I have fallen foul of the dreaded curse that affects most small hobby websites – I had a flurry of input and creativity when I was first building it, but my attentions and interest have since waned horrendously; so much so that this poor excuse of a blog has become a simple archive, with posts sadly proclaiming ‘This post is most than a year old’.
I am hanging my head in shame, I truly am.
Of course, now that I’ve come to revisit my blog, I’m thinking it needs a re-design. Since building it I have become (slightly) more proficient in WordPress, so I really have no excuse for not changing the site into a more modern, responsive, mobile-friendly effort.
So what has taken my attentions away from my digital musings? Cycling, mainly. As much as my love of walking endures, my passion for cycling now greatly determines what I get up to on a weekend.
This year I have entered numerous sportives (non-competitive organised cycling events), including the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire (a challenging course, but with terrible support and organisation!), the Arrow, Wiggle’s Peak Punisher (Mam Tor… crippling!), and the Selby Two Swans. I haven’t progressed to the epic distances, yet, but my 30 mile pootles first aspired to on this blog have transformed to regular 50 milers, with 65 miles being my longest ride to date. Next year is the year I crack the 100…
And my biggest cycling adventure this year was doing the Coast to Coast – 140 miles, Whitehaven to Tyneside, in 3 days. I enjoyed every minute of it.
So what’s triggered this passion? I joined a cycling club. After making excuses for a year, that I wasn’t fast enough, or that I couldn’t ride far enough, I was convinced to join the Sunday Girls Road Club, a women-only group that promotes cycling for women of all abilities. There is no doubt that, since joining the club, my cycling skill has noticeably improved. Plus, the club is a great bunch of ladies, with an active social aspect, and I’ve made some great friends.
As far as 2016 is concerned, I’m hoping for more sportives, my first 100 miler, a possible Northern Ireland cycling tour, and I would really like to climb Ben Nevis. But not on my bike.
