16658 + 368 (may) + 271 (june) + 535 (july) + 140 (august, up until now) = 17972 miles
Low mileage in june because I was out travelling in North America for 2 weeks (half pleasure, half business), only managed to do 2 serious bike rides. One was a couple of loops in Vancouver's Stanley Park on a rented bike. Nothing spectacular, it was a bit of a grey, gloomy day, but nice to get the legs going.
However, the weekend before that was a very fun ride. I was staying with (cycling) friends in Missoula, MT, and they suggested we'd go to Glacier National Park to ride the Going To The Sun Road. At that time, june 7th, it wasn't completely cleared of snow just yet so they kept it closed for cars quite far down and you could bike almost all the way up to Logan Pass. It was 25 km from Avalance Creek campground (where the road was closed) to the point where the snow blocked the road, a little bit below the actual pass. Rising from 1000 to almost 2000 meters in the process, so a fairly relaxed gradient. My friends lent me a road bike while they took their heavy touring bikes, which meant I was a lot faster going up than them. Spent a while waiting for them halfway up at The Loop (the only hairpin curve on the road) and then waited for them again at the top.
Cycling the "Going To The Sun Road" in Glacier National Park by
hans905, on Flickr
Cycling the "Going To The Sun Road" in Glacier National Park by
hans905, on Flickr
Cycling the "Going To The Sun Road" in Glacier National Park by
hans905, on Flickr
So yeah, very happy I got that opportunity, very pleased to see I was able to do it without too much trouble. Mostly due to the relaxed gradient, and the lack of oxygen didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Mind you, it wasn't easy, but at no point did I get in trouble. Lots of people out and about on bikes, going up I didn't actually get passed by anybody unless I was stopped for a photo. Also saw lots of people who seemed very unprepared for the ride (1 small water bottle, it was quite warm and it took me 2 hours of actual biking to get to the top, plus another hour to get back down...)