Foldable Bikes Party: 10 Cycling New Year's resolutions (and how to stick to them)

Sunday, 1 January 2017

10 Cycling New Year's resolutions (and how to stick to them)

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The new year has rolled around, and lies spread out ahead of you full of opportunity and potential: a vista of bike rides yet to be and the chance to get a whole lot of amazing cycling in. The start of a new year gives you good chance to refresh your cycling resolutions list. Think of them like a series of goals to make the next 12 months of cycling as successful and fulfilling as possible.

The resolutions themselves are just the starting point, however. If you want to make them stick all year long, you'll need goals that will make you want to get out of bed on a cold, rainy morning to ride, and that are achievable. It's a delicate balance between motivation and giving yourself a target that's unachievable, which ends up getting you down.

How many resolutions to go for (and how to stick to them)

Some people swear by a nice even 10, others feel that three is an achievable amount. There's no right answer when it comes to deciding how many resolutions to go for because it depends on what they are and what you think you can realistically do over the year. For example, if one of them is 'race the Transcontinental', that's surely going to take up most of your cycling time, energy and drive over the year.

However, if you're looking for guidance, might we suggest one of the following approaches:

12 goals in 12 months

Pick 12 smallish goals, or nine small and three bigger goals, that you plan to achieve or fulfil over the course of the year — so one for each month. This is perfect for people looking to improve performance or ride in specific events and anyone who tends to lose interest and motivation in bigger long-term resolutions.

Three big resolutions

If you're looking to make a major change or achieve something big in 2017, like ride a big event or shift weight, then make that the main focus of the year and you're more likely to achieve it. But it's always good to have a few other projects on the go, so if you need a break from your main point of focus you can switch attention to one of your other, hopefully complementary, goals.