Cards For Miles

Did you ever have 2 random but completely different thoughts come together for an idea?

Thought #1: Back in December, I bought a secondhand exercise bike. I bought it because I had my yearly checkup and my doctor challenged me to drop 10 pounds. I managed to do 8, but it was enough improvement to make him happy. I kept up with the bike riding for awhile, then eventually stopped. I need to get back to using it regularly, and I think part of my problem is motivation. It was easy when my doctor gave me a concrete goal, less so when it was all on me.

Thought #2: I was playing around on the TCDB recently and wondered to myself how many cards I've acquired this past year. From June 2017 to June 2018, my collection increased by 3,650 cards. That was a shocking total, given as I only really buy a few packs a month. Yet here I was, averaging exactly 10 cards a day! Most of that obviously came from repacks and the generous bounty I've received though trades and blog contests.

So then I had an idea - what if I challenged myself to bike 1 mile for each card I acquire from here on out? Now granted, I'm not in shape enough to just jump on the exercise bike and do 10 miles a day, but surely I can build myself up to that, right? This seems like an achievable goal to me, and worth a shot. To help me commit to this, I'm also planning on posting updates to the blog.

I made this decision in early July, so I made that my starting point. I even used this idea to justify my first purchase of the month, which was made even easier by the knowledge that Stadium Club had finally filtered its way to my local Target. I bought 4 packs - 20 cards. I was now on the hook for 20 miles. If I can do about 3 miles a day, then that purchase could be "earned" in about a week.

2016 Topps Now #475 Ben Zobrist

Now it was just a matter of keeping track of all the cards I get in and how miles I hit each time I ride. So how did I do? Here's the tally:

July Summary

 

Cards

07/07 - 20 cards (bought 4 packs of Stadium Club)
07/09 - 11 cards (trade package received)
07/11 - 12 cards (bought 1 pack of Bowman Platinum)
07/12 - 02 cards (trade package received)
07/13 - 04 cards (trade package received)
07/18 - 30 cards (bought 1 pack of Tops Big League)
07/20 - 25 cards (trade package received)
07/25 - 03 cards (rescued from parents' shed)
07/26 - 06 cards (trade package received)

113 Total Cards (3.65 cards/day average)

Miles

07/09 - 2.58 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/10 - 2.95 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/12 - 3.02 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/14 - 3.15 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/15 - 3.25 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/16 - 3.14 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/18 - 3.32 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/19 - 3.36 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/28 - 3.36 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/29 - 3.57 miles biked (10 minute ride)
07/31 - 3.56 miles biked (10 minute ride)

35.26 Total Miles (3.21 miles/ride average)

113 cards - 35.26 miles = 77.74 miles due

As you can see, I missed my goal by quite a bit. Not exactly how I wanted to start out, but I'm not disappointed. There are a few outliers here. The biggest factor is that I missed two weeks worth of biking (I didn't start until July 9th, then was on vacation for a week later on in the month). A full month would have made these numbers look much better. My main takeaway here is that my card average is very close to the average amount of miles I've been biking each time. That's encouraging.

That being said, I can tell you right now August is going to be much more difficult. I have another trip planned, for one. Then, of course, Topps Archives gets released soon. And then there's this expected delivery. (Not that I'm complaining!) I'll have my work cut out for me, that's for sure!

Can I defeat the odds? Will I ever catch up? Tune in next month and find out!

*****

In case you haven't heard, it's Blue Tape And Pull Tab Awareness Week! This initiative was started by defgav at Baseball Card Breakdown, and I for one have been trying to be a better trader because of it! I've got my blue tape, do you?