How has your 2020 cycling year been?

[Jenkins]

Probably about the same as most recent years, but with slight changes. Started the year as normal, then came the first lockdown. I was lucky to still be working full time and needing to attend the office for 3 days a week so kept up the commuting mileage. Working from home days were a problem with no equipment (somebody forgot to check the laptops, so they 'bricked' themselves under security procedures) so after a phone call to check I wasn't needed in, I was free to go out for a ride - keeping close to home in case work did call for advice or needed me in.

Once things eased, I was able to start doing proper longer rides instead of local loops, putting the bike into the car and going for rides out of Diss, up to Rutland Water for the first time this year and to do some bike out/train home rides as well.

Looks like I will end up with a total of just over 9500 miles for the year, completion of the 50k, 50 mile & 100k per month challenges, sold one bike at the peak of the market (£10 loss in 2 years) and not purchased one this year.

Weather report for the year - mostly wet up to April, mostly dry up to September, mostly wet since it seems.

 

[Venod]

Best year mileage wise, but no long rides, outstanding memory, riding over the M62 on Easter Sunday and nothing on the motorway in either direction.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Motivation has frequently been an issue this year so, fewer miles than I'd been hoping back in January but more than I managed last year which is something. The three bikes I keep a record for have accumulated just shy of 4500 miles as of today and I reckon I can add about 70 to that when I go and look up the rides I did on the Kingpin.

I dropped out of the Imperial Century Challenge during the first lockdown in April but battled back to complete thirteen 100 milers during the year under the Lunacy Challenge instead. I might not get my gold star but I've done the distance.

Bike setup held me back a bit as I was getting cramp problems during big rides at the end of 2019 and into the start of 2020 which was making things tough mentally as well as physically. It has taken a heck of a lot of tinkering to work out what was going on but I feel more hopeful for 2021's challenge rides.

Edit to add: I've had a look back through my ride reports and I did 75 miles on the Kingpin. Hopefully that will get a bit more use in 2021 now the hub gears are sorted.

 

[AndreaJ]

More miles this year, I’ve been working all through lockdowns so some commuting miles. Completed the half century challenge for the first time which meant finding some new routes, have done 4949 miles so far and aiming for 5000 miles for the year which should be sorted by next week.

 

[kipster]

A strange year for me, Majorca in march was the early hit, and it soon became apparent that the planned Caen to Santander tour would also be scrapped. Being a club cyclist it was strange to transition to a solo cyclist but a work place challenge helped me. The challenge was to cycle the furthest distance you could in 26 days, the same duration as the TDF. As I was fortunate to continue to work it was mainly evening rides, but the weather was great and the roads quiet and managed to rack up 950 miles. I was strangely disappointed not to get to 1000, but my initial target was 500.

Since then it's been up and down, fitness has suffered as mood has suffered but being able to cycle with friends has kept me sane.

I'll probably get to 5500 for the year, which will be my biggest year, so overall very happy with that.

 

[Ian H]

Surprisingly, I seem to have ridden more than 5000km this year. About half that was AUK events. One of those was 'epic'. For the first time in 27yrs I haven't ridden at least a 600km event.

I collected a new bike at the beginning of the month. Richard Hallett, who built it, took us out for a scoggy, hilly Welsh ride to thoroughly christen it.

At least my old friend and I got our traditional Autumn tour in, even though it was more winter than Autumn.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Horrendous year for me, a few personal issues to deal with killed my motivation and working from home killed the commuting, I've put on a good two stone in weight, and I was never light in the first place. Broke 6,600 miles today which is about a third of what I normally do.

On the plus side completed the imperial century challenge.

 

[Slick]

Really poor year for me with nearly all the planned rides of any note cancelled for the usual reasons. Pulling out the 50K a month challenge was really disappointing but I did make a valiant effort trying to keep my mileage up by cycling to work through the lockdown just to keep the post running through the business and acting as a glorified security guard but I was grateful for a reason to get out the house. I also had some great short runs with Mrs Slick enjoying the quiet roads but it all came to a crashing halt one morning when I cycled into a tree.

I am back on the bike now but at just over 2k miles and the only ride of any note was a through the night ride to Fort William through Glen Coe means some work over the winter will be required to get back to full strength. Looking forward to getting back to planning a wee tour next year though. 🤞🤞🤞

 

[Tribansman]

Best year for mileage for me too, and that was with no riding most of January due to flu and a light late May and June due to house move and renovation.

