Cycling Hopes And Dreams 2023

[sevenfourate]

wet wipe wash
My job is sweaty and smelly so i just have a deodorant blast as i have an "aroma" of burnt metal after work

Welder, Fabricator, Plater, or…..?

 

[sevenfourate]

Whilst I do mostly really enjoy cycling. I really just love being outdoors; and need to exercise regularly and stop being a ‘binge ‘ cyclist. So to reverse that trend - i’m intending to commute (16 mile round trip) wherever possible this Summer.

Just some decent’ish weather and to remain injury free would be great 👍

 

[Gwylan]

wet wipe wash
My job is sweaty and smelly so i just have a deodorant blast as i have an "aroma" of burnt metal after work

Known in our house as a "Belgian shower"

 

[Rusty Nails]

To get to the stage again where going for a ride is something I  want to do rather than  ought to do.

Being selfish I would like to go on a week long cycling break, preferably somewhere sunny, but my wife has some health issues at the moment and I cannot justify it to myself.

 

[annedonnelly]

I need to get back to cycling. I've completely lost interest over the last few months. Hopefully things will change in the New Year.

 

[freiston]

I want to do more overnight camping trips - some stealth camping/bivying would be good (to keep the price down and hopefully keep my options fluid). My usual mileage is quite low - so more overnighters will enable getting further afield from home. I like the little lanes and the traffic-free routes too, so I'd like to get somewhere different from my usual stomping ground without relying on fast busy roads to get me there - possibly by finding a cheap and easy train trip to bypass some big roads and supplement my mileage.

Money and work has been in short supply the last few years but there's some chance of more regular work in the new year and I have a little windfall coming - if the work comes, I will be able to use some of the windfall to build a new bike. I've been building it in my head the last few months - a wide-tyred disc-braked touring bike that will do everything and make off-road more achievable.

 

[Slick]

Much like others, I'm looking for a much better 23 as 22 was pretty tough. I've decided to take a job to work from home and go from a job where you never get to the bottom of the pile no matter what you do or how late you work, to being one of those annoying people who keep you back as they talk forever as they have far too much time on their hands. The winter might be long, but come the spring I am planning a few short overnighter's with my brother who treated me to a lovely tent gor my Christmas. Fingers crossed I can keep up with him.

 

[cyberknight]

Welder, Fabricator, Plater, or…..?

i do work in an car manufacturing weld/body shop so a lot of robots welding in all day with the odd hand mig welders about

 

[vickster]

I need to get back to cycling. I've completely lost interest over the last few months. Hopefully things will change in the New Year.

A new bike might help

 

[Andy in Germany]

• Bike tour from Cologne (or Düsseldorf if we think we can do it) to Stuttgart in April with a good friend and my three boys.
• More local cycling: Ride clear across the Rhine valley from my village next to the Black Forest to the Voges mountains on the French side,
• Finally complete the round trip to Strasbourg I keep telling myself I should do.
• Build the 'Wayfarer 2.0' touring bike from the frame I have, preferably before the aforementioned bike tour so I can use it on that.
• Get Beautiful Daughter's next bike ready and ridable.

and possibly most importantly:

• Get my employment contract renewed in May so I can stay working in the bike workshop, and get the place organised.

.

 

[annedonnelly]

A new bike might help

Nope. I got a new one already. If I get anymore they're going to have to start living in the garden.

 

[DCLane]

Having had to withdraw from PBP in 2019 due to Son no. 2's national championships in Ireland like @Ming the Merciless I'm hoping to qualify and ride Paris-Brest-Paris this year. Again it clashes with his nationals, this time the U23 track nationals. The result is rather than taking my time as a Randonneur/Touriste I'll have to be super-fit and hammer it round in about 60 hours or so with the bunch of nutcases that are the Vedettes. We've a Plan B, but that's Plan A. It means the plan to turn my Dawes Kingpin into a long-distance 20-speed 20"-wheeled audax thing isn't needed ... yet.

I'm also racing track in 2023, possibly for the final year, at Derby, Manchester and hopefully Scunthorpe once that re-starts. We'll see how that goes as I just don't have the top-end sprint speed to compete properly: that means I've got to attack hard before the sprint and hope to hold the chasing hordes off each time. It's .

There's a seldom-used TT bike as well to get a few miles on. Again, this may be my final year of time-trialling unless I shift to the stupidly long-distance stuff.

Otherwise the hope is to continue commuting safely and get some decent long-distance rides. Like this year I may have to come out of retirement to help out in a crit race again when they're short of entrants, but I hope not to.

Finally I'm planning to volunteer to do a bit of marshalling at races. Crit races to start with and then other bits. With Son no. 2 able to look after himself in terms of travel / race preparation it's time I gave something back to the sport.

 

[ColinJ]

I need to get back to cycling. I've completely lost interest over the last few months.

I know the feeling. I did a few nice rides in November, and one on December 1st, but then I caught a bad cold. As soon as I recovered, that freezing spell hit us and put me right off! Tomorrow will be 4 weeks without riding and I am detraining fast...

Hopefully things will change in the New Year.

Fingers crossed!

I aim to do more rides in Devon, and maybe extend them to Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall if I get fit enough. I'm thinking of catching trains out to 100+ kms from my sister's place and riding back to there.

I aim to do at least one forum ride in Devon, maybe more.

I have a one-way rail voucher which I am thinking of using to get me to Appleby-in-Westmorland so I can (try to!) cycle up Great Dun Fell, and then ride home. That would be a very tough 173 km (108 mile) ride for me so I would need to work very hard on my fitness before tackling it. @Sea of vapours has expressed interest if the ride ever takes place, and we would probably offer it up as a forum ride if it does. If I don't tackle this monster soon...

... then I am probably going to be too old and knackered to do it!

 

[Cathryn]

The one fun thing I’d like to do next year is cycle through the night to the seaside! I have it pencilled in for mid-June and I’m already excited about it! Apart from that, it’ll be cycling as much as I can, having fun and trying Bikepacking properly for the first time!

 

[Sea of vapours]

I have a one-way rail voucher which I am thinking of using to get me to Appleby-in-Westmorland so I can (try to!) cycle up Great Dun Fell, and then ride home. That would be a very tough 173 km (108 mile) ride for me so I would need to work very hard on my fitness before tackling it. @Sea of vapours has expressed interest if the ride ever takes place, and we would probably offer it up as a forum ride if it does.

I'm still up for that, Colin. I could also make your GDF to Settle section quite a bit easier and quicker than your current plan with some rerouting to reduce both ascent and the use of the most laney of lanes.