What’s driving you at the moment, either short or long term ? Life-goals ?

One of mine was to do another XC race, which i’ve now entered this weekend, i’m hoping not to come last… but it’s possible 🙂

Longer term i want to develop more skills and abilities to do an Enduro race, it’s more the crashing rather than the coming last for this one.

Lastly it’s to climb Alp D-Huez/Galibier or another similar Grand Tour type mountain stage, but that’s a longer aim rather than a ‘this week’

What about you lot ?

Going to the arctic in February for a 5-day race will probably be the ‘pinnacle’ of my 30+ years biking experience – life goal will be to come back digitally intact / alive 😉 For me it’s as much about the experiences that riding a bike provides as much about riding a bike and it doesn’t need to be ‘competitive’ so whilst I do the occasional race, it’s the moments of ‘flow’ that standout, whether riding the Tuscan white roads amidst olive groves, nailing a mountain descent or plodding through knee-deep snow in the arctic…

Long term: Tour Divide (probably “touring” rather thn “racing”.

Mid term:HT550 (agin, “touring”.

Short term: Get some base fitness back to enable mid and long term goals.

Done the Alpe (it was probably the best day I’ve had on a rod bike). Done the Joux Plane too (actually three times).

Next year I’m moving back to Geneva.
I want to do the lake in under 6.5 hours.
Next on the list is the Grimsel Pass. That’s going to be a hard day out 🙂

I was thinking about just this yesterday (although not just in the context of cycling, more wider fitness).

I’d like to do the C2C over 3 days in the next couple of years, solo and carrying all I need (B&Bs though, not camping which just isn’t for me).

I want to clear the Loughrigg Terrace climb with no stopping for breathers, photos, in case someone needs the gate holding open that I can’t see, etc.

I have a load of getting faster goals too, sub 10 minutes on a climb near me, knock 5 minutes off my Cragg Vale time and the like.

Out of cycling I want to get a 200kg deadlift back and be able to do a single solitary hanging pull up. The latter will involve more losing weight than getting stronger.

Ride the Slickrock Trail – Hopefully in my 50th year, 2018.

Quite an unaspirational one but I want an 8th lap in the glentress seven- just arbitrarily because that’s the best result I’ve had in pairs so I want to match it in solos. I missed it in 2015 because of mechanicals and in 2016 because of fatbike so it better happen this year!

(it’ll probably only lift me up a couple of places tbh and it’s still miles away from the fast boys but that’s not really the point)

id like to be able to cycle more than 10 miles without being in pain.

Definitely working on it.

More races , get FTP through the roof on Trainerroad this winter, get better at stoppies

@Dovebiker – Is that the Rovaniemi 300?

Short to medium term: Rovaniemi 150 in Feb and hopefully the HT550 in May/June. Probably a few other ITTs as well.

Long term: Don’t really know, at my time of life I’m not looking much more than a year ahead though the HT550 has been a two year “project” building up the fitness and techniques.

Just to ride more places I haven’t yet, especially with my kids. Racing – a consistent xc season would be good, but I end being a bit sporadic with everything so it’s all a bit hit and miss. Would also love to race things that I haven’t done yet – so Strathpuffer, maybe the marathon series.

Short term is to get my fitness back from this year. Repeated injury & illness has resulted in me being a slug.

Which should co-incide with racing goals for next year. Podium all the DH races I enter. It’s only regional stuff anyway, a win or two would be nice. Podium some enduro races. Get another top 10 at an EWS. That would be an awesome last year in masters & set me up great for a first year in vets (shudders).

To climb the north path up Millstone Hill, Aberdeenshire to its saddle, with no dabs or rests.. (It’s called ‘Millstone un-climbable climb’ on Strava)
It’s 1/2 mile long with an average gradient of 11%, the first 1/3 of which is 17% and is very technical almost all the way up.
The first time I tried it I honestly could not see how anyone could climb it……a few weeks ago I made it with one fail/30 second breather. It will not defeat me 🙂

Long term: Birkebeinerrittet in August 2017
Medium term: Bikepack a double SDW
Short term: keep turning those pedals a having fun!

Mine are more skills based.
Short term – More consistent wheelies
Medium – Manualing and proper bunny hops.
Long term – learn the skills to have the confidence to do big jumps and drops

When they’re old enough ride from Lhasa to Khatmandhu with my boys. Do a 24 hour solo, The Fred, some alpine road climbs, a big xc day in the alps, do an enduro and not have a little cry when picking up the results.

Rubber_Buccaneer – Member
Ride the Slickrock Trail – Hopefully in my 50th year, 2018.

as the local said it’s the oldest not the best, whole enchilada instead!!

For me, ride 200km road in a group without killing myself or anyone else in 3 weeks,
Make the worlds XC and DH in cairns (with beers)
Try and make it into EWS…
Get my fitness and technical skills lined up

Enter a xc race or two. Enter a enduro race. (Both down south due to logistics) get back on the bmx. Do some overnighters. Go touring with my partner and baby. Do a long distance race.

