2020. I covered almost 500 miles on foot and logged 32 days of snowboarding during the 2019/2020 season. I've also spent plenty of days on the SUP board this year and dabbled in other sports like kayaking and rock climbing.

I feel very fortunate to have hit 2,000 bike miles on top of all the other adventures that the past year contained. But if you have to go outside every single day—366 in 2020, since it was a leap year—there's plenty of time to indulge all of your outdoor pursuits!