Happy New Year (2013)

Hi, and happy new year to all reading my blog!

What are my plans for this year I hear you ask? Well, I’m going to make it through this year if it kills me! With that notion in mind, I will inform you all of my plans, hopes and dreams.

My biggest hope is to become a father and hopefully during February this will happen. I will then hope to be the best dad and husband I can be. Looking forward to expanding my family.

On the cycling front I hope to cycle lots of miles that take me out and about God’s wonderful creation. I cycled 4,309 miles last year and hope to beat that figure this year. No pressure is on for me to complete a set number of miles, but I would like to cycle about 5,200 miles (like I did in 2010 and 2011) which is about 100 miles a week. I hope to complete several audax rides and would love to take part in the London-Edingburgh-London (LEL) audax which is an ultra-distance event of just over 1,400 km’s. Would be great to complete a Super Randonneur (SR) series again (a series of audax rides in the same calendar season covering distances of 200, 300, 400 and 600 km’s respectively). Have plans to complete a Randonneur Round the Year series ‘RRtY’ (a series of 200k events in 12 consecutive months) and a Audax Altitude Award Round the Year ‘AAARtY’ series too (a AAA event each month for 12 consecutive months).

Have booked on to several audax events this year already. These include the following:

Jan 5th Mr Pickwick’s January Sale 200k (1.75 AAA)

Feb 2nd Sam Weller’s day trip to Wochma 200k

Feb 16th Snowdrop Express 120k Am hoping to meet up with the likes of Andy, Dave , Chris, Doc, Finbarr, Ron and Si. A certain delivery may stop play though!

Apr 20th Heart of England 300k

Am considering/hoping/wanting/thinking about the following:

March 2^nd Mr Pickwick’s March Madness 200k (1.75 AAA)

March 23^rd The Dean 300k (4 AAA)

Apr 6^th Sam Wellers April Foolery 200k (1.75 AAA)

May 4^th Brevet Cymru 400k (2.25 AAA) Unable to complete as am camping with my buddy Chris Hodge and family. This is a great event that I have completed twice already.

June 8^th The 3 Coasts 600k (1.75 AAA) Did not finish this event last year.

June 29^th To Holl and Back 600k

July 28^th LEL 1400k

Plus a whole bunch of permanent events. In terms of an SR series, longer events can substitute for shorter, so based on the rides above I’d probably ride a 200, 300, 600, 600K series of events as no suitable 400k has been identified (as if, I'm sure to find a 400!). I am 3 months into my RRtY (which I have completed before) and AAARtY plans already having successfully completed 200k and hilly events in October, November and December 2012.

What an exciting year this may turn out to be. Have not cycled my first ride of the year yet (I blame New Years Eve celebrations).  Hopefully, my first long distance event will  be ‘Mr Pickwick’s January Sale’ on the 5^th. Entries to LEL also open on the 5^th. Wonder if I'll get a ride in before the 5th?! Watch this space!