The end of the year is approaching. Just a few more days, and 2023 will be over. Many apps provide a so-called wrap-up of your year at the end of the year.
During my bike ride today, I thought, let me also take a look at my statistics for the past year.

Todays ride

But first, my ride today. Due to work commitments, several social activities, and predominantly bad weather, I had not spent more than four hours on the bike until today in December. December is often the month with the fewest kilometers, but this year is exceptionally low.
Because it was dry today and we are in the weekend before Christmas, which means a lot of coziness but also a lot of sitting, eating, and drinking, I decided to hop on the bike again today.
I had planned a beautiful route of 55 kilometers, and on the way back, I would cycle along the coastline through the dunes.
I must say it was tough for me. The 60 kilometers I cycled this month were in the first week of December. So, I hadn't cycled for two weeks. And even though it was dry, there was a lot of wind today. And foolishly, I hadn't checked beforehand from which direction the wind was blowing. I had the wind diagonally against me on the way back through the dunes. And with wind gusts of 40 kilometers per hour, that's no fun.
But the surroundings make the effort a bit more bearable. The route through the dunes is very beautiful. It was late in the day, and the setting sun created beautiful colors on the horizon. And along the bike path, many deer were grazing.

At the end of the route, the sun was just setting, coloring the sky beautifully orange. When I cycled past a windmill at that moment, I had to stop to take a photo.

2023 Wrap Up

I had set a goal for myself in 2023 to cycle 5000 kilometers. That would be almost 100 kilometers per week. I thought this would be a realistic goal since I already cover 66 kilometers with two days commuting to and from work. Since the beginning of the year, I also went for a bike ride almost every Saturday with my cycling buddies.
Additionally, we went on a cycling weekend, and I take my bike with me on vacation.
For a significant part of the year, I was on track, but in the last few months, I cycled a lot less. In October and November, it rained so much that I almost didn't bike to work.
Therefore, the total number of kilometers this year ended up being just over 4000; to be precise, 4091.5.
Although there might be a few more kilometers to add because I still have to work one day next week. According to Strava I spent 206 hours on the bike, spread over 211 rides.

Some Highlights

A cycling highlight every year is the 200+ kilometers; a tradition I've been doing with two friends for a few years now. From spring, we train to make a cycling trip of more than 200 kilometers somewhere in June. In the end, we spent almost 8 hours on the bike to cover the 220 kilometers.

Another highlight was the traditional cycling weekend abroad. With a group of friends, we went to Germany this year for a cycling weekend. In the beautiful area near the border with Luxembourg and close to Belgium, we made many altimeters in three days. The toughest ride was the second day, where we accumulated 2197 altimeters in a 123-kilometer ride.

Header 12024

Likely, our annual traditions of the cycling weekend and the 200+ kilometer bike ride will continue in 2024. I think it should be quite possible to reach 5000 kilometers next year. Perhaps I need to cycle a bit more in the dry months or maybe just take a few rides in the rain in the fall.
We're just going for it.

What about your cycling year?

How was your cycling year? What were the highs and lows? Did you set goals for yourself, and did you achieve them? Do you have any goals for 2024?
Let us know!

Finally, I want to wish all cyclists a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2024 with many safe kilometers on the bike!

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FriendlyMoose

Creating blogs about photography, cycling, gardening, craft beer and more...

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Check out the posts with the #pobphotocontest tag.

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