2011 planning

[Morrisette]

Do the Dun Run (there is a group called Team Slow, right?).

Would you like first dibs on the tandem?

Gosh! Thanks....I'd think about it, but I might want to go it alone having never done tandeming and barely any night riding...in any case I think I'm too much of a shortarse, having ready about CrinklyLion's experience (she's gotta be taller than me, everyone is  )

[teethgrinder]

Do the Dun Run (there is a group called Team Slow, right?).

Would you like first dibs on the tandem?

Gosh! Thanks....I'd think about it, but I might want to go it alone having never done tandeming and barely any night riding...in any case I think I'm too much of a shortarse, having ready about CrinklyLion's experience (she's gotta be taller than me, everyone is  )

You'll be OK on Wowbagger's tandem. He's rock steady on that thing. In fact, when we were in Wales and riding up hills very slowly, I had to dab my foot on the road a few times. He can balance better on his tandem than I can on my mountain bike!
I think that the wrinkly cat wins in the short arse stakes, probably only second to Julian or maybe any infant YACFers below the age of 4.

Just don't try to make the tandem go fast, it's too much like hard work!

Gwan. Have a go. You might not get another chance and I bet you'll be glad that you did, if you do. Plenty of night rides to do though.

[CrinklyLion]

 Are you really shorter than me? I'm only 5 foot oneandfourfifthsofaninch - the fourfifths make all the difference.

An extra inch (I reckon) of leg would have allowed me to turn the pedals using the suspension seatpost.  I actually had to put the seat UP at the garage stop too, because we'd assumed that we just needed to hammer the saddle down as low as it would go, but with the standard seatpost right down it was too low.

[Wowbagger]

Do the Dun Run (there is a group called Team Slow, right?).

Would you like first dibs on the tandem?

Gosh! Thanks....I'd think about it, but I might want to go it alone having never done tandeming and barely any night riding...in any case I think I'm too much of a shortarse, having ready about CrinklyLion's experience (she's gotta be taller than me, everyone is  )

We can always have a Suffolk-based day ride. If you are shorter than CL then there's a different seatpost I can fit. Stokers' bums do tend to feel the bumps a bit more than soloists, where you are in total control, hence the suspension job. However, I reckon you'd be one of the lightest stokers I'd had. I would definitely recommend bringing your own saddle. Mrs. Wow has an ... idiosyncratic taste in saddles and more than one lady has suffered as a result of using hers.

[JenM]

My plans are:

1.  Lose weight and regain fitness - monitor my weight loss via the forum

2.  Get back to the gym - spinning and rowing

3.  Cycle 3000 miles

4.  Launch myself into the world of WARTYs / camping trips

5.  Cycling holidays
     York at Easter
     'Avoid the wedding' long weekend probably Essex / Cambridgeshire
     St Malo to Royan in June
     Holland / Belgium end August

6.  Fettle the Orbit Gold Medal into a viable alternate bike

7.  Dun Run? - don't think I could cycle that far.....unless I slipstream Team Slow

8.  Learn to love my GPS

9.  Commute more in the summer...assuming I still have a job to commute to

10. Do less planning!

Roll on 2011

[teethgrinder]

My plans are:

1.  Lose weight and regain fitness - monitor my weight loss via the forum

Do some more cycling, that'll help a lot.

3.  Cycle 3000 miles

See above.

5.  Cycling holidays
     
    'Avoid the wedding' long weekend probably Essex / Cambridgeshire
     

Cough cough

7.  Dun Run? - don't think I could cycle that far.....unless I slipstream Team Slow

Maybe not now, but if you get some miles in your legs (you have time) then you could do it.

[Polar Bear]

We have our fledgling plan for Rugby to Wrath which, if timing works out, should leave us fit enough to do the Dun Run this time!   

[clarion]

My plans are:


6.  Fettle the Orbit Gold Medal into a viable alternate bike

I think I need to do something with the Orbit Gold Medal frame hanging in the cellar

[Polar Bear]

Oh, and I guess that there will be a 2011 Random Tandem, a rearranged Tunnels Ride and perhaps a camping weekend or two to try and get along to as well.

I also have to get around to a component transplant between my ti frames and fettle the Hurricane into roadworthy condition and ride it (or sell it!).

[peliroja]

Try to incorporate some proper cycling into my work life, not just doing my very short commute and sleeping off my work exhaustion at weekends.

[damerell]

Dun Run for sure.

The London Sightseer. I do it every year and it's always jolly. I think I'm reaching the point where half my 100km brevet cards are from the Sightseer.

