So how did 2013 work out?

Mugser

Did ye set yourselves a goal 12 months ago?
And did you achieve it?
Also what was your cycling highlight of the year?
Personal and published.

For me I set myself a goal of getting off the couch and comfortably being able to cycle a 30km loop near here. I started off doing it in around 1hr 20mins, I met and surpassed that target by a long shot (last time I did it in 55mins) as the cycling bug well and truly took hold. Most of the Sunday spins since around the end of May have been in the order of 100km and up.
My own personal highlight of the year was crossing the line of the Sean Kelly tour 160k in under 5½ hours which I was surprised by to say the least, the power of the group carrying me along was fantastic.


The published cycling highlight was Dan Martin's stage victory in the Tour.

Notable mention has to go to being proven right to my doubting acquaintances about him who was on Oprah's show :)

2014 will bring an all new challenge for me as I attempt to hang on to the A4's , should be interesting to say the least, only time will tell.

Season's greetings to all here.

smurphy29

Great post Mugser, and great decision to take it to the next level and try racing - you will really enjoy it. By the sounds of it you are coming on quickly and I'm sure you'll do fine in A4.

Personal highlight for me was the Laragh Classic race on a brilliant circuit. I missed the places in the sprint from the selection due to a combination of exhaustion and a busted bottom bracket, but hammering up the climb on the first couple of laps to whittle the group down to 15 or so riders in classics conditions was a great feeling, and my parents came out to support me and see what the heck the cycling lark was all about, which was fantastic. Well done to St Tiernan's for organising a great race.

There were plenty of frustrations along the way too in what was my first year racing; lots of near-misses in bunch finishes and a big learning curve - so many races where I couldn't help myself wasting energy doing something daft.

Roll on 2014...

GlennaMaddy

I upgraded to A2 when the amnesty was announced at the beginning of the season, the goal was to get points as an A2. I usually start the season in May but it was looking like I wasn't going to make that goal going into August. It took a while but I bagged a win in August, since then I've not really taken training seriously, resulting in below par results in the cyclocross A races, the goal had been to finish in the top 20 in at least one:rolleyes:

Highlight of the year (aside from the win) were the Mondello races, really enjoyed these. The Stephen Roche GP was another highlight, a race I had wanted to do for a few years.

It was a great year for the Pro's, not just Dan and Nico, but loads of others who I'd been following and hoping they'd pull off a result. Sam Bennet's ToB performance was the highlight for me.

Knee injury in January and work distance increased to 50km each way meant I didn't do anywhere near as much as I'd have liked. Not sure how 2014 will be, possibly more of the same. Pity, I do miss the bike in the morning.

Darkglasses

EDIT: Excuse the essay!

Goals were to complete the WW100 and Tour of Wexford sportives, comfortably finish a club spin, a solo 100km, and cycle into another county from my house in Wexford.

Year started quite well, I put up good miles up til May commuting every day to work and getting 1 or 2 60km rides in on my day off (1 week I did very well and did a solo 89km ride after a week of commuting). I knew I was leaving work in May and I felt like I went into it in decent shape (~10 stone). Had trained relatively hard all during winter 2012 with my training buddy, he's more of a triathlete but was aiming to do all the sportives with me.

Completed my first solo century the week after leaving work. Looking back that was quite a good achievement, even though I commuted every day I was definitely not used to being on the bike for that long and it showed, barring that fluke 89km ride.

Following a fairly healthy week away in Achill, I completed the Wicklow Way 100 plus a bit extra, cycling down from my buddy's house in the city centre. 138km just over 6 hours, was never interested in doing it quickly, my first ever sportive so just wanted to complete it without having to get off and walk. Again, pretty pleased with that.

Two weeks later, on the recommendation of my buddy, I did my first TT with Wexford Tri club. Had a blast, was excellent training and met a great bunch of people. Next year there will hopefully be more of those. Also that week I decided to try going back to the Wexford Wheelers. Had been out with them twice before, had to make an SOS call the first time (on a hybrid and unprepared) and second time I took a shortcut home. This time I was in great shape, easily completed with the best of them. Still don't think club riding is for me though, so probably won't do it again.

