Consistency is Key (unless it's posting blogs)

 Well, at least once a year is consistent enough, right? 

Indoor setup is too fancy now.

2025 was an absolutely wild year for all kinds of reasons, and honestly from a bicycle perspective perhaps not all that interesting for the unassuming reader. But hey, let's get into it anyway and maybe I'll kid myself into doing this a bit more often again anyway. 

The start of last year was really hard, and I think I documented that, but after returning from my travels and settling back into the routine of things everything really was on the up. Personally, and professionally, 2025 was sometimes challenging (moved house amongst other things) but also super rewarding - for reasons I'll not go in to now but lets just say I feel very lucky! 

From the fitness perspective, while I may not have a laundry list of medals or achievements under my belt (which is not particularly something I am chasing heavily anyway), I am very happy with how consistent I have been. 

With lifting, and working with Sam at PursuePerformance, we have gotten my deadlift up to 95kg with 100 right around the corner. For me that feels like a big milestone and considering where I have come from it just feels great to know I am setting my body up for stability in the future.  Same with my other lifts, my squats feel amazing and given I started out absolutely hating squats to now seeing them as a non-negotiable in my regime thats quite the feat. I honestly could not be happier working with Sam, one of the best and most well rounded coaches I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with. Sometimes it's not just about the results (though they come through too!) but it's also about how your coach works with you, meets you where you are and encourages you to push through to being your best. 99% of it is psychological and Sam is one of those folks who just gets that bit right. 

I am really hyped to see whats next with the lifts. I often reflect on how I feel as I age, especially now in my late 30s. It feels very rewarding to look at where I was and how my body felt before, compared to now, in that I don't think I necessarily "feel" my age. I am not sure that is really even a thing at 38 to be honest, I am more convinced that that "feeling" folks talk about is maybe more about needing to adjust a little - be that lifting some heavy weights or getting out and about. I fear we are all too comfortable with being too comfortable... 

On the bike, things have been equally consistent, though I have not quite made the progress I thought I might see. This is not my first rodeo but this time the gains are not quite as obvious to me. Regardless of this and ignoring power numbers for a minute (because I do think we get a bit too hung up on that shit, thanks to online ride apps especially), I do feel stronger, and I certainly feel like my endurance is 100x better than what it was a few years ago. 

Working with Iain and Alex at Painfreepower has been great as it means I've had opportunities to do some proper testing, as well as connecting with other athletes in both cycling and triathlon. I was even convinced to do a running event, which it turns out was my best 5k ever - so while my bike progression may be a little slower, apparently I'm making strides with running. Lol. 

Later in the year I got myself accredited at the Swedish Velodrome. It's not quite Derby or Manchester as it's a short (191m) track on a steep (50 degrees) angle made with plywood as opposed to a solid timber which makes for an interesting challenge at both lower and higher speeds. It felt amazing to be back on a velodrome again and I really hope I can do more of this over the years as the folks coaching there were really great. 

My hope is to actually try out the Swedish championships there in both the 1km TT and the Elimination - but my winter so far has been janky at best due to sickness and travel. It's also outside of Stockholm so the investment may not be worth it if I'm not feeling super confident about it. That being said, I'll at least enter and play it by ear as we get closer to the day. 

I've not done any racing on the road, which is absolutely fine, but I've done two Zwift races just for a bit of a laugh - I don't remember the first one's result but this week I came 2nd of 14 in a crit - just pipped on the line! Good fun to play about a little and wow I did miss these shenanigans.

So what else is in store, now that we are in to 2026? I said to myself I wasn't going to take things too seriously and I do stand by that - I need to make sure I can balance all the training with my own life. I am not going to be racing at any elite level ever, I have a career and personal relationships to manage and I absolutely never want to see myself burn out over a hobby that I love. However, I do love racing - it's good fun, even if I'm not very good at it sometimes. So the plan is to race a bit, love the sport, but enjoy myself in the process. Bonus if it yields results, bonus if it doesn't.