My 2024 goals

At the start of the year 2024 I've set myself the goal to cycle at least 2024 kilometers a year. That is on my road bicycle. I'm not counting the incidental kilometers I make on my 'normal' bicycle to go for groceries or to the train station.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to reach my goal for this year. FAIL!

The counter stopped at 89% of the goal which equals 4490 kilometers. I did make quite a lot of rides, but there are some reasons why I didn't reach the goal.

First of all I started the year with a shoulder injury after a skiing trip which prevented me from cycling for a couple of weeks. After recovering from that I jumped on the bicycle again and made some kilometers, training for my yearly 200+ kilometer ride in June.
In the months April, May and June I made quite a lot of kilometers in the saddle.
In July/August we went on holiday. In the past years I have always taken my bicycle with me on my holidays, but this year we had to replace our car. Since the new car is a bit smaller than the old one I had to make some concessions on what to bring with me on holiday, so the bicycle stayed at home 😢.
Then we had our yearly cycling weekend where I go cycling for a couple of days with some friends.
Due to a funeral we had to shorten this weekend which made it not interesting anymore to bring our bicycles.

In contrast to 2023 the fall of 2024 was quite good. At least it didn't rain as much as the year before. So I really caught up with my goal. The real bad weather came in December which caused the counter to slow down. I had some days off in between Christmas and New Year and had planned to go for some rides, but the cold and wet weather didn't allow me.

All of this resulted in me not achieving the 5000 kilometer goal, but 'just' having cycled 4490 kilometers. It's still a respectable amount, but I do want to achieve the goal next year!

Goals for 2025!

As I said, for this year I've set my goal again to reach 5000 kilometers on my bicycle. I think I really should be able to achieve this goal this year.

I've started the year with setting my new goal in Garmin Connect so I can keep track of it. And the first kilometers from my home-work-home rides are already registered 🚲💪

One of the other goals I have is the idea to ride le Marmotte Granfondo Alpes with my cycling buddies this year.
We're still in the investigation phase to see if we can join this organized tour, but I really hope we can join this amazing event. I'll keep you posted on this one.

For those who don't know what a granfondo is, here is the explanation:

A granfondo is a long-distance, mass-participation cycling event, typically covering challenging routes with multiple climbs. It's designed for cyclists of all abilities, from amateurs to professionals, and participants can ride at their own pace. While it is competitive in some cases, the emphasis is often more on completing the event rather than racing. Granfondos are popular in countries like Italy, France, and Spain, and they often feature scenic and iconic routes, similar to professional races.

The Marmotte is organised in the French Alpes, covers 177 kilometers a day with a whopping 5000 meters of elevation.

The cols that need to be conquered are:

• Col du Glandon (1924 m) – a tough climb of about 22 km.
• Col du Galibier (2642 m) – an iconic and long climb that is often featured in the Tour de France.
• Col du Lautaret (2058 m) – a less steep but long climb between the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.
• Alpe d'Huez (1860 m) – one of the most famous climbs in the cycling world, with 21 hairpin turns to the top.

I have done some climbs in my life already, but never these amounts. If I want to be able to finish, I really need to make a training program.
I'm planning to take a subscription at an indoor wattbike training center where you can actually train on riding these cols.

When we actually are going to do this Granfondo, reaching my 5000 kilometer goal this year will be easy since I really need to make a lot of trainings kilometers.

What about you?

Have you reached your cycling goals for 2024 and have you set any goals for this year already?
Are you planning to do some nice trips? Are you saving up for some upgrades for your bicycle or maybe even a new one?
Please share them with us in the Cycling Community!

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About FriendlyMoose

I'm an amateur photographer with a love for indoor gardening, craft beer, and cycling. As the owner of the Cycling Community and the creator of the Topcomment initiative, I focus on fostering engagement and bringing like-minded people together.
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