Quite enjoyed my first sportive so me and my buddy decided to do St. Luke's 60km, but also cycling there and back so 136km total including 1 climb of Mt. Leinster up the easier side. Probably my best achievement and also the most fun sportive I did. Great to meet a good few Boardsies there too, definitely will do it again next year. I'd been working hard on my climbing and also reducing my weight (just below 10 stone then), and was pleased to see I set a good time going up Mt. Leinster. Tough work cycling home, but harder on my friend (vegetarian so didn't eat anything at the bbq). Also managed to get the other county achievement here, sneaking into Carlow on the way over Mt. Leinster.

Into August, my weight fell to where it still is now (9.5 stone) and also my mileage started to drop off, with only 1 hard event to go, the Tour of Wexford. Despite being easily the flattest sportive of the lot, it was a very tough 121km ride at just under 5 hours. Heavy rain at the start, and me and my friend struggled to latch onto any group for long. I think the rain kept away the more casual riders like us. All achievements completed my mileage really fell off a cliff here.

Later in August, managed to get something done that had been in the back of mind since that first club spin on my hybrid. It had been a tough route including a climb of Sliabh Coillte, which I had stop half way up and quit. Managed to cycle out there and get my revenge, which was a nice personal victory. Didn't struggle much this time, and greatly enjoyed the observation point at the top of the arboretum.

One last event in September, a friend asked me to help look after people (giving out drinks and food and calling the broomwagon for people in trouble) on the road on a family cycling event, the Swings and Roundabouts. Hung around the back of the sportive the whole time with two non-cyclist friends, 65km with a delightfully slow 18kph avg speed. Lovely way to end the season, very friendly and so not serious compared to my other ones.

Last big ride of the year in October, I ventured out to try to take on Mt. Leinster on the harder, 9 stones side. Although still quite light I was well off my best, managed get up to the top (very difficult, never thought I'd make it). Had to pack it in on my way home after horrendous rain and bonking twice. 99km, just short of another century.

Moved to Belfast for work and college, weekly total barely reaches 70km these days.

All in all, I'm delighted to have managed to get all the achievements done, but wish I could have kept up the mileage moreso towards the end. I'll give myself a 7.5/10

Next year - Do a 200km sportive, do 150+ solo, do 3 time trials, do a 2 day tour.

quozl

2013 was definitely my best ever cycling year.

I learnt to ride a bike in May. Built a road-bike in August. Did a 100km sportive in September. Joined Orwell in October and have just signed up for the club league for next year.

Next years goals are to ride a 200km sportive and to keep getting faster in general. I'm signed up for the WW200 (come on, everyone might as well do it once) but hope to do one of the early Audax 200s.

My personal cycling highlight was that lesson from Rothar.ie where poor Anne ran along behind me holding my seat post Doing 75kph down-hill on a bike that I built myself is a close second

Published highlight has to be Dan Martin's stage win. I also loved Chris Horner v Nibali in the mist on the Anglirú. That was epic.

Zyzz

Hey Darkglasses when is your book signing?? :pac:

Darkglasses

Zyzz wrote: »

Hey Darkglasses when is your book signing?? :pac:

That can be my 2015 goal

pelevin

Afraid health issues mean my cycling achievements & goals were well & truly smashed so rather than go into those dull & murky waters, on the pro-front - & this was my first year back looking at pro-cycling after losing all interest due to doping - my single ecstatic highlight was Dan Martin in Liege, but overall what gave me most pleasure was probably the Giro. Just loved it, off-the-cuff hard racing from the beginning, riding thru the snow-covered mountains just looked absolutely epic & in Nibali a fantastic winner who seems to carry himself brilliantly.

VR46

Had been doing 50-100k per week for years just commuting and whatnot. Then at the end of the summer, much to the detriment of my bank balance, I decided I wanted to be a proper cyclist.
Been doing 200-300k per week since then and seeing some nice improvements. Can't wait to start racing next year.

