[amitoj]

Dear fellow cyclists,

It is that time of the year for me, as well as for most of you I am sure, where we look back at the year, soak in our achievements and start dreaming about what limits we will cross next year. So, let's share what were our most memorable cycling moments for 2023 and what are our goals and ambitions for 2024.

I'll start. For me, the highlight of 2023 was my bicycle tour of Utah. I have all the details in this thread so I will not bore you with repetition:
Utah Cycling Tour (Bicycle Tour of Utah | 8 days, 350+ miles & 21,000 feet of climbing)

The very next month I had a crash that derailed my plans for rest of the year but instead of regretting the time lost in recovery, and the pain and anguish it caused to my family, I am thankful that I am still here and able to ride a bike.

And maybe because of the accident, I have shifted my goals for 2024. While I will still participate in randonneuring rides, I am also planning to participate in more organized events. The 2 that I have in my sights are:

1. BUMP Series: BUMPS is short for Bike Up the Mountain Points Series and is local to the northeast region where you ride your bike up some iconic mountains. BUMPS
2. Gran Fondos: These are rides that have timed sections. They are held all over the country, usually in locations that support cycling. I am planning to combine these with short family vacation trips. Gran Fondo National Series
3. More family and friends rides: Another goal for me is to do more rides with my kids as well as friends. My kids are at a stage where I can put them through some tough rides to help build character

With that, I now welcome you all to share your thoughts and plans!

Cheers,
Amitoj

[amol4184]

I am about to fall short of 10k kms for 2023 by about 600 kms give or take a few. So for 2024, 10k is my goal. Not much but its a personal barrier I would like to cross!

Secondly a 100km ride every month. I did that this year and it feels great but for 2024 I am targeting a sub 3.5 hour century during summer months.

And then the usual, build more bikes! But that is probably not a healthy goal, certainly not for the wallet

[aneezan]

I just about managed to cross 5000km during 2023, almost the same as 2022. Far cry from consecutive 10,000km plus in 2020 and 2021 while in India.

- Really want get back to 10k+ for 2024. That's the main target.
- I have some bigger rides(300-400km) planned during spring and summer '24. Hopefully these work-out. One that I am looking forward to is a ride through the Netherlands from the South to the North.
- Getting more people in the community into riding. While its second nature for the Dutch, our local Indian community isn't too enthusiastic about it. We organised a challenge(600km) in October and there were some active participants. I and a friend are preparing to expand and have a registered club and get more people to ride.
- Finally, though not too keen, thinking of registering with the Randonneuring NL club.

[kraft.wagen]

Thanks for this thread Amitoj.

I haven't rode my race bike in 2yrs since an accident. But this year I am hoping to jump back on the saddle and start easy with 1000 kms.

Originally Posted by aneezan

- Getting more people in the community into riding. While its second nature for the Dutch, our local Indian community isn't too enthusiastic about it. We organised a challenge(600km) in October and there were a some active participants. I and a friend are preparing to expand and have a registered club and get more people to ride.

Would be great to join you guys when a ride is planned.

[Porschefire]

I bought my Trek Domane AL2 back in December 2022 with the hope that 2023 will be the year where I adopt cycling as part of my daily routine and 2024 onwards, set personal milestones. I did start well, covering about 500kms during March-April. Alas, a series of circumstances + poor health derailed the entire plan. The bike lies idle in my hallway and it saddens me every time I go past it.

My primary goal for 2024 is better health and fitness. I expect cycling to be the major contributor, hence, I'd like to pursue my 2023 goal along with a challenging milestone of 5000kms. 5000kms may not seem much to most people but it is quite an uphill task for me and, I'd rather overestimate and achieve 70-80% of the goal rather than play it safe.

[unni246]

Originally Posted by amitoj

[/list]
With that, I now welcome you all to share your thoughts and plans!

Cheers,
Amitoj

Great thread for the Year end Amitoj
Your Utah trip was a great inspiration for me, wish some day I could try the terrains and specially be part of some great rides outside the country.

I've been an avid cyclist since 2020 post Covid era much like the general mass out there. Though I used to cycle for fun since 2010, it became more serious and inspiring with many friends and ofcourse STRAVA.

I would say Strava had a great role in motivating me with different goals and tracking my activities.

Much like 2021 & 2022, 2023 too was a great Cycling year for me. I had an initial target of 12K kms this year (1K each month). However with 7K+ kms just by June I got greedy for a 15K milestone. But that gradually went off road with family commitments and finally a fall in November. I lost my 1K target for November too with that.
Luckily I will have atleast 13K+ kms by end of this year, which should still be above the aimed target figures

Also Happy that I clocked my milestone figure of 40K kms on Strava this year.
So 2024 plans would definitely be to achieve 50K kms and additionally I wish to concentrate more on Running next year with atleast an attempt to do a Half Marathon.
Cycling had definitely bettered my lungs too and me who had never even run more than 250m pre-Covid can now easily do 10K runs.

