So 2016 is drawing to a close and if you’ve been on the blog before, you might have noticed I’ve taken quite a shine to cycling this year.
With the new year fast approaching and Christmas having just passed, I thought I’d share what I got for Christmas and my goals for 2017!
Throughout 2016, I became so much more involved with cycling. I attended the Tour De Yorkshire (here and here) which I think really kicked it all off for me. Seeing the journalists covering the event for press, radio and TV got me thinking about getting into sports journalism. To get to attend such events as work seemed like something right up my alley and got me applying for my Cyclist internship as well as my Northumbria Sports Media Internship.
It’s now December and I’m already four full months into my mission to lose weight. I’ve been a little lax lately but the stone and a half I have lost, is mostly down to cycling. This is the reason for wanting to up my miles in 2017- it is a fantastic workout that also gets you out and about!
For Christmas this year I only asked for one thing. I’ve been going out and about wearing my Polar A300 watch which tracks my cycling burn but it doesn’t record distance, speed or altitude. All three things I want to work on! So when I found the Polar V650 on Christmas day, I was soo happy! I got quite a few cycling things for christmas- a new windproof gilet, socks, a cap and I also did a bit of a Wiggle haul. (Check out the video below!)
A few days later and on the absolute steal of a bike I got off Gumtree (£30 bargain!) I headed out to test both. The bike needed some maintenance as it had been hiding in a garage for awhile. With my Polar V650 strapped to my handlebar – off I went down a short route I used to do as a kid.
I love having a route of my ride to look back on that also matches up with my heart rate throughout the ride. I can now log my distance and hopefully I’ll see improvement throughout the year! (However this one was slightly inaccurate as the battery needed changing in my HR band so my cal burn is really inaccurate!)
But to continue this logging my miles and other milestones- I took the leap and signed up to Strava, (or rather redownloaded the app and remembered my password). I’d never used it before and decided to log from my very first ride using my V650 rather than from January 1st.
To me it is still a little bit of a mystery but I hope to keep adding to it over the next few months and reach my 2017 mileage goal using it. I also hope that by using it, I’ll learn more about what I want to work on.
My 2017 Cycling Goals:
- To be less afraid of my road bike! It is such a jittery, light creature compared to my other bikes- i’m so afraid of it I even feel a little sick before I get on! This is something I really want to work on this coming year. I don’t want to be afraid of it.
- To commute to uni by bike more. The cold weather sticks around in Newcastle for a long while and cycling to and from university cuts my commute in less than half. (Could I be cheeky and add the commute miles to my Strava count? ha!)
- 1000 Miles. From what I can tell this is a very low goal in the cycling community but I am a complete newbie to the idea of consistent cycling so I went for something that seems manageable but right now at 0, is a long way to go! This works out at a weekly goal of 20 miles, so by the end of the year, I hope to have cycled the full 1000 and even have passed it!
- Not just a cycling goal- but it does affect it. I am desperate to get my urticaria sorted out this year so that I can progress as a cyclist. My two rides here at home were cut short due to the biting cold- both less than 10 miles which upset me. I am so much fitter than these rides show! Even though I’m still a size 16-18, I have more stamina than 6 miles but unfortunately my skin reacts to the cold weather so quickly I don’t get much of a chance to ride long distances. Doctors etc appointments have been made so I can get this sorted and so I can get some decent miles logged!
- To document my weightloss/cycling journey more on my fitness instagram and Youtube channel. I made a Wiggle Haul video and it got me really wanting to make more videos of how I’m getting along my journey and what I’m using! Check it out below and hopefully in the new year there will be some more fitness/cycling/weightloss videos uploaded!
Have you made any fitness new years resolutions? Do you have any tips on sticking to long term goals?
Don’t forget to follow me below! S x
