Going into 2026. A reset year.

Been off the boil.

Typically i'm really hyped coming into the New Year with target events, mileage goals and trips planned. Smashing & grinding on Zwift, looking for the first sunbreak through the clouds and the temps increasing, giddy to get out and hammer some hills.

Don't even. 2025 was a disappointing year, bleeding into 2026.

In January (25) I had my first serious accident, rear-ended by a motorbike who hit some black ice and who wrote off a new wheel set. After a few weeks off (fortunately just deep bruising, I think..) and a few good rides after, things got really exciting as I received my dream bike - a brand new Cervelo S5. 

Unfortunately (despite a few really good weekends out), the excitement was relatively short-lived as I picked up a strange hamstring injury which has never gone away. Cancelled the Ventoux trip, cancelled anything big, took it easy, but still it persisted, with sore knees, achy hips and other reoccuring ailments meaning I was fairly off/on. Throw in the flu, long work weeks and quite a bit of stress / ennui. Not brilliant, and losing the will, tbh.

Needless to say, there were some great days out in 2025 and generally lovely local riding:

2026 is a reset year.

As I sit in bed with 2026's first/finest virus🦠 and not having been on a bike outdoors since November (!), I'm recognising that age (unfortunately) is catching up with me and my health is not as solid as it has been (or I secretly hoped). Alas.

Positive steps. Booked in with a recommended physio, dropped some bad habits, focusing on getting better sleep/rest, a daily yoga routine and a better work/life balance.

It's slow progress, but I'm hoping on the other side I'll have a better foundation, with better habits that lead to less bad days. Fingers crossed.

For now, I do have some events to be hopeful for...

• A few gravel sportives (first in Thetford, Cannock Chase and North Yorks Moors)
• Some Audax's - starting in March/April - my first time trying out this format, excited!
• Weekend away in Suffolk (tbc on route/discipline, likely road)
• Another long day out in the Cotswolds
• The creme de la creme - 5 days in Sept riding around Lake Como, Italy

I have a few other potentials (unbooked as it stands) with Chase The Sun (South), the Gralloch, so we shall see how the 'rehab' goes and go from there.

Outside of riding, 2026 is another big year of change - potentially the biggest yet for a long time. Who knows where i'll be living in 4-6 months time. Regardless, hoping to focus on getting better, then getting stronger.

 

2025 - Part 1: A Malady

It's been emotional.

After coughing and spluttering my way into 2025, I've been pretty excited to crack on with this year. Last year was something else, so I've been so excited to think more positively, excited to carve out the year and create markers to look forward to. I close my eyes, see the Sa Calobra climb, Les Cingles, those smooth roads in Nice/Monaco... you get it.

It really hasn't been smooth sailing so far. Firstly, the weather. Just ghastly, impossibly windy, or impossibly cold, meaning when I (or we, the whole UK cycling scene lol) can ride, it's 2-3hrs & 4L of water on a stiff trainer to get by. Most Brits are built for the cold, but this is anti-cycling weather in all its glory.

Secondly, my first serious accident on the bike. Shot out the door after the first glimpse of good weather and... bang. Rear-ended 50+ mph by a motorcyclist - my bike a total write-off. Nothing I could've done. Two weeks off the bike, stiff and bruised and confidence shot, feeling slightly lucky I wasn't in hospital or worse. And obviously no road bike - a bike I really did/do love and have ridden thousands of miles on. Twat.

Still, things are looking up. The weather is perking, temps rising, and exciting things (one that's already arrived!) are around the corner...

1. Firstly, NEW BIKE DAY. One of the great perks of a permanent job (+ passing probation, yay) is the ability to afford a new bike (inadvertently now a replacement). And it's a good one. Never thought i'd own a 'super-bike', but I bought a Cervelo S5 on sale - a-frame cockpit, deep section wheels, electronic shifting, the works, only a marginal one grade down from bikes that Vinegaard has won a Tour de France on. It's not going to make me win anything, albeit joyous days and weeks out... (pics below).
   
   
2. A few big days out, inbound. UK for now, but the start of April is the first club ride out in the Cotswolds, a gorgeous part of the country to cycle in. Mid-April is the gravel event, traversing around Salisbury Plains, with a glimpse of Stonehenge on the bike - never ridden in Wiltshire, so excited to crunch some rocks there. 
   
   
3. June/July... More gravel events, some local (Norfolk Broads), Chase The Sun (South) & potentially the Dunwich Dynamo (if i can find a way home..). But the most exciting is - Ventoux. Originally planned trip for August (which fell through), i've deposit'd some cash to ride Les Cingles to coincide with Stage 16 of the Tour de France. Fucking. In my veins.

Lastly, photo dump of some of the better, brighter days so far in 2025. Onwards. Allez.

Onwards: 2025

The last couple of months of 2024 were a blur; a cacophony of illness, job busy-ness and shocking weather (week in week out!). All resulted in me narrowly missing my 2024 miles target - sad. On the positive side, I put an extra 2000 miles on the road/slop and increased my UK heatmap on Strava, enjoying some brilliant days out on the bike both solo and with friends.

For 2025 i'm reviewing my plans - I've booked Salisbury Plains, Norfolk X and Sherwood Pines GG. Considering Chase The Sun in June, and, depending on timings/non-cycling holidays looking at a Tenerife/Majorca cycling IN THE SUN + the Ventoux trip (fingers crossed it happens) end of August.

Regardless of trips, I've set myself a target - to cycle EVERYDAY in 2025 - long, short, outdoors, indoors - peddle every day, record something from everyday. Let's go.

~ Insert Nov-Dec JPEG below ~