New Year's Resolutions

It’s early January and I’m sure most people have given up or forgotten about their New Year’s Resolutions.  Out of principle, I don’t make any resolutions in January, instead I tend to review things once a quarter with an annual reflection in the autumn.

The highlight for 2010 was the 24 hours of Exposure race in Newcastelton.  Racing alongside many blog authors who I follow, it was inspirational and humbling to be a part of their world.  Receiving track side support from the Cotic / AQR race team was overwhelming as they rapidly cared for me and my bike before cheering me back out onto the course.  Attaining a worthy 6^th position in the dire conditions was a personal achievement. It was a privilege in August to be able to return the honour of pit crew for the Torq 12:12 race.

Seriously considering the 24 hour Solo World Championships in Italy, I started training back in October.  Due to a number of logistical reasons, I’ve decided to leave the Worlds until 2013 and go for the Exposure race again in April.  

Following JoeFriel’s model of periodisation, training is going well, placing me slightly ahead of this time last year.  I’m also exploring some deeper fitness aspects to improve overall performance, which hopefully will help me reach that elusive podium.

Having received so much from my cycling, I’ve decided to give something back in the form of an alternative blog.  Preparations for my events are meticulous, involving a huge amount of research in many diverse areas.  Some of this nerdy stuff is being collated so it can be made available for others to use.  Current items include; how to make a simple cadence meter for your turbo trainer, and how to graphically compare the gear ratios for 2 bikes with different sized wheels.  More items will follow later covering an analysis of sports food types, and effective charging times for lights.  Further details about this nerdy stuff will be released in due course.

2012 has the potential to be a fantastic year.  All I need to do is to make sure that it happens.