My year in statistics

Two pieces of technology had a major impact on my life this year; a Fitbit health monitor and the Strava app on my iPhone. It made me become a little obsessed with life stats, and, as some of you know, I have my grand life tracker spread sheet that I update regularly. So this tells me a few things:

• On average I walk just over 5 miles a day, an average of 10685 steps with 35 active minutes every day.
• I sleep 7.3 hours a night, waking twice and am restless 9 times on average per night
• I have cycled 2603 miles this year (with a final blast today of a shade under 40 miles today), have spent 215 hours in the saddle, recorded 141 rides, and climbed 92,257 feet
• On average I ride 2.7 times a week and cover 50 miles
• My biggest single ride was 65 miles (Bike Bath), which included my biggest climb of 696 feet (up the side of Cheddar Gorge) but managed over 110 miles in 24 hours with an evening ride around the South Circular in London, an early hours return, and then to the Severn Bridge and Back from Bath the next morning.
• I have burnt 133,000 extra calories through cycling
• My average working week (including “holiday” weeks) is 62.6 hours.
• My average overall daily calorie burn is 3845
• My average pulse (55 over the year) and BP have dropped over the year.
• My weight dropped by roughly 3 stone, and my BMI has crossed a critical health boundary.

So what does this mean?

Cycling has given me something that isn’t work and isn’t home that has been enormously important for my physical and emotional well-being. I am a MAMIL and proud. On starting the cycling journey I could get in to the largest size of clothing Rapha make. Just about. Well, only the stretchy stuff.

Now I can comfortably buy across the range, and actually wear it without looking like an escapee from an out-sized fetish party. And you know what, it’s worth the money. Sport Wool is a magical material. As is Roubaix fleece backed Lycra. The kit works and helps me cycle longer and faster more comfortably. And yes, it makes me feel good about myself to have decent kit.

Tyre pressures are also important – low tyre pressures can knock 2 miles per hour off your average, and make it harder to make progress. This is now important to me. As is lubrication. For my bike.

The adage “N+1, S-1” is true – you really can always find a reason to buy another bike, (“N+1”) but there is a limit that one tries to stay below (“S-1”). I think I may be at or around that threshold. .

I set myself the goal of cycling 2500 miles before year end – and I exceeded this. I also wanted to climb three times the height of Everest on my bike by the end of the year – and I managed it. Just.

I can fit now comfortably in to a pair of rose red (aka faded pink) trousers that I accidentally bought one size too small and that my wife hates. I take pride in wearing them.

I am also rediscovering clothes that I had left behind over the past few years

But this doesn’t tell you about the really important stuff.

4 became 5 with the arrival of the little miracle that is my baby daughter – the other Impossible Girl. My two boys continue to flourish and give us the best and worst of my wife and me in glorious Technicolor.

I probably spend too much time working (but actually a lot less than in previous roles), such is the nature of my working life, but am in the massively privileged position of working with so many of my close friends and people in the industry for whom I have massive respect. While this year has been hard work, I’m proud of what the business has achieved and it has allowed us to grow through doing good things.

I am enormously grateful to my friends for giving us support during some challenging times, and am grateful that I’ve had chance to spend more time than expected with some of those closest to me. But that doesn’t mean I spend enough time with those most special to me, and that needs to change.

I am generally a happier, healthier person.

I’m not going to do “stop” resolutions this year, but I am going to set myself some more positive challenges. And no, I’m not declaring them here.. yet.

A happy and healthy new year to one and all.