I imagine Ben will drag me out for 200s in March as usual.

The PBP and qualifiers. Or, more realistically, I'll admit I'm not going to do the PBP and agree to go touring with my parents in Holland.

Finish learning to ride a unicycle!

Try and find a more outrageously huge object to transport than a fully upholstered armchair or three full firkins of beer.

[bazzerp]

Coast to coast planned for 2nd week in January - Fishhoek to Noordhoek, & then on round the Cape Peninsula viaMisty Cliffs & Scarborough. Just a short ride in the sun 

Handed my notice in last month & off on 4th Jan for 2 months to apply for Residence - gulp !

http://www.fishhoek.com/sharks.html


 
    Panoramio - Photo of View over Noordhoek Beach - Cape Town, South Africa
 



   Beaches, Cape Town, South Africa

[Adam]

Coast to coast planned for 2nd week in January - Fishhoek to Noordhoek, & then on round the Cape Peninsula viaMisty Cliffs & Scarborough. Just a short ride in the sun 

Handed my notice in last month & off on 4th Jan for 2 months to apply for Residence - gulp !

Fish Hoek ~ your comprehensive Guide : Sharks


  
    Panoramio - Photo of View over Noordhoek Beach - Cape Town, South Africa
  



   Beaches, Cape Town, South Africa

I was there in October, and was amazed by how many cyclists there were around on the coastal roads.  Really good roads and fantastic scenary.  Also the number of mussel shells on the beach at Scarborough - billions of them!

[Jaded]

I'd love to cycle Chapman's Peak Drive, stunning!

[essexian]

I am great at making plans: terrible at sticking to them! For example, I booked for three sportives this year but found reasons not to do any of them. I also managed not to lose the weight I had planned to do, and failed to make the 3 650 miles I had set for the year (although I am likely to get within 300 miles of it and the distance done this year is twice last years and up from a grand total of no miles done between my car accident in 2002 and 2007).

Anyway, 2011 is a big year for me as I am 50 years old in October. So, I want to finally get fit: at 18 stone I can not be considered as such even though I have dropped from the 22 stone I was 18 months ago.

So my targets:

Get to below 15 stone (last time I weight this “little” was just before I met my wife in 1988!)

Do the London to Southend and London to Brighton rides.

I like the idea of the Dun Run (but I am crap after 10pm: I like my sleep!). I might try the Friday night ride to Southend I believe is planned for the end of March as a test.

Do at least one 100km rides per month (last time I did a 100km ride was….1987!)

Do the Stafford Road Club open Time Trail in June. I tried the route out this year and did the 5 miles in 15 mins at an average of 19.5mph which for me is extremely impressive….it would have put me fourth from last…. I didn’t do the actual ride as it was raining!!!

Hit 5 000 miles for the year.

Learn to climb hills! (anything above 3% is a hill in my book!)

Learn to fix bikes so I won’t have to bother with those (deleted swear words) at Halfords.

Do the C2C over two days (thinking of doing it the Royal Wedding Weekend)

And finally, in September do the End to End ride (the last time I did a long tour was 1984!).

Doubt I will do any of the above but have booked already to do two sportives in March. Perhaps an Audux or two might be a nice idea as well….are there any “easy” ones out there?

[marcusjb]

After another great year of cycling (highlight of which was probably the purchase of a tandem giving us a whole new range of options for cycling together), so what about next year?

Goals:

Ride lots, alone and together.

Riding:

Start to ride longer audax rides - got a few 200s under my belt now and looking to move up to 300 and 400 - in for The Dean in March, so we'll see!  Definitely not going to do PBP - it'll not fit in our plans for the year and, besides, I have a personal goal of LEL in 2013 to drive me onwards (40th birthday challenge).  Looking forward to seeing new parts of the country and meeting more of the interesting characters that make up AUK.

Dun Run - almost certainly again.  Tandem again?  Solos?  There and back?  Never again on a Brompton though.

Touring:

Orkney and Shetland isles in August.  I've been to the Orknies before (though not on a bike) and always wanted to get to the Shetlands.  Taking the tandem and camping gear.  Both love Scotland, and love islands.  I also have an appointment to actually see the Old Man of Hoy this time (when I went, I sat on the edge unable to see the thing due to heavy fog).

We're planning a little road trip for the Easter/May Day/Royal shenanigens holiday - up to the Peak District to see my folks for a few days and on towards the Lakes.  Probably not camping and unsure whether we'll take solos or the tandem yet.

Fitness:


Keep on working on it!

Sort out dodgy neck pains.

