Finance Friday: a week’s recap

Last weekend I participated in an organized bicycle event where I rode a total of 150 miles by the time I was home. It was a self-supported event with no entry fee so didn’t have the costs associated with rides that offer catered stops, mechanical support, and route markers. I used printed route cue sheets to avoid purchasing a bike computer or GPS and it was great fun – and yep, I totally went off course in the wrong direction more than once, ha!

The whole experience was fantastic! Just over a year ago I couldn’t fathom riding 10 miles, so it felt pretty good to have accomplished a stretch goal. The weather was perfect, the route was beautiful, and I recovered much quicker than I expected. Over-preparedness on the hydration and food fronts definitely paid off.

I have the distance bug now. But I haven’t signed up for other rides in the season, because there are some downsides. I spent fairly minimally throughout the ride at food stops and brought a lot of my own supplies, but it still added up to more than I would spend in a routine weekend. Just the sheer amount of calories compared to a normal day added up fast. It’s also a big time commitment- at least one full day of riding, sometimes more, and I already struggle with feeling like I don’t have enough time to enjoy the summer days.

As a sporting event on its own, it’s extremely frugal – but I think my goals are better served by sitting this season out.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful – took my lunches to work, spent a lovely day with a friend at her house, went on a group bicycle ride and afterward ordered one side of fries. I was debating during the entire ride whether I should stay for the social end. This is another area that is starting to feel less goal-servicing than it did over the winter. I tend to stay up too late and often spend too much money. The flip side is that this is a great group of people that has welcomed me very warmly and I can’t quite tell if it’s just social nerves wanting me to pull back; if so, I just need to work through those impulses. And squash the impulses to buy a beer 🙂

I was going to make dandelion jam today but looked out the window to see my neighbor had mowed my entire yard :/  So a little cleaning and cooking and an evening with a library book seems to be on the docket instead.

Have a lovely weekend, frugal friends!