2015 Happy New Year

A Big Year

Mmmmm, sure I have said that before
12 months ago I mused that new years resolutions were a waste of time and and invariably don't have any staying power and then went on to say that in spite of that I would make my first New Year's resolution to regularly blog. Well I proved myself right and regular blog entries became sporadic to the become non existent.

This year i shall make no promises, largely this blog serves to document my thoughts for me anyway so it matters not anyway and I have about 30 postings from last year unpublished which may one day see the light of day, at least to perform some digital housekeeping.

For those that the are entertained by my cycling related jibber jabber may have thought that no blog means no cycling, Au contraire, It has been quite busy indeed.

2014 the year that was

The Bikes
Last year started with no real ambitions only a few entries in place to some interesting audaxes which involved ferries. As such, much frivolity was had on said audaxes which were as fun as they were without incident.
These were mostly done on my repaired and rebuilt DIY bike,

My Orange Evo frame was also repaired but languishes in the shed with a few old parts attached to it.

Other bicycles went and some others came, my last decent blog entry was regarding the departure of my On-One Pompetamine.............

.......this was sort of replaced by a build up of my MBK Trainer which was great for the summer but as the weather turned, regret ensued for dispatching the pompetamine so......................... 




.................a replacement was procured rather than built which was my initial intention.






The Holdsworth was built, used for Eroica Brittania, modified and taken to Tuscany for L'Eroica broken by the baggage handlers and awaits repair.

Many other parts and frames were procurred and obsessed over, these may or may not become rideable machines.




The Rides
Pedalling wise there have been a few stand out achievements...by accident I completed my first Audax SR series, this means I completed audaxes of a specified distance in the same Audax year. Specifically a 200k, 300k, 400k and 600k, the last being the longest single event i have ever entered and completed. The completion of the 600k allows me to apply early for an entry to the most famous and prestigious of audax events, the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K, more of that later.




2014 was a retro year also, My Holdsworth looks splendid indeed and rides beautifully, the 100 miles of Eroica Brittania in the Peak District were a pleasure, as i hoped "Noddy" rides and behaves like an old version of my DIY bike, almost the same spec in every way, just in a time warp.

With some gearing changes and a little bling I took it to Italy for the bucket list event L'Eroica, amazing experience, gruelling, brutal but spectacular



The Year concluded with me accruing 6035 kilometers ish, I thought it was 6038 but strava says different

Being free from the pressure of having to do an event witht he exception of being truelly excited about a one off which was also a family holiday has certainly had its rewards and the peace that came with it. For 2015 though the change will be dramatic.


2015 the year that will be...possibly, maybe

2015 will indeed be a year of pressure and stress in the name of cycling challenges and retro van and cycling challenges.
2015 is a Paris-Brest-Paris year, my cycling buddy Tim hopes to enter as do some other cycling buddies so it seems a good year to give it a go. There is a slight downside though, it is necessary to qualify by achieving an SR series as mentioned above, lots of k's to do that. My plans for all things PBP are captured here

This needs to be fitted in around my plans for retro rides too, Retroronde in Belgium and L'Eroica Brittania, the latter of which i plan to ride with my ickle daughter for whom i have procured a girls vintage racing bike.

I am additionally planning on entering a few mountain bike races, I will try and get into the 3 Peaks Cyclocross again and if possible have a go at doing a sportive on the isle of man around the TT circuit

So, no pressure then, if I achieve half of that I reckon I will eclipse 2014's 6035 km's

"When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time"