2011's Magic Moments on a Bike

2011 was a great year for me in relation to cycling. It was only my second year of cycling and there were so many new and wonderful experiences. I thought it would be nice to pick out my five favorite moments of cycling this year. Here they are, in chronological order...

#1: Big hills in the Peak District
We went to the Peak District for four days over 'Royal Wedding Weekend' in April and had a fantastic time. We had sunny skies, well-paved roads, and beautiful views. On our first day (only a half-day of cycling) we cycled from Derby to Matlock over some massive hills. And I made it up all of them! I was still getting used to the new road bike, which was so much lighter than my hybrid. I have walked up a fair few hills since then, but making the whole ride without walking was a big rush.

#2: Dawn on the way to Dunwich
The entire Dunwich Dynamo (in July) was magic, but during the second half of the ride, dawn began to break at around 4:00am as we cycled eastwards towards the sea. The ride had spread out after the halfway stop, so we were on our own, cycling through deserted roads. It wasn't quite light yet, but we could start to get a better sense of our surroundings with the sunlight coming over the horizon. It really felt special.

#3: Watching the deer in Richmond Park
In August, we went to Richmond Park to watch the London-Surrey Cycle Classic. Afterwards we cycled around the park and stopped to read in the grass in a quiet area. Soon after, an entire herd of deer came walking right past us, crossed the road, and disappeared into the woods on the other side. It was a really special moment, as the deer emerged one by one out of the woods, looked both ways before crossing the road (I swear!), and then walked on. We would never have seen that if we hadn't cycled.

#4: The last 500 meters up the hill to Newlands Corner Carpark
I had my highs and lows on our 200km audax in October, but one moment I will never forget is the last 500 meters before the finish. We were cycling up a hill so the meters were passing slowly, and Alberto was watching the route on his GPS. He kept shouting out how long we had left to encourage me to keep pedaling. We rolled into the carpark with 30 minutes to spare, and became randonneurs!

#5: That one minute in Epping Forest...
...where I actually felt like I knew what I was doing on my mountain bike! I've only had a few chances to take the mountain bike out so far, and have spent most of the time either terrified, walking my bike over tough sections, or falling off. But there was one moment at the end of our first time out to Epping Forest in October when I, just for a second, got it. I was cycling along the path smoothly, "letting the bike do the work," and I glimpsed what all the fuss is about with mountain biking.

Well, there you have my top five cycling moments of 2011. Roll on 2012!

Those who can, do; those who can't... shop

The winter is making me a little stir crazy. It's been so long since we've been on a long ride and I'm really starting to anticipate the start of the cycling season when we get back to London. I seem to be responding to these feelings in a similar manner as I used to do when I was a kid during back-to-school season.... shopping!

A combination of the friendly pound-to-dollar exchange rate (friendly for me, anyway!) and the after-Christmas sales means that I am running in to a lot of too-good-to-pass-up deals on cycling clothes... but I fear I may have gone overboard.

Between my new purchases and the cycling things that Santa brought me, I will be returning to England in a few days with...

• a new pair of cycling shorts
• a new pair of thermal cycling tights
• two new short-sleeved jerseys-- a bright yellow one and a super-cool Philadelphia one pictured above
• A new lightweight waterproof packable jacket
• A new buff
• A new cyclocomputer (for my mountain bike)
• Two new sleeveless base layers
• A new little bag that sits on my bike's crossbar

Not to mention the new running shirts and shorts that I picked up, which will double as my 'civilian' clothes when we do the Camino (due to their quick-drying properties).

It's been a very successful shopping season, but I'm ready for the cycling season to start again! 

A great (short) video about randonneuring

Reading stuff about long-distance cycling, touring, and the Paris-Brest-Paris has become one of my main entertainments while taking breaks from writing thesis.

One of those days I came across the Seattle Randonneurs. They seem to be one of the most well established "Rando" clubs on the other side of the pond and have published a video which describes a little bit of what we felt in our first Audax, or in any of our night rides...and yes, people still laugh at us or give us weird looks when we talk about it...Good to know we are not alone ;). Maybe we can even tag along to one of their rides if we ever happen to be on that side of the globe? Found it on yacf.

Winter is no longer an excuse!

The season has come to an end for most people in Northern Europe due to the winter kicking in. Roads become icy and we may even get snowed in like the last two years in London.

British Columbia cyclists surely know how to cope with wintery conditions as this piece of kit proves:

Rear wheel and front ski

That looks pretty cool!

Cross-training with Running

(source)

A few months ago I mentioned that I had tried going for a run for the first time in my life (voluntarily, I mean). Since then, I've had my ups and downs, but I still seem to be going for a run at least once a week most weeks. Not a long run, just 20 minutes or so, but something to get my heart going.

Now that it's winter (and especially now that I'm back home in Philly, sans bike, for two weeks) I think it's more important than ever to use running as a way to keep fitness levels up in between bike rides. I certainly noticed the difference over the course of the late summer / early fall.

Some advantages to running for winter training:

• It doesn't take very long, so you can easily do it even when you're busy
• Compared to cycling, it's not as important to have daylight -- useful when there aren't as many hours of daylight
• On short runs, you're never very far from home, so you can get home quickly if the weather takes a turn for the worst

Sadly, despite all these advantages, I can't manage to convince Alberto to join me! He still says that 'Running is for cowards!'