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 ~

Hiatus - Life Updates ~ Sept-Oct

I've been quiet.

September was a busy month - a mix of long-days out on local lanes, trips away to see friends and celebrations (anniversaries, birthdays, etc). It was also a busy, busy period of job applications, interviews and pitches, which hasn't given me a lot of time to pause and reflect.

The good news - I have a new permanent job! The type of job i've been waiting for - a great career move and the financial stability to start getting excited about new trips, upgrades to the bike(s) and potentially other life changes. Obviously, that means a reduction ride time, and perhaps a shift in what I need (ie. 6 hours a week means I hardly need loads of bikes) so i'm reviewing my initial bike upgrades in favour of more specific adventures as well as more targeted weekenders.

Given it suits me more, my (fairly light) indicative schedule leans a lot towards gravel:

• Sherwood Pines Glorious Gravel long (Jan-March)
• Scarborough / North Yorks Moors (TBC - Date)
• Norway Gravel (recce) ?? (May)
• Slovenia Glorious Gravel (June 3rd-June 8th)
• Dunwich Dynamo > Suffolk (20th July tbc)
• Provence (Ventoux) - (31st - 5th September)

I'm also hoping I can apply for a Glorious Gravel season-pass to cut the costs of the rides and jump onto one's as/when my schedule is light/I can. Otherwise, I also want to try and get a couple of Audax's under my belt, body, mind and time permitted.

For now, it's back to (probable) damp weekend club rides, indoor sessions and hopefully some slippy, sloppy gravel winter fun!

Oakham to Southampton - Two-Day Bikepacking Trip!

Two or three times a year I take the painstaking trip down to Southampton via train to stay with my best friend Aaron.

I like travelling by train, particularly off-peak on a good weather day - music, book, podcast, a slow pace plod to somewhere. However, the train down to Southampton is not my favourite - dull, disjointed and uncomfortable. It's either my old work journey (Cross-Country, LNER to London) then a trip across to Waterloo and a busy commute train down to Southampton Central, or a trip across country to Coventry, then down via Oxford, where you end up on trains with little facilities, bad visibility and often irritating people.

A mad thought popped in my head. Should I go by bike instead? It's a pretty long-way, 150+ miles as the crows fly, so obviously a longer cycle route. I pulled together a few different routes on Komoot, one starting from Leicester, one starting from Oakham, mostly avoiding any cities (Northampton, Newbury) and taking in better scenery and (hopefully) quieter roads and lanes. It worked. My gravel bike is perfectly set up for touring (steel frame, 42mm commute-style tyres) so I opted for a mixed terrain route, taking in some passable byways, away from civilisation. I opted for that, starting from Oakham. Done.

Stamford > Oakham via train. Glorious weather day. I arrived in Oakham wanting coffee, but decided 20-miles was a sufficient reward stop for a caffeine injection and that Market Harborough was about right for it. The first 5-miles out of Oakham were a brutal reminder of the difference between a normal bike and a bike packed full of gear. I got into the easy gears and reminded myself this is a long-couple of days, easing up some pretty gnarly hills I hadn't ridden before.

Great Bowden was the first stop for coffee, just shy of Market Harborough, changing on a cafe called the Bowden Stores. Very posh.

After the initial hills in the first 16-18 miles, the route flattened out, and I moved onto the NCR6, a disused steam railway line that's now a 14-mile track connecting Market Harborough and Northampton.

I'd been particularly looking forward to cycling this and it didn't disappoint, like a far better maintained Cinder Track route I'd cycled earlier in the year up near Scarborough. The tunnels (darker because of the thick layer of steam oil from years of the trains running through) were so pitch-black even my double-lumen light struggled to give me great visibility, but added to the fun and adventure. Glorious.

14-miles, over in a flash. Quick pitstop in Northampton for coffee and a cracking toastie. Over half-way. From Northampton the journey slowed and got bitty. I think route-wise I ended up on more bridleways than perhaps I needed (some private, with a ticking off from a couple of farmers), but there was a lot of beautiful scenery, and the weather had perked up and it was pleasant and warm. 