But the good weather of the first lockdown meant lots of local riding in March and April and when restrictions lifted I did as many long rides as I could while it lasted. Replaced commute with early am or late pm rides and got rid of my car when facing a big repair bill so lots of utility miles.

Have done 26x 100+ milers and aiming to do a couple more by year end. On 8,400 at the moment so with Rapha 500 should be just under 9,000. It was a good year for my lad too, he managed just over 1,000 miles. Dead proud of him as he's only 6.

Two standout rides: 200 miler to Stratford upon Avon and back on sunny summer solstice weekend

and a 33 miler with my lad - his longest ride to date - to Cambridge.

 

[lane]

Mixed bag. On the plus side I have done more miles than any other year - should have about 5,500km by the end year compared with 3,500km for recent years. This was largely due to the impact of covid both working from home and fewer other things to do. Also with my kids getting older I do less stuff with them. However I missed out on a tour in Belgium, some audax rides, a Derbyshire end to end with the cycling club and probably some other longer rides such as Derby to Skegness. So all my cycling was from home, with the longest ride being a 200k DIY audax to visit my parents in the summer. Still one thing I can say about my cycling this year, it has never been needed so much and has done a hell of a lot lot to keep me in a more positive mental state than would otherwise be the case. Also, in the first part of the first lockdown, when my son couldn't see any of his friends, he did quite a bit of cycling with me which was enjoyable.

 

[Rusty Nails]

It's been a mixed year on the bike. I've never kept a record of my rides, nor been interested in spending more than two hours in the saddle, but I think I've done 2 to 3 rides a week of around 25 miles. For the first few months of the lockdown I worked hard at it and rode every other day, occasionally doing around 35 miles. I did notice a big improvement in my leg and lung strength over this time. But as the summer went on I hit health problems, leading to referral to hospital for prostate cancer checks, and I cut back on the riding for a while, but an MRI shows it's unlikely to be cancer and I am having a biopsy tomorrow to confirm that.

As I have got older I find that my riding is inconsistent, going well for a while then having some health/injury setback. The second half of this year my attitude has been a bit low and that doesn't help.

I can't wait to put this year behind me, hopefully put my depression and health worries behind me and get to where I was spring and early summer.

The best thing about last year was getting my new (used) bike, a carbon Genesis Datum gravel bike, which makes me look forward to every ride.

 

[Mo1959]

I need 27 miles for 4,500 for the year but I’m in the middle of a running challenge plus the frost has returned so not sure I’ll squeeze it in or not.

 

[slowmotion]

My cycling has been totally unheroic. The longest ride was 35 miles and nearly all the others were about ten. Doing a regular ten mile loop starting at 8pm during the lockdowns was one of the few things that prevented cabin fever. My annual total is probably about three thousand miles, maybe a bit less.

 

[Colin Grigson]

I’m really chuffed with my ‘year’ ... I didn’t get a bike until early June and from then until October I covered 3,500 km outdoors, since then I have another 1,500 km whilst enduring HIIT on Zwift every day. I’ve ordered a new bike to be delivered in time for Spring (hopefully), and can’t wait to build on the progress I’ve made. I remember my first 10 km ride in June and it killed me - I was so unfit. I ended up doing a couple of metric centuries and losing 14kg of extra weight (mainly relaxed muscle ) til now. I’ve upped my original 147w FTP to 230w and from 1.7w/kg to 3.1w/kg so really happy with the way things are going - I’m 55 too so my interest and increased fitness came at an opportune time in my life. I also feel much less stressed and more able to deal with the everyday stuff life throws at me - thank heavens for bikes

 

[Zanelad]

Not as good as I'd hoped or planned. Lots of cycling when furlough started. Then my wife underwent two operations. One for cancer and one on her spine. A lot of hospital visits and caring for her at home. I didn't like to leave her for too long so the bike sat unused for months. Now I'm back to work, but my hours have changed so I do not commute by bike. I'm doing 9-5 instead of my usual 8.30 to 14.30 . I don't fancy the part of the journey along an unlit fastish A road on the way home. Mornings are OK as I set off before the rush starts, but I'm not going to ride it of an evening.

Let's hope 2021 is better in every way.