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Cycling plans for 2021

On the way to Hunstanton

So it’s April already. That’s 3 months gone and into the 2nd quarter of the year. But in terms of the plans of a cycling enthusiast, it’s been 3 months of lockdown and there have been no cycling events going ahead at all. Even club rides and local group rides have been none existent, not to mention organised events such as Sportives, Races etc. Usually on a normal year, by this time I would have ridden the Yaxley Riders Reliability Ride and have been planning ahead to other organised events. And maybe managed to squeeze in a couple of rides in different parts of the UK as my day job allowed. But not this year.

Things aren’t all bleak though. Here in the UK the vaccine rollout for this dreaded virus is going well and most of the old and vulnerable have been vaccinated, so the lockdown restrictions are slowly and cautiously being lifted. Which means that from this week we no longer have a ‘stay local’ order in force and that potentially opens up the possibility of going to other parts of the country to ride. And hopefully by the summer, Sportives and other events will be back on again. At the moment though I won’t be booking myself onto anything while there is still a good chance of cancellation. Looking today at the UK Cycle Events website it seems that the Yorkshire event on the 10th April is cancelled. The next two events a week later are both sold out and it’ll be interesting to see if they get cancelled too.

From the UKCE website
From the UKCE website

For me a regular event that I do is the Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo. It’s expensive, so I’ve only ever done it every other year – 2015, 2017, 2019 – and hopefully 2021. It is usually scheduled for the first weekend in June and due to the need to organise ‘closed roads’ (it’s a race event too), the organisers need to make a decision well ahead of time whether or not it’s likely to happen. So earlier this year the decision was made that the June date should be postponed to September. This I think is a much more reasonable date to give the event the best possible chance of being allowed. It also means that the organisers can see what happens at earlier events and adjust as necessary. So although I haven’t booked my place yet, this is one that’s firmly on my radar.

From the Tour of Cambridgeshire website
From the Tour of Cambridgeshire website

Of course there are also many cycling events that I do with my local group Yaxley Riders. Usually there is a spring reliability ride, a summer sportive and some impromptu rides organised between mates off to the seaside and such like. At the moment nothing big is planned but from this week we’ve been allowed to meet up and ride in groups of 6 again, so I’m sure it won’t be long before a few things pop up.

I also have my own plans from year to year and this year will be no different. I still haven’t done all of the hill climbs in the UK 100 greatest cycling climbs book. So part of my focus will be trying to get to (and up) some more of these. Certainly there are some left that should be fairly easy to get to in Yorkshire and some in the London area and in the Surrey Hills. A day off work here and there to ride some of these should fit in during the summer I am sure.

In the meantime I am still doing a good lot of riding on my own and I have started following a training regime courtesy or KudoCoach – more on that in another post. I have also added a power meter to my AXS groupset – more on that in another post too. And I’ve taken the plunge a bought myself a Garmin Edge 830 cycle computer to bring it all together – guess what, more on that in yet another post. Let’s hope I now have time for all these extra posts!

My KudoCoach Training so far
My KudoCoach Training so far

And of course I still have my love for adventure rides too. So a multi-day bikepacking adventure definitely needs to be on the cards somewhere during 2021. Although my ideal 2021 adventure of riding out to the Tour de France in late June as it starts in Brittany might be scuppered by the rules on overseas travel. I had thought of taking my bike down to Brighton by train and then cycling across to Portsmouth to catch the ferry across to St Malo. Following the first few days of the tour as it heads east and then carrying on along to Calais and catching a ferry back to Dover. Finally then cycling the last leg from Dover back to Brighton. And so seeing the Tour but also completing a lap around the English Channel (or La Manche if you prefer). Well, who knows, maybe it’ll still happen?

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