How quickly a year passes these days! Looking back over the year, while I never ventured into the world of triathlon as I'd hoped, indeed the wet suit never even got an outing, the months have been filled with many a cycling adventure and my Tour de Fitness reached new heights!
January
The year opened with the
AVP Monthly Ride and falling on the 10th anniversary of the club's formation it was a very special ride with over 30 Pedallers joining the club peloton.
This was also the month in which, riding with cycling buddies
Kelly &
Steve, we found quite a bit of ice, something which, with apparent evidence of global warming, we would not see again for the rest of the year!
Work and business trips got in the way of my cycling during February, resulting in me completing a dismal 189 miles. The whole month seemed to literally
go in a flash.
February did, however, mark the occasion of two very different cycling related purchases. Firstly, feeling the lack of miles, I finally made the plunge in sourcing myself a turbo trainer for when the either work or weather prevented me venturing out. The second purchase came from a chat with local artist, Richard Webster, who dropped into 'my' coffee shop, the Broom Wagon, with the suggestion that he paint a canvass of my favourite pro cyclist, Mark Cavendish.
I just had to have that commission. It was amazing to see it created before my eyes and now to have it hung on my wall!
March
At the January AGM, it is traditional for AVP members to volunteer to lead one of the Sunday monthly rides. Somehow, I was 'encouraged' to add my name to the list and
selected March. This ride would coincide with Red Nose Day with a finish at the Colyton gardens centre who were putting on a bit of a show for the event. The rest of the route was in my hands and not being one who remembers the simplest of circuits, I knew this would be a challenge. As it was, I created a true
Queen Stage of a ride with a number of challenging climbs including the notorious Stockland hill. I feel all who completed it felt they'd achieved something special!
I concluded the month with my
first century of the year, a ride in horrendous conditions out to Portland Bill with fellow cyclists Rex, Andy & Wesley.
While there were a number of good rides in April, the focus was definitely on my first sportive of the year and my second ever closed road event. This one was not being held in Devon nor even London, but over 600 miles away in Inverness, northern Scotland! I had signed up for the the
Etape Loch Ness with an old friend, Mike who although having moved to south west Scotland earlier in the year was, like me, surprised as to just how far north Inverness was!
It was a truly amazing ride and such an adventure. So with RideLondon completed in 2014, Etape Loch Ness in 2015 .. perhaps a Welsh event in 2016?
May
May was month for the colour yellow as we took delivery of the club's new supply of kit. This included the very limited edition 10 year anniversary jersey .. if you own one of these, you possess one of only 14 that will ever be made .!
Oh yes .. we did a little cycling too, indeed I rode over 350 miles on various club runs in a month that turned out to be my second best of the year.
June
I entered another sportive in June .. the Ax-pedition. This was a nice local event but not one I enjoyed. Indeed, I was on a real downer after it and even vowed that this would be the
last I would enter ... yeh, right!
Anyway, the real event of the month was a holiday in France which took me to within a few miles of one of the most iconic mountain climbs in cycling folklore, Mont Ventoux. This is a 22km climb to an altitude of 1911m and one I had a fantastic time
climbing not once but twice during my stay.
July
What could possibly follow the thrill of Mont Ventoux? How about a 3 month short sabbatical! Yes, I now felt I had all the time in the world to pedal when and where ever I wanted. July saw me take full advantage in cycling over 400 miles, my highest monthly mileage for the year.
July's weather was so beautiful and just perfect for my summer wheels, the Specialized Tarmac .. we had such fun, we even made it north for a ride along Hadrian's Wall while spending time with my folks.
August
Being in my second month of sabbatical, I had the time to organise the August AVP club ride for which no leader had stepped forward. This was to be a ride with a difference, it was to be a
treasure hunt, a format I think we'll repeat next year.
Continuing the entertainment theme, the AVP hosted a stand at Seaton's Great Outdoors Festival where I had opportunity to try out a fat bike on the beach .. I just have to get one, one day !
Towards the end of the month, the
AVP annual 100 miler saw me return to Portland Bill, but this time the weather was gorgeous. That's not to say that the whole of August was so blessed, indeed one of my other planned rides to watch the Red Arrows over Sidmouth was curtailed due to, what Red 10 coined, the '
South Coast Nemesis', as display after display were cancelled.
September
In my third and final month of sabbatical, I returned north to spend some more time with my folks. Coincidentally, this coincided with the
Tour of Britain passing through Cumbria! I had the privilege of cycling out to 3 of the stages and enjoyed meeting up and riding with my old friends from the Rock to Roll CC whom I joined on the ride up to the final stage on Hartside Fell.
Although just 3 months earlier I had vowed never to do another sportive, in a fit of renewed enthusiasm, I had somehow signed myself up for the
inaugural Cross Boarder Sportive. Surprisingly I enjoyed the event, and have even now now booked myself a further two big events for 2016! Never say never!
October
As September closed, I made a quick trip to the midlands to both catch up with my ice cycling friend, Steve and to visit the 2015 Cycle Show at the NEC. Each show seems to be better than the last to me, and this was no exception. This year, I got to meet meet Vicky Brown, our British & World Cycle Speedway Champion, hear Lucy Martin being interviewed by Ned Boulting and bought my copy of Mark Fairhurst's excellent book "P is for Peloton" from the author himself.
Unfortunately, October marked the
end of my sabbatical and triggered that inevitable return to work. The Near Naked Man kindly closed up the Broom Wagon to ride with me on my last Friday. I then quickly settled back into the old routine of the Thursday evening and Sunday morning club rides.
November
November saw me take a holiday without the focus of cycling and I recorded my shortest ever time on the road for a month since June 2013. I did, however, get to winterise Roubaix and start to prepare the Tarmac for the 2016 season by
converting it to a compact chainset.
December
In this final month of 2016 we saw my first
AVP comic strip and sadly the end of an era with the both the removal of the
Pedalabout, the original inspiration for me joining the AVP and the closure of the
Broom Wagon my place of solace.
So, during 2015, I have happily continued my Tour de Fitness journey, traversing over 3000 miles on two wheels.
2013 was all about getting back on a bike,
2014 was all about entering my first sportives,
2015 was all about extending my tour into foreign parts, to north of the border into Scotland and climbing Mont Ventoux in France.
What do I have in plan for 2016? In May, I'll be extending my tour to include Wales by riding the 2016 Velothon and in June, on my return from another foray into France, I'll be repeating my first real sportive, the Dartmoor Classic in an attempt to come away with the silver medal I missed by just 3 minutes back in 2014. Who then knows what other adventures may also come my way .. !
Happy 2016 to all!
