First a spot of admin if I may, after faffing around on the free loading version of WordPress for almost 10 years I’ve finally moved to a properly hosted website hence the much snappier web address for The Declining Cyclist multiverse that probably nobody will notice, its simply now http://www.thedecliningcyclist.com . This move to a paid bit of the interweb (don’t worry I’m paying not you lot) opens up some extra website features and bits that I’m still exploring so you may notice the odd change to the look and functionality of the site, but I’m not making any promises on upgrading the quality of the content…..

Well before I dive in to a long and probably unfeasible list of goals I’m almost certain to miss in the next 12 months lets have a couple of stats from last years meagre efforts. According to a certain well known activity tracking website in 2024 I rode my various bikes a grand total of 2,273 kilometres, climbed 20,154 metres and spent 95 hrs 45 mins in the saddle. ( The actual total is probably a little bit higher if you factor in the times my goldfish like brain forgot to turn on my Wahoo or Garmin) Pretty small potatoes for many riders out there, but I’m not ashamed of those numbers because off the bike it was a pretty hectic 12 months, of which 1/2 of them were spent living mostly away from home most of the week on a small boat with no bike with me. According to Strava I also manged to run 290.6 km which I must confess surprised me a bit, but hey I’m going to admit considering the perilous state of my prematurely aged right knee I’m quite proud of that figure.

Bike wise 2024’s big change was finally pressing the go button on buying a Moulton TSR, the bike I’ve always wanted but could never quite justify spending the money on. Luckily my previous employer upping the Cycle to Work scheme budget brought the most basic TSR just within my financial reach so I took a deep breath and bought the most expensive new bike I’ve ever purchased, and I’m very happy to say its a decision I haven’t regretted for a single pedal stroke.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed riding the little green beast, and I’ve enjoyed writing out my impressions of the bike on this platform as well, in fact looking at the stat’s for this site a fair few of you lot have enjoyed reading about it too, so don’t worry I’m sure its going to feature heavily on these pages in the coming year.

The other big ticket purchase for 2024 was a significant upgrade for my indoor training game, as previously written about several times I’m a big Zwift fan and hopefully having the Zwift ride permanently set up in my back room will encourage me to move back up the Zwift racing categories this winter.

My faithful Ti Sabbath now sporting its shiny carbon fibre 9Velo wheels continues to provide my primary road based cycling fix, looking back I’ve realised that this bike has been in my garage for almost 10 years now which I’m certain is a record for me by some distance. Yes its a bit like Triggers broom (you may have to google that reference if you’re not from the UK) because I’m pretty sure the only bit left from the bikes original build is now the seat post, but I think the bikes most telling accolade is that I cant think of a different bike that I could feasibly afford that I’d really like to replace it with. Yes modern disc brakes would be nice, but I don’t really consider them essential for the road in the UK (especially at the modest velocities I usually attain), I’m in no desperate rush to upgrade to 12 speed or electronic shifting so the Sabbath will continue to be my go to big miles and fast days bike for the foreseeable future.

So in conclusion 2024 was a pretty good year on the tarmac and indoors, new kit, respectable mileages and some really good days out on the bike. Here’s to more of the same in 2025!

Off road however is not the same rosy memory. 2024 was pretty much a year to forget on the mountain biking front. There’s more than one self bashing post of woe on the site if you care to look back detailing in torrid detail my struggles with confidence, kit and motivation to get dirty. Moving onto 2025 I’m firmly telling myself things can only get better. Yes the long suffering Cotic Rocket has been rebuilt (again) at not insignificant expense and I’m determined to get out and put some decent mileage in on it this year. (Pretty sure I said that last January as well)

The MTBing excuse list is long but I’m determined to hold myself to a higher standard this year I promise!, watch this space.

So goal wise moving into 2025 lets see …… (pause for sucking of teeth and reflective introspection) On the road its and easy wish list, ride more for longer and get faster. Hopefully a big dose of indoor Zwift racing and training sessions will see me moving back outside in the spring raring to go and super fit with quads of steel. Off road I’d settle for being able to get around my local Trail Centre in a half way respectable time without feeling like its the first time I’ve ridden a Mountain Bike. The recipe for attaining this modest goal is easy – I need to ride the damn Mountain Bike more! it really is that simple.

Content wise for your reading pleasure I’ve got a bit of a back log of stuff to get around to typing up, there’s the long awaited rebuild of the Mountain Bike which I promised months ago but haven’t written up yet mostly because I need to get more than 2 post rebuild rides under its wheels so I can finally decide if I’m going to keep it or not. That’s coming soon I promise.

First though there’s and unfortunate and unforeseen medical complication that I’m still dealing with / coming to terms with that’s going to effect my riding this coming year and in fact further into the future but more on that next time. (I like to leave you on a bit of a cliff hanger)