How was 2016's Cycling for you, and what plans are afoot for 2017?

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Twizit

CS8 lead out specialist
Location
Surrey
Started the year with no particular goals in mind, and that's resulted in a relatively light year of miles, not helped by moving house in January and being ill / travelling a lot with work through the autumn. So, should top 6,000 miles this year, but somewhat down on the last two years, which have both been over 7,000. Still, I should beat my previous best for commuting miles (4,324), but I've been woefully lacking in decent weekend riding this year.

Haven't managed a single organised ride outside of usual club runs, and rather disappointingly I've only managed a paltry 6 rides over 50 miles in length, the longest of which was when I decided to beast myself by doing a solo Leith Hill Octopus back in July (I really must have been bored!).

2017? I'll keep commuting. Long weekend tour to Southern Spain in October :cheers:. I will definitely make a FNRttC ride despite signing up in 2016 and not managing a single one :blush:. Other than that, who knows, but I may just try for a Brighton and back over Xmas if the weather isn't too horrible.
 

gbb

Squire
Location
Peterborough
Bb
Terrible. Never got into it this year due to work, did a bit but nothing impressive

Not sure yet on plans for 2017
As long as the desire is there, however distant. I wrote off 2years but harboured a deep need to get out, just lacked the mojo...a bit of a mental tug of war if you will. Once you get going you might find like me, it'll get easier. I tend not to try to emulate former feats, rather just get out and let it build slowly. When I do get out...I nearly always enjoy it immensely.
 

T.M.H.N.E.T

Rainbows aren't just for world champions
Location
Northern Ireland
Bb

As long as the desire is there, however distant. I wrote off 2years but harboured a deep need to get out, just lacked the mojo...a bit of a mental tug of war if you will. Once you get going you might find like me, it'll get easier. I tend not to try to emulate former feats, rather just get out and let it build slowly. When I do get out...I nearly always enjoy it immensely.
:cheers:
 
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gaz71

Über Member
Location
teddington
I havent had a bad year for cycling this year.At the start of the year i aimed to do a 30+ mile ride and lose around 3 stone.Anyway 1 out of 2 isnt bad,i managed the 30 mile ride but only lost around 1 stone.Ive done around 2500 miles this year (since the end of Feb) and aiming to do 3500 next year.As i wont be rushing home to watch any football tournaments this summer i should achieve my target.
 

Aravis

Putrid Donut
Location
Gloucester
Good in parts.

Having rediscovered the ability to ride centuries in the autumn of 2015, early this year I began to wonder where the limits actually are. Unfortunately, my ambitions soon led to domestic conflict, for which I freely accept a substantial share of the blame. This theme has remained the principal obstacle throughout the year. I've succeeded in riding on a miserable 33 days, and at times I've felt like giving up the battle altogether.

Despite all that, I've completed the imperial century a month challenge, and ridden nearly 3700 miles with 30 centuries. That might not quite be it yet - one intriguing possibility remains.

Next year, given the opportunity, ultra long distance Audax events might seem a natural progression, but I don't think it's really my scene. There is the Strava Yearly Century Challenge, if it happens again. I think I could crack 100 centuries if I tried, but justifying the effort, even to myself, could be tricky.
 

biggs682

Itching to get back on my bike's
Location
Northamptonshire
My was a good year should reach 4500 miles by end of December with a bit of luck , target was 4000 miles .

Done a few of these miles on more modern machines compared to normal which is interesting

Had a fair share of nice bikes this year some have been and gone some are still in the garage

Maxed out at 53 miles but done a fair few 40+ mile rides , and a few tandem miles as well ^_^

Next year's aims are not thought about yet so will see
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
It'll be about 4,700 miles providing I don't do anything stupid in December. Around 400,000ft of climbing

Managed to organise a couple of CC rides; Manchester to Llandudno and Leeds to Scarborough. Both went well and met some nice CCers in the flesh

Having ridden up the Snake Pass, my local climb, more than 100 times in the past 4 years I managed to set a new PB in 2016. It's nothing to write home about but at least it hopefully means I'm not completely past it yet
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Not as good as I had hoped. Last year was (for me) good and I had hoped to improve on it.
To a large extent I blame the wind.........I can remember few rides that weren't affected by strong winds. The rides in general just didn't seem as enjoyable as the previous year.
I'm a year older at 69 which doesn't help but I would still like to blame the wind :smile:
 

dim

Guest
Location
Cambridge UK
I signed up for the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge on Strava .... You have to cycle 500km on the eight days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

It sounds a lot, but it's only 62,5km every day for 8 days. Currently, I'm commuting 40km a day, so it's only 22.5km extra per day, plus I'm planning on doing some longer rides on the 2 days that fall on a weekend (obviously weather permitting).... I am working on most of those days, but will give it a shot (a nice way to end the year as far as cycling is concerned)
 

robjh

Legendary Member
A good year in many ways, but with a lower mileage than other recent years and a dose of frustration in the second half.
My mileage will be a bit over 7000 miles - I don't record short and utility rides so I never know my exact mileage. Last year I got to around 9000 miles, and the difference is down to commuting - I was working and commuting by bike for most of 2015, but only 4 months of 2016, but they were good commutes, in the hilly country around Swindon when I was working on a contract there.
I had a number of very enjoyable long solo rides in the summer, and two mini tours (Scotland in August and Devon in November), as well as a few day rides in the Alps in September. I've also done 4 FNRttC night rides this year which are always fun.
However, since a particularly sprinty ride in July I've been nursing a low-level but persistent back pain which can flare up on more athletic rides. It's not kept me off the bike, but I've had to be careful and sometimes drop out of faster rides, which has frustrated me a lot. I'm now following an exercise routine to try and counter the causes of the pain, and I'm hoping that it isn't going to accompany me through 2017 too.
 
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