A public statement as a means of motivation

Well I suppose this is the time of year for making resolutions and plans and such. This is my goal for cycling for the year. In some ways it is very conservative and I could surprise myself and exceed it... but when I look at the total miles it is really quite an optimistic goal (and not a little intimidating) and only time will tell how well I do. Since riding in the cold really REALLY sucks I am not going to hold myself to an unrealistic goal and from now until early March I just want to ride at least once a week. Obviously if I can get more rides in then great and I'm sure we will have some stretches where the road conditions are bad for many days (or even weeks) at a time. I figure if I can get in a few 2 ride or 3 ride weeks these will make up for the long breaks I may need to take due to road conditions.

Here is the breakdown I've come up with:
(a 'ride' would indicate a round trip commute [23 miles] OR a 16+ mile Saturday ride)

*assuming all rides are commutes

Now until March (8 weeks) -
1 ride per week (184 miles*)

During the month of March as it starts warming up -
2 rides per week (184 miles*)

Starting in April I expect to have my riding endurance back and it should be much warmer. April to end of June -
3 rides per week (828 miles*)

By July I should have hit my 1,000 mile base training mark and at this point I want to be able to really hit my peak and push myself. July to the end of September -
4 rides per week (1104 miles*)

Total mileage - 2300 miles!!!

Obviously this last phase is the most challenging goal and I hope to be able to attain it and maintain this rate for as much of the last 12 weeks as possible. 2300 miles is obviously a lot for a beginner but I think by starting early and taking my time increasing the weekly mileage I will at least have a chance of sticking with it.

I won't project beyond the end of September because when it starts getting cold again I can't say what I will decide to do. My cycling goals for now will extend until October and then we'll go from there.