Around 5pm I finally arrived at my overnight stop in Upper Heyford. I'd signed up to use Welcome To My Garden, where other cyclists (and friends of) offer pitches in their gardens to travellers for free. A lovely bloke called Roger offered me a pitch for the night, including free electricity, and a couple of cups of coffee.

Ideally, I would've preferred to put another 10-miles on the clock to have less to cycle on Day Two, but those are the breaks, and I settled into a rather nice and spacious garden, accompanied by a puppy dog called Sky and some (noisy) chickens. I found a local supermarket, and a small pub - after a couple of pints of Meantime and some grub, I hit the hay to get ready for a long-day two.

Day Two, 90ish miles to Southampton. I set off slightly later than I wanted to, a combination of waking up late and nattering away to Roger. Fortunately the wind had died down from the day before, but my legs were stiff and I knew this would be a slower day. My aim was to get past Newbury on the map by midday.

The route started with a flat 13-miles to Oxford - perfect place for a coffee stop. Again, the morning weather was glorious. After a swift cortado I cycled through Oxford and onto the Thames Path - as an ex-Londoner, I forget how much I miss the bustle of city-life and how much there is going on. I meandered through, taking it in, enjoying the morning rowers out and the boat-dwellers waking up.

Once out of Oxford, I made my way to Abingdon. I know a couple of people from this area of the world, so nice to see where they live/grew up. I cycled through Drayton > Steveton towards East Hendred, the start point of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape. I've never cycled through the NWDNL before (it spans all the way east to Letchworth on a map) but I was intrigued and it's always good to see another AONB in the UK. My passage through the NWDNL was about 30-miles, coming out at the other side to Andover.

It was hilly! Which was to be expected. As experiences go, it was OK - I won't be rushing back. What surprised me was the lack of anything there - if you cycle in other AONB you find villages with coffee shops, restaurants, ice cream parlours. Here there is nothing. A barren (untouched) pretty-ish wasteland. In some ways, it's probably a good thing, something that tourism hasn't touched. But it's inconvenient.

After 10/15-miles I ran out of water, with the biggest climb of the two-days yet to come. The nearest shop was out of the way, and not in the right direction. Very fortunately I found a very receptive kind man who let me in his kitchen to fill up my bottles - he couldn't believe I'd cycled from Lincolnshire!

I made my way through the NWDNL, getting tired, with the weather a bit miserable and my energy stores feeling low, despite the 30-odd miles or so left. I finally made it out of the NWDNL and arrived into Andover - wow. I got out quick. I crammed in all my gels, bars, did a bidon of water, and pressed on. Romsey was my marker - once I was in Romsey, I was on the home-stretch. Somewhere around here I lost my favourite jacket, which must've slipped out of a gap on the back of my bike - not pleased.!

One of the interesting things about the route, even when I was tired or getting a bit grumpy, was that it never failed to surprise me. Even in the last stretch, I hit an interesting trail that took me off the main road/traffic, which perked me up, or a really good cycling lane, which made things just that bit easier. Even when I got to Southampton I hit a mile trail through Southampton Common - completely empty and like a MTB track - fun! 

I finally made it to Southampton (great cycling infrastructure!), crawled over the Itchen Bridge to Woolston, my final destination, 93.2 miles later, and 168.8 miles over the two-days. Beer o'clock.

The key learnings:
Cut any residual weight down. Don't carry a laptop on my back ever again. Make sure there are shops for water and mark those on my map. Always carry a waterproof jacket even when its 20c+. Check your inflatable mat for leaks (yep) and don't do 90 miles in a day unless absolutely necessary. 

Delayed Post: Scarborough Shores!

The highlight for June - the Scarborough Shores gravel ride.

Sherwood Forest glorious gravel was tough for loads of reasons - my longest ride on gravel, the weather was all over the place (sweating, hailstones, super early morning start in the car) but this was tough in the opposite way - longer, steeper, and far more solo riding.

I travelled up to Scarborough by train the day before, staying at my friend Will's for the weekend, a good friend and housemate from university. Will was chaffeuring me around, so real luxury for a non-driver! Weather good, no hiccups.