Wishbone Ash

Goals for 2013:

To cycle at least 13,000 kms - (16,725 kms done and counting)
To climb 50,000 metres - (102,500 metres done and counting)
To do a solo 200 km ride - (did several 200+ rides including one of 221 kms)
To avoid doing the 'walk of shame' -(failed twice during 2013)

I'm pretty happy with 2013. :pac:

ednwireland

27 mins 24 sec for 10 mile TT 2 and half mins off 2012 cant complain

still need to lose loads of weight though

couerdelion

Good points:

Joined a cycle club and participated in the club league, enjoyed it and didn't get dropped in every race.

Did my first open races and didn't get dropped in all of the races.

Did a sub 30 min 20km TT in the triathlon club summer series.



Bad points:

Still not thin or anywhere close

Cookie_Monster

goal was to run a half marathon, and subsequently a full one which I did in June. Next goal is festive 500 and 1000km in December.
I also crashed recently and landed on my head so hard I went out and bought a mountain bike - I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet...
Not that much went on this year, next year is a different story.

Turn 30 in August and have vowed to do 333,333 before 30

Lose 3kg / enter at least 3 organised events
30 half marathons
300km cycle
3,000km of cycling
30,000m of climbing
300,000 recorded calories burnt - just for the laugh

G rock

Nowhere near my goal of 12k for the year, but delighted that I did my first 300k back in march, and plenty of solo 200's.

I was well on track for the year with 8k on the clock by the middle of august, but then a lazy spell landed followed by the birth of our first child, so since then I've only done another 500k!

Still, most definitely a year to remember!

ford2600

quozl wrote: »

2013 was definitely my best ever cycling year.

I learnt to ride a bike in May. Built a road-bike in August. Did a 100km sportive in September. Joined Orwell in October and have just signed up for the club league for next year.

Next years goals are to ride a 200km sportive and to keep getting faster in general. I'm signed up for the WW200 (come on, everyone might as well do it once) but hope to do one of the early Audax 200s.

My personal cycling highlight was that lesson from Rothar.ie where poor Anne ran along behind me holding my seat post Doing 75kph down-hill on a bike that I built myself is a close second

Published highlight has to be Dan Martin's stage win. I also loved Chris Horner v Nibali in the mist on the Anglirú. That was epic.

Well done, some going.

Since your ramping up consider Kingdom alliance sportive, a 3day event in Kerry on Bank Holiday. Iveragh 200 is special event also.

buffalo

Won a cup, smashed my face, won a race, won a jersey, won a trophy, smashed my collarbone. Pros outweigh the cons I reckon.

lizzylad84

from what i remember these are the goals i set last year
1. tour of Louth (my local sportive.)
2.tour of Meath

completed TOL in 3.58. (silver medal).happy with that and a nice marker for 2014
also delighted to beat my mate across the finish line in TOM...and came home before the rain....always a bonus.
also completed Cycle for St. Catherine's in Wicklow, my first sportive over 100km, total distance was 120kms, first 80 were soaking wet, but nice to cross the finish line. myself and one other club member done this event.
also done lap the lough.

Published highlights have to be Dan Martins tour stage win, Froomies performance on Ventoux
Cancellara's performance in Paris Roubaix

as for 2014
compete in club league,
160km tour of Meath
160km tour of Waterford
Sean Kelly tour of the Midlands
(possibly) tour de Conamara
aim for platinum medal time in Tour of Louth
was hoping to do the ww200 but its me mam's 60th the night before


oh yeah and I'm getting married next year too

smacl

Cycling took a bit of a back seat due to work this year so no great progress. Had planned on a 300k spin which never happened, and to cycle 7.5k (only got about 6k on the road and another 1.5k on the turbo). Also put on another stone over the year which is most unwelcome. Highlights were cycling in Kerry on the hols, a number of climbs up Mt Leinster, and a circuitous 240k solo run down the coast to Dunmore East. Also enjoyed the new WW200 route, though really felt carrying the bit of extra lard on the hills.

monkeyslayer

two operations early in the year and six weeks walking across the himalayas later in the year played havoc with my cycling and training aspirations, with only one sportif and pretty much no major big spin other than the usual 100km jaunts around wicklow... grand year tho, around 5000km on the 'good' bike, probably the same again on the 'not so good' bike, and more than a few memorable spins in great weather and bad.

daragh_

My plan was to do some racing in A4 and the Inter-Club League and build up to Charleville. Didn't really do any planned training so my performance was all over the place, but I had a blast anyway.

Low points. Crashing at Charleville and sitting around feeling sorry for myself afterwards.

Highlights.
Being part of an awesome club, nearly every League Race, waving a flag at the Laragh Classic.

Meeting Le Petit Braquet. Privilege and an honour.

Seaswimmer

Goals were to do more "functional cycling" and also keep bike commuting.

Managed both and got in about 8,500km commuting only.

Real bonus was a quickly organised 10 day self supported cycling tour from Oporto in Portugal to Biarritz France using our own road bikes and travelling light. It has given me a real desire to do something similar again next year.

shaka

Goals were to of all the An Post cycles and maybe Wicklow . All that changed when I got results of MRI at start of year, a number severely damaged discs hitting nerve meant 3 months off work and no cycling. Got back on near end of year and even got a 80 km sportive done but pretty disappointing year.

2014 goals will be to get every week and see how strong I can get again

godtabh

What I posted at the start of the year.

I'm looking to triple the distance I did in 2012 (2167km) so looking at about 6500km and do 100km running (857km in 2012, 1160km in 2011)

This will be done with a bit of everything; commuting, touring, club runs, spins with mates and solo ones, sportif's but not racing (this may change) and whatever else comes my way.

I hope to do an average of 150km per week with at least 3 commutes and 1 club spin so I believe my 6500km is well within reason.

One positive side effect is getting really fit and healthy. I've a goal of getting the weight down to 90kg by year so thats 15.3kg to lose as off today.

Started with a nice 27.8km spin this morning at 6am. It was a lovely morning for a spin!

I hope to post once a week with updates

Smashed my distance goal. Now standing on 10,100km for the year. Very happy with that.

Biggest ride was 218km. Hoping to do a 300km spin next year.

Didnt do any sportives but did do a lot of 100km plus solo spins.

Planning to cycle to from Dublin to Belgium via London and Amsterdam for charity. The Dublin part is still in question as its not included as part of the official tour but I hope to do it anyway.

Wicklow 200 is on the card depending on college

Weight went up and down. Got down to 95kg and averaged around 97. Still hope to get it down to 90kg.

Still a member of orwell (for a few more days!) and will see if I rejoin them. I enjoyed the summer spins but I also enjoyed the individual spin.

Most enjoyable spin was probably a 80km spin in Budapest on an old 1980's pugeot that was originally bought in Joe Daly's!

detones

So 2013 was my first full year cycling. Started cycling around May last year. Despite doing what feels like a lot if cycling in 2013 I have only managed just shy of 6000k.

Biggest Achievement:

Getting a platinum Medal in the tour of Louth with an Average of 33kph + for the 100k

Highlights:

Ring of Kerry
Boards Spin Against Cancer
Tour of Sligo
St. Luke's Sportive
Meath Heritage

Lowlights:

Falling over while stationary and clipped in at tea stop on Meath Heritage. Maybe 50 people looking at my pathetic bike handling.

Goals 2014:

Be Awesome

Complete 8000k for the year

Wicklow 200

Sean Kelly TOW ( had to cancel st last minute this year)

Best one of Beastys KOM's ;-) especially one near my doorstep.

Get my winter hat of @BCMF while its still cold out and generally continue to wind him up ;-)


Give the club league a try....This is a biggie as I have always said I would not race. To be honest safety is my main concern (and getting dropped like a hot snot) and has put me off racing. I am fairly fearless on bike on my own, have descended at near 100kph and i enjoy cornering at speed etc, its not having control over a situation which puts me off racing. The club league should be a relatively safe introduction.

Wishbone Ash

detones wrote: »

...Getting a platinum Medal in the tour of Louth with an Average of 33kph + for the 100k..

Kudos - that's pretty impressive.

mahoo

after consulting my strava i can confirm that 2013 was indeed pants. 22 rides total

highlight - the summer weather
lowlight - my hips

Actually, i didnt set any goals for 2013 so i guess in that case it was success. hurrah!

2014 goals - try A4 racing / double hip replacement

dermo1990

Started out 2013 with the ambition of upgrading to A3 in my first season of racing after only starting cycling in July 2012 with pretty horrendous fitness....that didn't happen, but got annoyingly close to an upgrade on my last race of the season.
Could've got points in a few other races, but due to nervous bunch sprinting or silly tactical decisions (like leading for the majority of my first race), that didn't exactly happen....have had a few crashes during that time too, none race related thankfully :P

lennymc

goals for 2013 - get to a3 from a4. try not to hurt myself in the inevitable crash (or several as it turned out) and enjoy my cycling
I achieved the upgrade, and crashed a bit. Enjoyed most of my cycling. Highlight was getting a second place in my 'home' race (circuit passes 500 metres from my house). I was pipped at the post by a swords rider. Ah well. I will just have to win it next year!!

Also did a weeks training camp which inclded some pretty savage climbs, such as the valley of the tears in Gran canaria. Possibly the most epic cycle I have ever done. 10 km or so, climbing over 1000 metres (which includes a 1.5km descent). it was savage.

I have 240 km to go to hit 10k for the year - that will be me happy distance wise.

all in all 2013 was mainly a good year and I'm looking forward to next year. for 2014 I want A3 points and hopefully an upgrade to a2 for some silly reason!! Bring it on!!

Happy christmas to all and have a safe and wonderful 2014!

Amprodude

Started out 2013 joining my local cycling club as i had aimed to do.

However, my highlight of the year was to be able to get back cycling again after a serious road traffic accident at the start of year where i almost lost my life. I was out of action for almost 4 months. I managed to do a few sportives tours and club spins few months after the recovery and gradually got myself back cycling and wanted to get back to where i was before. I am cycling now more than ever. Eventhough 2013 stopped some of ambitions, it encouraged me to come back stronger and im doing more spins as a result.

I am going racing in 2014 so im looking forward to new challenge. Plenty to learn along the way but thats what i want to do.

seamus

Not great. Turns out that young children and cycling are a tough one to mix.

Plan was to get in about as much cycling as I did the previous year (no chance), lose 5kg (lost 0.5kg ) and go racing. Went racing, didn't completely suck. Which is something I suppose. Plan then was to build the base miles in the winter for next year's racing. The club spins started back in October and I've gotten out for a grand total of one. All down to bad timing, tiredness and sicknesses really.

Plan now is to get out as much as I can in the lead up to the 2014 club races, and try get a podium place in an L/SL race (legitimately, not by default ). There's still 3 months of winter ahead to get myself back to the condition I was at in September 2012, which is what I consider my most recent peak. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead doing a 100km ride now. Back then that would have been a typical 3.5 hour Sunday spin. The fitness is still there from cycling into work, just the conditioning for longer distances is degraded. I really just need to start going to bed early on Saturdays...

I do a good bit of running too, and the same story there; sporadic training, 3 good weeks followed by six bad ones. Though I did set my 10km PB back in November, so I'm not that far behind in my training. Plateaued more than lost fitness I think.

Garzard

This year's been great overall. Haven't recorded mileage but since getting the bike around this time last year and cycling almost full time since then. Although no mileage goals were set,

My fitness has noticeably improved through it.

Gained excellent experience of cycling in urban traffic especially during rush hour, despite the few close calls here and there. Going to continue this - have saved huge amounts on public transport fares and traffic frustration!

Also gained a reasonable amount of bike maintenance experience eg. puncture repair, disassembling the bike's bits and pieces and replacing brake pads.

Looking forward to 2014. Will start to pick up proper cycling gear and hopefully a new road bike when my budget allows. After this I'll try and get involved with a cycling club or two such as those in my college and hope to take part in future boards charity cycles.

Great year anyway.

godtabh

seamus wrote: »

Not great. Turns out that young children and cycling are a tough one to mix.
.

A very tough task!

An 18 month old and MBA means most cycling takes place between 5am and 8am.

Role on the summer!

07Lapierre

11,118 klm for the year..
Events completed:
KARE tour de foothills
Cycle for life (With Dan Martin)
Irish Heart Foundation cycle
Tour of the midlands
Wicklow 200
La Marmotte
N Roche Challenge
Loads of commuting and Saturday spins and a few of the races at Mondello park...
Next year: 12,000klm

maloner

Goals for this year:

* Start racing club league and open races
* Not crash while racing
* Get some points in club league races
* Get some points in A4
* 10,000km distance

Had a great year. Really enjoyed the racing and got a few placings in the club league in both DMS and handicap races and didn't fall!