Short term: build up fitness.
Mid term: buy a new bike.
Long term: Go bike packing, though no real idea when, where or what with yet.

Skills based for me.

Conquer fear of drops, and start enjoying them – it’s a pain because it really limits the trails I can ride, especially at places like BPW, I even hate the little wood one at the top of melted welly etc.

Nothing else springs to mind, I’d like to be able to be one of those guys who can manual at will and hold it for as long as they want, but with limited range of movement in my right arm it’s probably never going to happen.

Top ten solo in 10UTB, Glenstress 7 or similar.

Shortish term, ride 100 miles in a single sitting.
Medium term – just ride, MiniMomo is due to make an appearance in January so riding time is going to be limited.

Nothing big:

Keep fit, more miles, learn how to string together my local trails better.

Extend the mileage while keeping injury free. bikepacking trips with the wife.

Some uplift days as and when I can shoehorn them in to other trips.

TCW to my brother-in-Law’s house in Twywn.

The 2017 London-Edinburgh-London Audax
This winter will be full of miles.

@on and on.i did the grimselpass back in the summer followed by the furkapass which is in your first pic. Blowing a gale and pouring down and the top was only 0.5°c with snow in the air. Not what I was expecting in august, but still a fantastic day on the bike.

It looks amazing. Hard work but that’s the fun of it.
I understand the conditions can change very quickly so need to be ready in case of a storm. Just to spice things up a bit 🙂

Oh and I may need a bigger cassette 🙂

fasthaggis – Member
The 2017 London-Edinburgh-London Audax
This winter will be full of miles

On skinny tyres, i’m also aiming for London-Edinburgh-London and hopefully Trans Continental too if i can get a place.

Having ridden 310 miles in 19 1/2 hours from Newcastle to London, for some strange reason the pure bred masochist in me wants to try and if i can go further in 24 hours.

On “proper” tyres, there seems to be some really quality, relaxed but challenging events and routes cropping up, really enjoyed Dorset Gravel Dash 100 miler, riding Dirty Reiver in 2017 and want to do Capital Trail, Highland 550 and maybe Torino-Nice bikepacking events.

Short: Improve skills to be able to ride anything in Surrey Hills with confidence.

Long: Bikepack in Iceland

mikewsmith – Member
as the local said it’s the oldest not the best, whole enchilada instead!!

Understood Mike but I’d say whole enchilada as well 🙂 Slickrock has it’s place in history and I want to do it

Short – work on increasing FTP & overall strength improvements

Medium – Work on short duration power bursts for surges/sprints

Long – Reach a podium in a road race / crit and get my Cat 3 license next year

Longer – Feel satisfied with racing and move onto a new challenge.

To keep on enjoying my cycling, on and off road.
To be content with my rate of progress and not riding stuff I don’t feel comfortable with.

No other specific goals, I would like to go back to the Alps in the next couple of years, but to do more Trail riding rather than black runs.

Get back into doing long road rides. Only done one or two all-day rides this year because I’ve been enjoying the MTBing so much.

Race XC again next year. Missed it this year after flogging my HT.

Also maybe an MTB marathon event, or a 70km-100km XC loop or point-to-point with mates.

Work on jumping again.

@Scud

Yeah,some of those gravel 100 milers look great.
Read the write up on the Torino-Nice event,really like the idea of that.As always,it’s not the big days,it’s being able to do them back to back and still enjoy it.

Get my confidence back,

Stop falling off,

Get my fitness up so I’m not always holding everyone back

It will be my last year in the M40 class for British Mountain Bike Orienteering League for MBO Score and I would like to win it next year if I can. 2nd this year so should be possible. Once I go up to M50 class I don’t think I will ever be able to beat one lad who is just so fast that unless he makes bad route choices I have always struggled to beat.

*closes eyes*

Couch to top 2/3rds of a 24hr solo event (relentless 24 in fort William) next year.

There, I’ve said it. Training starts ASAP.

Expect lots of threads asking for help, as I’ve never done anything even close to resembling thinking about this, but it seems a good way to get in shape.

Do better than 153km at the twentyfour12 torchbearer.

GOing to be really hard as I can’t cycle ot my new job – so will have to really work at it.

It’s the big four zero for me next year so my plan is to keep up the ‘everyday’ cycling and do something for fun every month. So far I’ve come up with L2B day, night and off road, the Isle o Wight Randonee, a weekend at Swinley and one at BPW, SDW in a day, 100 mile road ride and just thinking of some more! Can’t wait!

Have fun

Travel to more new places to ride.

Thats as complicated as it needs to be for me.

@scud good luck with the the transcontinental entry. It’s a fantastic experience. The checkpoints are due to be released imminently.