After a very comfortable nights sleep, a prepared breakfast and a drive to the start, I felt pretty refreshed, despite a small niggling cold (which actually turned out to be Covid).

The ride itself - brilliant. I started out riding well within myself to get through the initial blast of the winds along the coast front, before we started climbing into Newby towards Hackness. The route itself started out a fairly half-half mix of road and off-road sections, with a very steep 15% climb after the first feed stop.

After that, we were firmly into mixed off-road terrain (near Low Dalby) towards Langdale End, and onwards towards Whitby. As I set off fairly early at the start, with many 'early' people doing the medium route (and me the long), I ended up riding solo for a lot of miles, enjoying a mixture of the woods, open plains and the moors while also wishing I could sit in a wheel from time to time to take respite from the wind. This section had a cutting headwind which made the ascent and final topping off of an 8-mile gradual climb through the moors tough (and tougher than I hoped!) but satisfying to complete and made the descent (out of the wind) like a warm hug. I hid in the draft of two friends (doing their first Glorious Gravel ride) for a while, before the route turned back towards Scarborough. The view of Robin Hood's Bay was worth the slog for sure!

From there, the route moves along the old Cinder Track (a disused railway track - Moors to Sea route on a map) which was technical in places - both through mud, concaves, dog-walkers and other cyclists.

Once back into the Scarborough New Town, we finished the route with a climb back to the beginning (up Quarry Hill). Many could've done without it - a finish on the beach would've been nice!

We settled for a beer and a hot wrap, a clean shower and then to the pub for the Champions League final. Great weekend.

A Cotswolds Classic Round Up... Next Up, Yorkshire Shores!

May has been a scorcher! It's been a long time since I rode with the fear of sunburn and the smell of suncream all around...

Most of my riding focus for May (and April, to be honest) is on club's second training ride in the Cotswolds. I've never been to the Cotswolds (especially as a non-car driver, it's difficult to get to) so I jumped at the chance of a free trip - the weather was definitely a bonus! The route, starting outside of the Cotswolds in Burton Dassett, took us to the popular town of Broadway, before coming back up through Bourton-On-The-Water. 

What a day. Beautiful views, challenging hills, good company, great coffee - cyclist's live for these days. It was not quite the rolling country I was expecting from pictures (our local Leicestershire rides are far more undulating) or one similar to the Yorkshire Dales ride we did last year, which, despite the high elevations, felt much more relaxed. It was a scorching day, adding to the difficulty, one of my longest days on the bike, definitely my steepest, and to top that off, we ticked off two of the UK's Top 100 climbs. 

What was also great about the route put together was that it left a lot of the South and West of the Cotswolds to explore for another day, so I'll definitely be back, and hopefully with even better fitness and maybe a tent, a book and a gravel bike...

High up in the Cotswolds, with lovely greens and yellows everywhere

A good group of us, some sporting our new club jerseys!

Since the Cotswolds ride I've been giving more love to my Standert and doing some mixed-terrain rides at a slower pace. The next challenge ride (#3 of the year) is the Yorkshire Shores ride up in Scarborough, again with Glorious Gravel. I've opted for the medium route, 84k at just over 1000m of climbing - it'll be similar to the Sherwood Ride, but I aim to relax and enjoy it more - it'll most likely be a hot day! I'm still considering doing the long-version and relaxing more, but will make the call on the day.

Outside of the Scarborough ride, i've also planned a couple of multi-day bikepacking trips, but all dependent on work, money and how much freedom i've got. Happier days.

March - A Mega Month.

March - what a month! After taking winter training quite seriously this year (indoor FTP tests, intervals, and a lot more bike time), last month was the first real test of that. I'm really glad (and slightly relieved) that it stuck - my legs feel good!

The first and main highlight of March was my first gravel sportive, a long-route around Sherwood Forest with Glorious Gravel. It was a good first target for a few reasons - it's local(ish) to me, early enough in the year to encourage solid winter training, a push to get outside on the mucky stuff, and, as a by-product, creating and collecting some valuable routes for a gravel club I am (tentatively) putting together...