Did lots of A4 open races and got some results I'm proud of with 4th overall in the tour of Omagh and 3rd overall in the Charleville 2 day. I got 7th on the final stage of Charleville to get 2 points so happy to get a result in an individual race too and get upgraded. Decided to finish on a high and not do any A3 races. I'll save that up for next year

Did the SKT waterford sportive and managed 30km/h.

2 falls over the year but no serious damage so long may that last...

Waved flags in the club race (Laragh Classic) and really enjoyed it. Fab racing from the looks of it and something different for the usual open race courses.

With travelling this week I'll be taking it easy on the bike and will start ramping up a bit in January. Finished high in the TT's in the stage races so I might do a bit more work there than I did last year.

Goals for next year will be first off, to finish in the A3 bunch and see where we are then. After I've done a few races I'll have a better idea of whats achievable.

Daroxtar

Got a bike, went from dying after 10k to doing 50k under 2 hours at my ease. Discovered Strava. Got a few KOMs. Lost half a stone but currently storing energy like a camel in preparation for some serious cycling early next year
All good

gerrowadat

Took it up and bought the hybrid in may, the road bike in September, 1600k on the clock, mostly either the short (25km roundtrip) or long (75km roundtrip) commute. The warm summer helped -- dropped about 5kg. Haven't been able to get out much over the past few weeks with work travel and the weather deteriorating (today was a local charity spin mostly on ice. Ropey!)

Definite plans to up the km and frequency in 2014. Do a few stages of the cycle against suicide, and work my way up to a longer sportive.

DaithiMC

At 5k km (7k including commutes) for the first full year back cycling after the almost usual 15 yrs of family and job related distractions. Goals were 100k at 25kph which I did at WW100, also did SK Waterford 160k and surprised myself doing the Nicholas Roche classic at 29 kph average. Sadly 2014, with new job related travel, I'm not sure I can get the mileage in but doing a charity 200k on the first stage of the TdF In Yorkshire in June, so, along with other sportives and becoming a member of St. Tiernan's, still a lot to look forward to.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Plans for 2013 was simply to cycle more than I dd in 2012 and buy a carbon bike before the end of the year which I did.

2014: cycle to work at least 2/3 times a week and to do Mizen to Malin in September which I'm already signed up to do. I hope to do a lot more longer solo spins this year (150km+) as there are three 150km days (then 2 shorter days) on the Mizen/Malin and so want to be well prepared for them.

Loq

2013 was my first full commuting to work with my bike, here are the numbers:

- I cycled 9 500km (48km commute every day)
- I did one 100km ride and one 75km ride.
- My average commuting time is 60 minutes or 53 minutes of cycling only.

So goals for 2014:

- I would like my commuting ride to last around 47-48 minutes instead of 53min.
- I will try to reach 10k for the year
- I will try to participate in 1 event

killalanerr

2013 was an epic year for me on the cycling front i learnt a few home truths about what an over 50 rider can and can not do,my main goal first and fore most was to stay upright some of my other goals include
Geting a medal in the world fire games to get round a stage race in good shape and score some points in A3 i had a few other mine goals but theses were the main ones
Mileage for the year is coming in at 13,400km i got a super base in this was spoilt a bit by a nasty fall in mid jan a week before my trip to lanzarote but i was still able to ride on the trip but the dead leg made for hard going (this does not count as a fail on the keeping upright goal as i was not racing)
When the racing got going after getting over the shock of upgrading to A3 i was going ok i even managed to score some points and get my name on sticky bottle this was closely followed by what was the worst day on the bike this year at the Des Hanlon Mem where i bonked and ended up in the back of the ambulance suffering from exposure
Then it was on to the Rás Mumhan i can tell you i was scared with some of the worst weather in the history of the race forecast and the entry list read like the whos who of irish cycling,long story short i was totally out of my depth my memory of this event besides the weather is of Damien Shaw butting the race in the gutter in a hollowing cross wind and blowing the race apart,i got into the car on stage 3 i was over an hour down and realized i had miss the cut off by about 20 years!
I was secretly harbouring the idea that i might be able to get round a ras but my performance in Kerry left me in no tough that this was a bridge to far