Learn to climb again - since a lung operation, I haven't been able to climb quite as well as I used to - need to really work the lungs and try and get a bit more capacity again.

Try really hard to put on weight to get baack towards 10 stone and stay there.

Drink more fluids - when at home, when on the bike, all the time.

Bike purchases:

New bike currently awaiting frame builder (Villiers-Velo) and wheels (Royce hubs taking a looooooooong time) - everything else sat in cardboard box awaiting fitting.  Hopefully sometime in February.

Sell the Pinarello once new bike arrives.

Think about something cheapish and functional for riding into other side of town (crossing London to Docklands or The City is a little too far to be fun on a Brompton) - I also have a hankering for a fixed wheel - however, I have been told I can not have a town bike and a fixie - so they may be one and the same - something like a Pomp, slap a rack and mudguards on and it'd be perfect for taking me and my laptop accross the city.

But next year - ride lots and enjoy the countryside - that's the main goal.

[perpetual dan]

I did my first 200 this year, my first work expenses claimed ride and my first rides with stuff for overnight on the back in a very long time. There's loads that I'd like to do, but choosing plausible goals around the rest of life from that I think I have:
 - More and longer audax. I'll deal with that elsewhere, but the first half of the year will have a "further" focus, but not as far as across the channel.
 - An FNRttC, probably to Brighton.
 - More rides with a camera.
 - Go on a ride with a tent. Maybe S24O, maybe to an audax and back.
 - Actually use the MTB as an MTB. This year I think all my off-road trips all involved a child on the back.
 - Carry on commuting.

[RW]

This year I'll be trying to up my mileage and not let Polly get ahead of me.  I have got a head start as she's having both knees operated on, on January 5th.  Problem is she's a competitive little bugger and if she sees me going out riding without her, she'd drag herself out on knees that haven't recovered and we'll be back to square one.

I'm aiming to do 5,200km in 2011 - that's a 100km a week, doesn't sound daunting.
I started doing Audaxes this year and will continue doing 100s until I'm managing them in a reasonable time.  I'd like to attempt at least one 200 next year.

We'll be doing our annual tandem ride to Tarn & Garonne in September.

Loose a bit of weight.  I'm roughly the same weight as I was last year.  I've been hovering around the 12 stone mark for the last five years and I really should shift it.  However, I'm not too depressed about it because the efforts I've made have kept me at the same weight.  Left to my own devices I'd be heading for 14 stone.

[mondobongo]

Ride 6,000 miles have done 5,000 the last 2 years.

Complete the Tour of Britain Sportive assuming there is a Stoke stage, my mate had to bail 7 miles in this year leaving me to pace myself for the remaining 93 and a bit miles. So have told him we have to go again there is no getting out of it.

Get to a few Forum rides.

Should the job situation improve acquire another bike, quite fancy a SS MTB.

[perpetual dan]

This year I'll be trying to up my mileage and not let Polly get ahead of me. 

I did toy with keeping Robert82 behind me on bikejournal as one of my goals. 
But not if you're planning to go further I'm not that competitive. Maybe see you at some of the local audax rides?

[onb]

Im considering cycling around the border of Yorkshire ,sometimes in sometimes out ,but probably from the peoples Republic of South Yorks through Lincolnshire and then over the Humber Bridge .Camp or B&B thats the question.

[chris]

I didn't ride as much as usual this year, partly as I rode a lot in 2009 and decided to spend more time with the family, party due to us taking up sailing (again), partly due to spending most of the summer kayaking around the north of Scotland and partly due to lazyness. I only entered one audax and posted a DNF as I got sick half way round. I plan to ride more in 2011 though, probably by riding from home more, but I hope to start audaxing again. There has been talk of some family cycle camping too.

[clarion]

2011 planning includes riding every single damn day there is, without fail.

Whatever else happens, I shall be on my bike 1 January.

[corshamjim]

2011 planning includes riding every single damn day there is, without fail.

That would have been my 2009 planning goal when I got back in to cycling last year.  Best decision I ever made!  It's taken some experimenting to find the right gear (sometimes wellington boots are the best footwear, and studded tyres are a must in icy conditions), but now I look forward to cycling to work whatever the weather.

[Tail End Charlie]

No mileage target for me, I've done that in the past and it can become a grind.

Do a couple of more short tours (only 3 or 4 days at a time). I find these are a great way of packing a lot into a short time and really recharge batteries.

Go away in May for a week, probably Scotland.

Two or three weeks in France in the summer.

And do more rides where I take the train somewhere and then cycle back. Did that a couple of times this year and it's super to see different roads to ride on.