Chris Hammond
Chris Hammond Founder of BicycleTips.com, an avid computer geek, photographer, and amateur bicycle rider

2021 Year in Review and 2022 Coming Into View


2021 Year in Review and 2022 Coming Into View

It’s January 10th already? I’ve only been on the bike once so far this year? Sounds like last year, but I can’t fall into that hole again…

So let’s talk a little bit about 2021 before we get into what’s coming in 2022.

So 2021 started off with plans of riding quite a few miles, in 2020 I rode 2100 miles, my highest total ever, so I had hopes of following that up, but ultimately 2021 didn’t play out that way. In late February I hadn’t put any real mileage in, and I started to feel off. It wasn’t until mid-March that I found out I had afib and my heart had been beating crazily for a month.

After a couple of months of dealing with that Unbound Gravel was upon us. Wagner and I went down and volunteered at the event, and got a little riding in, but didn’t actually join the race. In July I thought I was all healed up and then I got a kidney stone that stuck around for a little bit too long and took away another 2 months of riding.

It wasn’t until late August that I started riding again, prepping for Pedal The Cause in late September and Big Sugar Gravel in late October. Overall for the year I barely got in 1k miles, a big drop from my ‘20 numbers, and hopefully only a blip compared to what I can get in this year.

Coming in 2022

So what’s coming in 2022? Well, I got myself a new ride, a Canyon Grizl, and it is awesome (see above). I put about 4200 miles on the Niner RLT over the past 5 years, figured it was time to upgrade. I haven’t yet decided what I will do with the RLT, I may hold on to it until at least March, but then sell it after that.

My goal is to ride it at least 2,000 miles this year. I am signed up for The Mid South (100 miles in March) and Unbound Gravel (200 miles in June) so I really need to get my training started ASAP. I am going to have a hell of a time getting ready for those rides. My biggest struggle right now is finding time, or rather, making time. I need to quit staying up late and start getting up and getting on the trainer each morning…

I am also planning on being back at Big Sugar Gravel in late October as well.

See you out on the trails.

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