My Father lost his battle with motor neurone disease this year he fought this right to the end he was and still is a great inspiration to me i wanted to mark his passing in some way so i decided to do a unsupported Malin to Mizen for charity so with no planing i loaded my old TDF into a bus and headed to Cork and 4 days later with the longest day being 207km i found myself in Mizen we managed to raise over €3000 for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association i did enjoy this trip it was hard going,i will try and do something in 2014 again

Next it was the World fire games in Belfast i was entered in 4 events my first was the hill climb,in heavy rain on the Stormont hill i picked up a bronze lets just say i was pleased,then came the road race where i again picked a bronze medal pleased +1,while i was in Belfast i bumped into the afore mentioned Damien Shaw a very nice lad i was just glad we were not in the same race this time
Another hi light for me was getting to ride with scratch at my club league i was so pleased when one of the guys went on to win an IC at least i knew then that it was hard and it wasnt just me being old,

To finish while we were on the hols i found myself in Lourdes it was pointed out to me a nice 100km loop would take in the Tourmalet i had my trusty old TDF with me but did i want to drag that lump up over 2,000m of climbing, so i set off with the plan to see how far i would get so 2 hours later i found myself at the top of the Tourmalet in a white out fog on my TDF for some reason i was very pleased with myself it was no fun on the way down the brakes on the TDF wernt up to the job

Off the bike i had my usual super week working on the Ras i love that race
Plus we had a bit of fun with an FBD Ras skin suit on Ebay and make in few bob for one of the mini Wavs along the way,the generosity of people never ceases to amaze me
For me my favourite publicised story is Martyn Irvine what i year he has had

Roll on 2014 the adventure continues

ugsparky

Set targets for 2013 and achieved most of them

Cycle Against Suicide - Dundalk/Dublin
Tour of Louth 3:45:46s ave 28km/h - very pleased and beat Jenkinstown Hill
An Post Meath Heritage
Leinster Loop
Ardee CC 100k
Ring of Kerry

A few other charity cycles + several 100k+ training spins

Got to meet Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly - signed books for me and signed a jersey - hope to get TDF Champions/Stage winners to sign a jersey that I hope to donate to a charity auction - so far LeMond, Roche and Kelly

Targets for 2014

Stronger, Faster, Further ...

... Tour of Connemara - hopefully meet and ask Hinault to sign the jersey
An Post Tour of Waterford
Tour of Louth ... under 3:30 if possible
Ring of Kerry

Giro D'Italia in Belfast and through Co.Louth ... hopefully get a few more names on the jersey ... Wiggins, Froome, Martin ... maybe some of the past winners

... and to ride faster, stronger, further ... and to be happy and stay healthy

route66

From http://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/annualSummary.php

Total Activities 78
Total Distance (km) 4,003
Total Time (hrs) 189:45:16
Average Speed 21.10 km/hr
Total Elevation (m) 64,769
Total Segments 1,923
Longest Activity (km) 203

About the same distance as last year with more climbing (= slower )

G1032

Well I didn't really have any goal in 2013. First year really cycling. I just tried to increase the mileage as the weeks went by which was kinda hard as I am only able to get out twice or sometimes 3 times a week. Cycling to work not an option unfortunately. Longest cycle was 85 km which included a nice climb at an average speed of 27.5km/hr

Goals for 2014 are

1. To climb Minaun in Achill. It'll be 60km to get there first and obviously 60 more home. And Minaun is like nothing I've ever climbed before.
2. 160km spin through Connemara. Lovely cycle around the lakes
3. 210 km trip from my house to Tipperary. Stay overnight and cycle home the next day

I'm not within an @sses roar of the level required to complete any of these goals but I'm going to try my best. If I did two of the three I'll be very happy. Maybe I'm living in fantasy land thinking I'm anywhere near fit enough to attempt these cycles but we'll see. I'll be posting here no doubt during the year asking your advice on how to tackle these goals.

wanderer 22

Cycled around 5k this year , including 1.5k commuting - basically the same as 2012. Major achievement this year was climbing the Stelvio pass, which was an amazing experience. Also did the Orwell Randonnee (which was probably my hardest ever day on the bike, I still have nightmares about the wind that day). I Bought myself a cx bike but amount of actual cx'ing done was minimal..

