My Two-wheeled New Year’s Resolutions

Photo by Sarah Richter. Photoshop by Hilary Angus – maybe I should put “photoshop” in my resolutions…

Admittedly, I’m not usually one for New Year’s Resolutions. I believe that self improvement, or conscious evolution, or growing up, or whatever you like to call it, is a constant, ongoing process. It takes time, it takes effort, and it takes thinking about how you can be good to yourself and to the world every day, not just the day after you’ve spent a week straight drinking rum and eggnog before noon and melting cheese on every meal (just me?). Every time I’ve tried to make a New Year’s Resolution, it has resulted in throwing my hands up in the air on January third when I decide I like prosciutto pizza better than “a month of veganism,” and I promptly abandon the prospect of being a better person altogether.

But this year I decided to go easy on myself. Instead of setting myself up for failure with something completely ludicrous like daily sit-ups or learning how to code, I’ve made a series of resolutions to do something I already love doing, just do it more often. So here are my two-wheeled New Year’s Resolutions to make sure I get the most out of my bike (and by extension my life), in 2016. Maybe you can find some inspiration for your own 2016 bike life in here, and if not, please feel encouraged to share your resolutions in the comments.

1. Go on more aimless, social bike rides. 

I bike for transportation. I love it, it’s wonderful, but it does mean I spend most of my time in the saddle alone. In 2016, rather than invite friends for a pint or out for a coffee, I’m going to invite friends out for a bike ride with no particular aim other than riding so I can share my love of cycling with the people I love.

2. Learn how to fix my bike. 

When you write for a bike magazine, this thing tends to happen where your neighbours, friends, and family members assume that you understand bike mechanics and they show up at your house with flat tires and broken derailleurs. They are all similarly surprised and disappointed when you inform them that you, a) haven’t the slightest idea how to fix that and, b) don’t even have a tire pump, let alone a set of alan keys. 2016 is the year I become the person my loved ones think I am and learn how to maintain the one tool I use every single day.

3. Go on a bike tour.

Even just a short one. I read accounts of other’s bike trips around the world with a certain longing, but rather than live vicariously through their adventures, 2016 will be the year I realize adventure can be close to home. A long weekend here, a day off there, a jaunt to a nearby town. Bike tours don’t have to take 3 months or cost thousands of dollars, I’m ready to embrace all my local region has to offer!

4. Move a couch with a regular bicycle.

I have no idea how I plan to do this. I don’t even have a couch I need moved, I just think this would be quite funny. Realistically, it might have to be a loveseat. Stay tuned!

5. Road biking.

I’ve been riding for transportation in a variety of cities for my entire adult life, but I am terrified of road biking. I got on my sister’s fancy little carbon fibre rig and I felt like I was riding a bike for the first time. While Momentum Mag is an everyday cycling kind of operation and I have no plans to become a road warrior, I’m starting to feel like it might be time to overcome this fear and embrace other forms of cycling. It’s all for the love of two wheels right? I might even wear lycra. Don’t tell my boss.

6. Ride whenever possible. 

This is the big one, the game-changer, the life-affirming “I do this because I love it” kind of two-wheeled resolution. I ride my bike every day in any kind of weather, but sometimes I still feel that it’s not enough. I drive a car when I go visit my parents a half hour away. Why? No reason, really, I’ve just gotten into the habit. 2016 is the year I break those habits. I’ll ride my bike not only on the routes I’m used to, not only in the weather and light and terrain I prefer, but whenever it’s sane and reasonable to do so. My bike will be my first choice, always, and everything else will come only after I’ve explored all of the possible ways I could instead get there by bike.

So that’s it, those are the goals I’ve set out for myself this year. What are you going to do by bike in 2016? What did you do last year that worked for you? The whole world seems to be talking bicycles these days, so let’s do everything we can to bring our love of this amazing technology to the forefront.

From all of us at Momentum Mag, we want to thank you for coming along for the ride in 2015, and wish you a very happy New Year’s and a wonderful year ahead! May 2016 bring health, happiness, fresh air and whole lot of love.

Hilary Angus is the online editor at Momentum Mag. You can find her on January 3rd driving over to her parents house with a prosciutto pizza and the bike in the trunk. 😉 @HilaryAngus