Time to review goals

We’re half way through the calendar year and it seems like a good time to review our aims and goals.

In January I decided that this year I was going to cycle 8,000 km (4,971 miles).

That is not a huge target but I would not be able to meet it by commuting alone.

One day each week I would need to complete a ride that was at least twice as long as my commute.

The extra ride was perfectly achievable through weekend rides exploring London and south east England plus a cycling holiday through Holland was already planned.

I even signed up for the 86km (54 mile) London to Brighton charity ride in January for some added fun.

In March I was then caught by the road bug and booked a place in the 200 km (120 mile) British Cyclosportive.

I bought a new bike, loved riding it and brashly upped my 8,000 km goal by 50% and added an elevation goal.

I now wanted to cycle at least 1,000 km every month and for that to include the accumulated climbing equivalent of Mount Everest (8,848 metres).

You’ll be surprised to know that March was the only month where I cycled more than 1,000 km and March was also the only month where I climbed Mount Everest.

However, I have achieved 60% of my initial 8,000 km goal in only 50% of the time available.

I am pleased with this as I’ve also rode well in my first cyclosportive and I am steadily losing weight.

I still want to cycle 1,000 km each month (and climb Mount Everest) but you can’t make a 50% increase overnight.

I should have split that 50% into realistic chunks and planned to do only 10% more each month.

Five months to achieve a 50% increase seems far more realistic.

I’ve updated the monthly charts on my stats page and I’ll update the weeklies tomorrow after the British Cyclosportive.