Major failure of the year was my miserable performance on the Evil 200, I got around 60k before being dropped and turning around..I'll be back next year for more punishment.


For 2014 I'm heading to Yorkshire in July to do the stage 1 route of TDF. Also hoping to climb Mount Ventoux, ideally from all three sides , though I need to convince people to come with me for this one ;-)

el tel

Cycled 5 times this year, the last ride being in July. Next year I'm aiming for double figures

inc21

el tel wrote: »

Cycled 5 times this year, the last ride being in July. Next year I'm aiming for double figures

Darkglasses

el tel wrote: »

Cycled 5 times this year, the last ride being in July. Next year I'm aiming for double figures

I believe in you el tel better aim for triple figures!

NeedMoreGears

I set myself a target of 8,500km plus a few sportives thrown in. This was down from the previous year's 10,000km ; I was just too wrecked at the end of 2012 having made it by about 5km.

It looks like I'll finish around 8,300 ; took a hard fall in December that damaged the bike and so missed about 10 days commuting. Around 3/4 the distance was commuting with sportifs including, Kare, Mount Leinster, Wicklow 200 and SKT.

Highlight of the year was a few sneaky spins in the Pyrenees - my one and only hors category climb - very enjoyable

Next year, I'm not setting any particular distance target but I'd like to get some more spins on the weekend - maybe 35 for the year, with maybe a few more 100k + than usual. I'd also prefer to stay upright as these bones are much slower to heal than they used to be.

Roll on 2014

Raam

My main aim is to see my son safely to his first birthday. Mission almost accomplished as there are three days to go.

Last year (2012) I wanted to do a big assault on the National Hill Climb Champs and do a good CX season. A side goal was to do a week around Tirol and Sud Tirol taking in the Stelvio which has long been an aim of mine. We had a week of pure torture planned. Everything was coming along very well but then I failed on all that due to a health reason. I had to cancel my holiday a couple of days before I was due to fly. Cycling took a break from me then for a few months.

This year I resolved to do similar, but leaving out the hill climb training. I succeeded with the week away in the Alps albeit it with less madness than planned for the year before. Damn, those hills in the Alps are long. Still loved it though. Alas, I once again failed on the CX front due to a different health reason, entering only one race whilst still sick (not a good idea) and finishing maybe mid way through the field in the A race. My best result yet mind. So I know I can do better.

My final aim was to play my part in the organisation of the North Dublin Cyclo Cross League. Along with some very dedicated club mates, we have achieved this and our last race is on tomorrow.

brayblue24

"A b*lls up from start to finish"-Derek Trotter, c.1984

The year for me started off slowly with the weather for the first few months. I was just getting some great mileage in when I was hit by a car enroute to work at 7.30am on a beautiful July morning. My bike (and nearly me too) was written off and the replacement took over 2 months to arrive, which didn't matter unduly as I hadn't been declared fit to resume cycling anyway-I missed possibly the best cycling weather in the last 10 years-in it's entirety :mad:

I had also been spending time transporting my dad to hospital visits and then visiting when he was hospitalised in early September (he died in mid October). Now I'm bringing my mam to appointments also so mileage is still limited (I'm not complaining BTW, that's life unfortunately).

A few changes in work hampered the opportunities somewhat later in the year but I did manage to buy a winter bike-however I kinda bought this one with my heart rather than my head so it was not without it's problems either. After quite an absence I finally got to go for a spin this morning only to find one of the tyres soft so I decided to pump it up-and whatever way I bent over I pulled something in my back and ended up spending the day on the couch (I'm still here ).

My only achievement in 2013 was to break the psychological duck of a 10k run and that's not even cycling related.

I'm beginning to feel like a poor man's Philip Deignan with all the bad luck and injuries

For 2014 I'll be doing a few sportives in aid of cancer charities but whatever happens it can't be worse than 2013. Or can it?

Best of luck to all here with your 2014 ambitions.