Saturday 20 September 2008

Which bike, which way - Decisions, Decisions

So the summer cycling season is finishing, and I'm beginning to think about what cycling I'll be doing next year - which will also dictate what cycling I do over the winter months.

Cyclo cross is a no brainer item to put on the agenda since I enjoy cross, and it's the best way to jazz up a cold winter afternoon - especially as the days get shorter.

But what else ? What will I do, which bike will I ride ??
I've had two solid road racing seasons, which will give me good grounding for a decent run for next year (hopefully).

Let's look around though and see the calendar - there are lots of cyclosportives to be done. In fact on the European scene, it's taken almost as seriously as road races when you consider all the various series and ranking events they have.

There's the mountain biking - the national series events, Merida events and all the various enduros - Sleepless in the Saddle, Dusk til Dawn, 24 hour Mayhem etc.

Of course we mustn't forget track cycling which is quite prominent in my neck of the woods.

The latest I heard is that there are a few BMX tracks also near me, and a thriving racing scene too.

Conversely, I could forget about all competitive cycling and just do cycle touring, and gather material/photos for "that book I've always wanted to write".

Of course, I could just do everything and have fun - but then I become a master of nothing (which I already have a tendency to do).

This summer I've done road racing, track cycling, a few cyclosportives, even a couple of mountain biking events, then with cyclo cross starting earlier I've ended up doing a bit of that too.

Basically I love doing stuff on two wheels. I'm a two wheel tart that wants to play the cycling discipline field. I don't want to commit to any one discipline exclusively. I suppose road racing is my old faithful, longstanding friend - but sometimes I get a bit annoyed with it and storm off and go and pick up one of my other bikes for a day and have fun elsewhere.

Even in cycle sport though, a point comes when you get a bit old to be riding around in various events. You have to decide to settle down with one (or maybe two) and ditch the rest.

I don't think I can decide now. I'll make the most of this part of the season where you just wind down from the very competitive stuff and enjoy yourself.
Let me just have a bit more fun before I make a plan.

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