Cycles, Long tours, Cycling clubs ..etc are my recent passions alongside TeamBhp, Cars and Bikes !

Attaching my proud moments from 2023





Also Attaching my Strava profile so that like minded BHPians could follow and I could follow back too.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/66986677

Wish we could think of a different kind of catch-up a TeamBHP Cycling Meet @Bangalore and ofcourse at all Metros starting 2024 - a totally Green Meet burning your fat and not fuel !

[Autolock123]

My cycling journey started in 2022. I completed my first organised cycle ride of 125kms a day in Sept 23 and total 215 kms in 2 days.

In 2024, my aim to participate in an ride which is covering 200 kms in one day. This ride will be scheduled in June 23.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by unni246

Luckily I will have atleast 13K+ kms by end of this year, which should still be above the aimed target figures

Also Happy that I clocked my milestone figure of 40K kms on Strava this year.
So 2024 plans would definitely be to achieve 50K kms and additionally I wish to concentrate more on Running next year with atleast an attempt to do a Half Marathon.

Excellent! Congratulations for completing 40k mark in relatively short time. Personally I would call that very, very consistent. Wish you all the best for 2024.

Originally Posted by Porschefire

My primary goal for 2024 is better health and fitness. I expect cycling to be the major contributor, hence, I'd like to pursue my 2023 goal along with a challenging milestone of 5000kms. 5000kms may not seem much to most people but it is quite an uphill task for me and, I'd rather overestimate and achieve 70-80% of the goal rather than play it safe.

Good luck for you! 5000km/year is still more than what 90% people would achieve anyway. That is a plenty of exercise to keep fit, just keep at it the first few days are tough after a break/sluggish past season but once you get in the zone your legs will beg you for a ride.

Originally Posted by Autolock123

In 2024, my aim to participate in an ride which is covering 200 kms in one day. This ride will be scheduled in June 23.

Awesome. Is it around Pune? Or you are travelling to some location. Some of my friends in Pune are doing week long ride on the coast and I am super jealous!

[vb-saan]

To get back on the bike in 2024. Post-COVID normalization, bike rides gradually reduced and got to a standstill towards latter part of 2022 (and eventually sold off the last bike in the household). Looking forward to get a bike again and start riding sometime next year.

[arun_josie]

I am happy that I got in to a fitness routine in 2023 due to cycling. Apart from the short rides, I did a Bangalore - Mysore ride (One Pedal at a time | My Cycling Journey with Firefox Road Runner Pro) and another 100Km ride (One Pedal at a time | My Cycling Journey with Firefox Road Runner Pro) to Thalli Lake in TN.

For 2024, I am targeting at least one 200Km ride maybe by participating in a BRM. Also, I want to be more consistent than 2023.

[Aditya]

For me, 2022 and 2023 were pretty poor when it comes to cycling. My mileage fell well below 10,000 km. The period between June and November 2023 was particularly bad since I hardly had any time to train. My fitness was destroyed and my body went out of shape, which didn't allow me to race in the Mumbai Cyclothon. In December, I got a lot more saddle time and ended the year on a much stronger note.

So in 2024, I will concentrate on getting back in shape and slowly increasing my pace. I would like to be able to race again sometime. I would also like to clock over 10,000 km in the year as I used to.

On the mountain bike front, I will explore more trails around Mumbai.

[jaganm]

I’ve been a regular cyclist since 2008 and have clocked over 60000 km in that period. My cycling desire wanes every few years and gets rekindled after a couple of years out of the saddle.

After a couple of years in 2021/22 where I had done around 1000 km in total, I spent most of the year focusing on my other passions (motorcycling, cult classes) but around September the cycling bug came back and I joined up for a challenge called Tour de 100. That helped take my mileage up to around 3500 km for the year.

For 2024 my goals are
2 rides a week
At least 1 ride of 50 km a week
3-4 century ride
A couple of outstation tours (need to use the Thule roof rack I installed last year)
Total km of 4000 km for the year

I’m setting my targets very low because I’ve become a convert to strength training vs cardio. I also have plans for some big treks this year so will be focusing quite a bit on running and there’s only so much time

[silverado]

I have stopped setting goals, my only goal is just to get out of the house and ride the bike on daily basis.

The most important goal is to " NOT MAKE ANY EXCUSE" to skip that ride.

I will be doing a very lowly circuit of 8kms daily in peacefull lanes around house and on some cycling tracks.Just being out there with my cycle and pedalling at peace is the main motto this year.

Organised ( Paid )rides are good, but having done most of the regular ones i am not in mood to repeat them.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by unni246

Also Happy that I clocked my milestone figure of 40K kms on Strava this year.

Woah that's a lot of Kms. I wonder how much did you drive during this period

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by jaganm

For 2024 my goals are
2 rides a week
At least 1 ride of 50 km a week

You can check the below challenge, doing fifty 50Km rides in a year. Its like one 50Km ride per week.

https://www.goals.fit/challenges/127...chaashat-5050/