2023 In Numbers

This might sound contradictory. You see, I'm not particularly fond of lists, rankings and such. I’m more of a numbers, data, statistics person. Numbers, in particular, captivate my attention during walks and bike rides. During my walks I usually listen to podcasts, but when cycling, my focus remains on the road. I frequently challenge myself with small estimations, such as predicting the precise time of arrival or estimating distances between points A and B. During walks, I might estimate the number of 'macadams' when approaching the 30 km sign in the village or a specific intersection—quirky things like that.

As mentioned, statistics are always enjoyable, and here's what Strava has compiled for my 'Year In Sport 2023.' Inspired by the captivating article by Scott Boms, I decided to craft my own illustration:

Ever since I own an Apple Watch, my focus has been on completing my activity rings, which entails engaging in at least 20 minutes of exercise each day, burning 560 calories daily, and standing up for a few minutes every hour. Personally, the daily stand goal holds particular significance for me, especially since I spend extended periods sitting while working. The watch prompts me to stand up if I haven't done so within the hour, a health-conscious feature in my opinion. I strive to meet the other goals daily for overall well-being. According to my Apple Watch, I have successfully closed all rings for the past 543 days. However, there was one day I recall when I forgot to charge my watch properly 🤦🏼‍♀️, disrupting the counting as certain rings remained unclosed on that day.

I'm thrilled to have achieved the set goal of riding 12,000 km again. However, we faced some challenges during the Summer and early Fall, with periods when we couldn't go for bike rides due to ongoing construction and installations around the house. Instead of being ahead of our usual schedule, we found ourselves behind when the wet and windy Fall weather set in. Since around mid-October, the weather has been consistently dreadful, with an unprecedented number of wet, windy, and grey days in 2023. Despite the challenges, we persevered. After each ride, we had to clean our bikes. Fortunately, the fenders provided substantial protection for both the bike and our apparel, but even with them, the bike ended up dirty after every single ride.

Fingers crossed for better weather in 2024 🤞🏼. Unfortunately, the first few days of this new year haven't been promising, with a few storms and heavy rain, even posing a flooding threat in our nearby neighborhood. However, next week I see some dry days with periods of sunshine showing up in the forecast, along with freezing temperatures. It’ll be cold for sure to ride my bike, but I don't mind as long as there's sunshine.