10,000 Kilometers in a Year: From 27 Kilometers a Day to 365 Days That Changed My Life

Ten thousand kilometers sounds like an astronomical number, but broken down, it’s only 27.4 kilometers per day. I spent an entire year completing this challenge, going through typhoon season, a work slump, and injury rehab along the way—and gaining a brand-new version of myself.

The Origin: A New Year’s Resolution

Every January 1st, I make an annual wish. In previous years, my wishes were either “read more” or “learn English,” and they usually didn’t survive past February. On New Year’s Day 2024, I looked at my total mileage on Strava from the previous year—3,800 kilometers—and thought: why not give myself a more specific, more measurable goal?

Ten thousand kilometers.

I did the math: an average of 27.4 kilometers per day, or roughly 192 kilometers per week. Given my fitness level and lifestyle at the time, this number sat somewhere between “doable” and “a bit of a stretch.” It was exactly the right threshold for a good challenge.

First Quarter: The Honeymoon Phase (Jan–Mar)

January was full of drive. I switched my commute route from the MRT to a bicycle—14 kilometers one way, exactly 28 kilometers round trip, easily hitting my daily quota. Add in weekend group rides, and I racked up 950 kilometers in the first month alone, ahead of schedule.

I slacked off a bit during the Lunar New Year in February, but made up for it with a 130-kilometer group ride on the third day of the new year as a warm-up for a future island tour. In March, the weather started warming up, and my motivation to ride grew stronger. By the end of the first quarter, I had accumulated 2,700 kilometers—200 kilometers ahead of my target pace.

I secretly congratulated myself: this challenge isn’t as hard as I thought.

Second Quarter: The Test of Reality (Apr–Jun)

In April, work entered its busy season. There were several days when I worked overtime until 9 PM and had absolutely no energy left to ride. My commute-riding frequency dropped from five days a week to three, and weekends were often taken up by overtime or family gatherings.

By May, I was falling behind. For the first time, I experienced the “treadmill effect”—every day I was chasing the mileage I’d missed the day before, the pressure kept building, and the joy of riding began to fade. More than once, on my way home from work, I stood at the bike path in the rain, hesitating over whether to ride.

In June, something even trickier happened: I got tangled up in a crash during a group ride, and my left knee slammed into the ground. The X-ray showed no fracture, but the ligament strain required two weeks of rest. During those two weeks, I didn’t ride a single kilometer, and the red numbers on my progress chart grew more glaring by the day.

By the end of the second quarter, my cumulative mileage stood at 4,900 kilometers—100 kilometers behind target. The numbers didn’t look too bad, but the psychological frustration far exceeded what the gap suggested.

Mid-Course Adjustment: Redefining the Rules

In early July, I seriously considered giving up. Not because of physical limitations, but because this challenge was starting to turn cycling into a source of stress. I talked it over with my wife one evening, and she said something very wise: “You set this goal because you love riding. If the goal is making you stop loving riding, then the goal is what needs to change.”

I adjusted my strategy. I stopped obsessing over the daily quota and switched to calculating on a weekly basis. That way, I could ride less on busy workdays and make it up on weekends. I also allowed myself to count trainer mileage—previously I only counted outdoor rides; now indoor riding counted too.

This adjustment looked like lowering the bar, but in reality, it saved the challenge. Because the pressure eased, the joy of riding came back.

Third Quarter: Finding the Rhythm Again (Jul–Sep)

Summer is Taiwan’s golden season for cycling (if you don’t mind the heat). I developed the habit of heading out at 5 AM, completing my daily mileage before the sun got too harsh. There’s a special magic to Taipei in the early morning—empty streets, cool air, and the sky slowly brightening.

August’s typhoon season brought another challenge. For an entire week, typhoons kept me indoors, and I gritted through seven days on the trainer. Pedaling through virtual routes on the screen while watching the raging storm outside the living-room window—I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but at least the mileage didn’t fall behind.

In late September, I did a four-day island tour. I rode 960 kilometers in four days, pulling my progress back into the lead in one fell swoop. My cumulative mileage reached 7,800 kilometers.

Fourth Quarter: The Final Sprint (Oct–Dec)

Starting in October, I knew completing 10,000 kilometers was only a matter of time. With 2,200 kilometers left and three months to go, I only needed 730 kilometers per month—a pace that had become second nature to me by then.

But in November, something unexpected happened—I caught a cold. Not just any cold, but the kind that lingers and refuses to go away, with a cough that lasted a full three weeks. The doctor strictly forbade strenuous exercise, so I could only maintain the bare minimum of mileage through slow commute rides. During those three weeks, I rode less than 15 kilometers a day, watching my progress start to slip again.

In early December, the cold finally cleared up. I did the math: 800 kilometers to go, 31 days left. An average of 26 kilometers per day—right back to the quota from the start of the year. Everything felt like it had come full circle, but I was no longer the same person I had been at the beginning of the year.

The Moment of Achievement

On December 27th, an ordinary Friday morning, I was on my commute when I saw my Garmin annual mileage tick over to 10,003 kilometers. No fireworks, no finish line—just an utterly unremarkable intersection in Taipei.

I pulled over to the side of the road, took a screenshot, and sent it to my wife. She replied with a sticker that said “I knew you could do it.” Then I kept riding to work.

Just like that. The 10,000-kilometer challenge ended on an ordinary morning.

Reflections a Year Later

Final numbers: 10,247 kilometers for the year, 287 riding days, and 98,000 meters of total elevation gain. Behind those numbers are 287 early-morning alarms, countless moments of “I don’t feel like riding today,” and the small victories of “I went out anyway” repeated over and over.

The most important thing this challenge taught me is this: the power of consistency far outweighs the power of bursts of effort. Ten thousand kilometers wasn’t accomplished through a few long-distance rides—it was built up day by day, 27 kilometers at a time. This principle applies to cycling, and it applies to any long-term goal in life.

This year’s annual goal? Twelve thousand. Not because ten thousand wasn’t enough, but because I now know I’m capable of more.

Related Reading

• Taiwan 100-Day Cycling Plan: How Riding Every Day Changed Me
• The 30-Day Consecutive Cycling Challenge: A Record of Physical and Mental Changes
• The 100K Challenge Day: My Training Journey from Zero to 100 Kilometers
• One Year of Bike Commuting: A Real Record of Health, Wallet, and Quality of Life