Off-piste in the fields, Ketton Quarry in view

Sherwood Forest Recap: After a super-early get-up time and a two hour drive we made it Sherwood. Initial forecasts in the week suggested the weather would be fair with some gusty winds. Well. I wish I owned a Dryrobe. Hailstones, rain, really gusty wind whipping across the field. Fun.

Excited (and chilly) at the start line

The aim was to have a fairly social paced sportive, going with some club members, many who prefer to take it easy and enjoy the views. With it hammering down at the start and very cold, I was really eager to setoff and warm up, but unknown to me, my club friends weren't behind me at all... I cycled on, setting a decent pace (aiming to meet them at the first feed stop), bumping into a chap called Mike, who, I could tell, was of a similar ability to me, and we paired up and got chatting. After a natter we kicked on, setting a great pace and I quickly decided (competitive streak activated...) that I'd race this one, and test myself, rather than wait around. After missing the first feed completely, hitting some CX-type patches and not wanting to stop for coldness, we literally caned it for the first 30 miles. It's hard to summarise the in's-and-out's, but everything about the cycling and route was brilliant - real mixed terrain, very stimulating and technical lines, something I just do not feel road cycling often.

Mike (who I met and paired with for the sportive)

We stopped at the second feed gasping for a coffee, some warmth and respite from the wind. Cafe legs kicked in back on the bike, and with the headwind in our faces again we pushed on pretty hard to to the finish. After picking up our medals, uploading to Strava and demolishing a hot breakfast wrap, it was a quick pack up and leave, which was a shame as the weather stopped the post-race enjoyment, which I'd heard was one of the best parts of a gravel event. Oh well, one goal ticked off the list.

Results: To my complete surprise - I did really well, coming 4th in my category, and only narrowly beaten by second and third place (although the guy in first place put nearly 30mins on me - machine). It's probably a bit arbitrary and silly to put that much credence into being '4th', but it feels like a really good payoff and dedication. As someone who considers themselves relatively new to cycling, and not very good at all, it has really encouraged me to train harder and see what I can achieve. Results really do help, no matter how they present themselves.

Outside of the result, I loved riding my new Standert. I'm so pleased with the way it feels (steel is probably not the obvious choice), with absolutely no issues in terms of speed, comfort and overall ride feel, with a bonus few nice comments about it from other participants making my day. Can't wait to do it again. Recap complete.

Nothing beats official pictures! 

Outside of the Sherwood sportive, the other milestone (and big test of the winter training) was our first structured club training ride, a really lumpy 100k ride at 1200m+. Knowing quite a few of these hills, and struggling up some of them last year on a similar ride, it was a pleasant surprise to really enjoy the day out, feeling strong and not suffering. With a few big days out in late April and May coming up (an Audax in the Peak District and our second club training ride in the Cotswolds), I feel i'm on the right track.

March also saw me complete my first Strava 600k badge; another pleasant surprise. Tick, tick.

Now to look forward to April. The days are longer, the sun is poking its way out more often and its finally warmer, so hopefully a fair few days in shorts and short sleeves and many evening rides in the light.

 

Mixing it up in January.

By virtue of signing up to ‘compete’ in my first gravel race/event in Sherwood Forest in March, there’s no better time to start getting techy and hitting the off-road gravel-come-mud scene.

There’s not actually all that much gravel in my local area (minus a few trails leading to wind-farms, and a quarry), so public bridleways it was. Created a 20-mile off, 25mile on road route, with the off a mixture of cycle-paths, gravel and public bridleways.

Turns out, public bridleways in this county are a bit of a myth. They either do not exist – in which I ended up on a farmers doorstep or nearly KO'ing into a fence/wall – or they’re not maintained; crumbling and barely useable. Compound that with the sheer amount of rain we’ve had and well – slip, slop, failure.

A few diversions here and there (unfortunately back on road) and it ended up being a pleasant and warm ride, visiting villages new to me such as Irnham, Keisby and Aslackby, with undulating hills, nice sweeping lanes and really beautiful skies.