2017 is achingly close now, a new chapter is waiting for our reformed selves. Hopeful lifestyle changes and good intentions are just around the corner, we’ve just had the hurdle of Christmas Week to struggle over first. Christmas week: when all diets, structure and restrictions go out of the window, and torturous mileage is sacrificed in favour of pigs-in-blankets, mince pies and chocolate. It’s a time to look to the new year and plan how we’re going to be better, more healthy people in 2017.
1. Plan ahead
British Olympic track legend, Sir Chris Hoy wrote that the best way to ensure that you meet the objectives that swill around your head is to write them down. That way they are visible, tangible and fixed. By making note of all the things you want to achieve in the new year like better diet, higher mileage, good routine, and perhaps even breaking them down into more palatable chunks, your potential for success will be instantly higher.
2. Plan mileage goals
A great way for a cyclist to maintain fitness is to “ride lots” as Eddie Merckx, the big Belgian grand tour winner, once said. Mileage is easily traceable and you can break it down into seasonal chunks, riding less when it’s cold and more through the summer months. Don’t choose a mileage that is easily achievable though, pick a distance that you couldn’t possibly manage by accident. To optimise your potential choose an incentive like some new kit, a holiday or even a new bike.
3. Rope in a friend or family member
Everyone knows riding a bike is better with others. Not only is it more fun, but time passes quicker, the pain seems to diminish and the touch of competition doesn’t hurt either! If there’s someone in your life who has been thinking about getting on a bike, when better than at new year? Teach them the ropes, get some fresh air and share in the camaraderie of bike riding. That’s not to mention the fun part, which is helping them with all the necessary kit.
4. New kit, new you
What better incentive to get out and ride than new kit to test out? Treat yourself to a new winter jacket for the biting mornings of January and February, like the Specialized Element SL Pro, and feel instantly more professional and capable.
5. New bike, new you
We asked what better incentive to get out and ride above, and of course, there is one more that easily summits the mountain first. A new bike is by far and away the best way to eat into that target mileage. The roads are rough and tough in winter, but we’ve got just the bike for you. The new Specialized Roubaix is not only the safest, coolest and most innovative bike out there, it is also the first choice of such battle-hardened riders as Tom Boonen. On this Spring Classics stallion, you can’t help but feel like you’re gliding over Flandrian cobbles, as professional as they come. This is one machine that comes with buckets full of motivation that nobody wants to miss out on.
Check out a few of the star machines in our 2017 range:
