Compiling a bucketlist - any suggestions please?

daniel_b

Morning all,

please excuse this ramble - wasn't sure if this should be in Cakestop or here, think here is a betetr home though, as it's road cycling related really.

Recently, as in the week before last, I received the news that a fairly close cousin of mine had committed suicide.
We were like brothers in our teens (he was one year younger), but geographically had moved apart, and as we were both busy with our own families, our contact had reduced a lot, so I hadn't seen him properly for 3 years or so - though we had chatted on e-mail in the interim.
He was a super keen, and fast\fit cyclist, used to race and achieve times that I could only dream of in sportives, so in a multitude of ways it has hit pretty hard - never had something like this happen that close to home - been lucky I guess. He leaves behind him his wife and 4 children.

It's made me realise that I really do need to make a concerted effort to keep in touch with family and friends, as it's impossible to know when I or they may not be there anymore.
I hope that doesn't sound trite, morbid, or weird, but it's provoked me to get in touch with a couple of what used to be really close friends, who like with my cousin, we have simply fallen out of touch.

Anyway, I'm genuinely not after any sympathy, just wanted to give some background as to the reason for my mindset, and am after some ideas and suggestions really.

It has hammered home the point that life can be exceedingly short, for any number of reasons, and that I need to get out there and experience it, and make memories.
I have already signed up for a Velodrome accreditation course which starts next month, and if I have the kahunas, might even have a go at racing on it.
As you will likely have guessed, cycling is my No 1 passion, so I am looking for some bucketlist style climbs and or events to tackle - I'd really like to come up with an expandable list, and then at the end or beginning of the year, pick a few, and commit to myself, that I'm going to plan these in, and get these done in these months, put them in the calendar, and then make it happen - book flights, accomodation etc etc. I will put aside some funds on a monthly basis for the financial side of things, if flights, accommodation are required etc.
All that happens at the moment is that I vaguely say to myself, 'oh yes I want to start time trialling next year' and then the year passes, and nothing is done - might just be my own failings, but I'm looking to improve things in that respect.

Now I know I can go and make my own list, and I clearly will have to research things, and add my own items to this list, but I wondered as many of you will likely have completed amazing rides, events and or climbs, if you can give me any pointers just to get me started, and then I can carry on the generated impetus :-)
That's the idea anyway!

At the end of last year I was the lightest I had been for many a year, and completed a couple of local hill climbs, so am planning to end this year in the same (perhaps with even more, and travelling further) way - as it seems to be a nice way to cap the year off, and good to have something to train hard towards.

Thankyou in advance,

Dan

Matthewfalle

really sorry to hear about your loss.

personally, I'd eschew the normal etape/lejog/well ridden route stuff and go for some mighty - trans sahara or stuff like that. ride the great wall of china. follow hannibals route, etc. spend 3 months riding off the beaten track in Asia.

the normal stuff has been MAMIL'd to bits so sack it off.

SpongeArtist

Firstly sorry for your loss Dan, I think we are all guilty of being wrapped up in work and our own immediate family to have the time to reach out and ask "how are you?". I'm trying to spread my time more between family and friends but it's tricky.

Secondly I'd recommend riding Mont Ventoux as it's a great achievement and you could probably tie it in with a family holiday. Any riding in the Pyrenees is truly amazing from the challenge to the scenery to the food/wine. We are heading back this year to Lourdes to watch 2 tour stages and 4 days for riding, Tourmalet, Hautacam, Col d'Aubisque. Good Luck!

daniel_b

Matthewfalle wrote:

really sorry to hear about your loss.

personally, I'd eschew the normal etape/lejog/well ridden route stuff and go for some mighty - trans sahara or stuff like that. ride the great wall of china. follow hannibals route, etc. spend 3 months riding off the beaten track in Asia.

the normal stuff has been MAMIL'd to bits so sack it off.

Thanks Matthew - I hear what you are saying, and that does appeal, BUT I have a girlfriend, 4.5 year old daughter, the ubiquitous mortgage and a job I enjoy a lot, and which is only 5 minutes walk from home - so I couldn't afford to go off trekking for 3 months for a host of reasons!

So I will be primarily looking to go the well trodden MAMIL route I am sure, but just because every man and their dog have been there before, it won't diminish the experience or sense of achievement for me - and I can hopefully keep my gf sweet at the same time

SpongeArtist wrote:

Firstly sorry for your loss Dan, I think we are all guilty of being wrapped up in work and our own immediate family to have the time to reach out and ask "how are you?". I'm trying to spread my time more between family and friends but it's tricky.

Secondly I'd recommend riding Mont Ventoux as it's a great achievement and you could probably tie it in with a family holiday. Any riding in the Pyrenees is truly amazing from the challenge to the scenery to the food/wine. We are heading back this year to Lourdes to watch 2 tour stages and 4 days for riding, Tourmalet, Hautacam, Col d'Aubisque. Good Luck!

Thanks SA - I hear what you are saying, but last summer I kept thinking 'I'll compose a quick e-mail and see how he is, organise a ride together' and then suddenly that person is no longer there, and those opportunities are never going to come round again. It's rather sobering.

We love France, and have holidayed there many times, some of them with bikes, so I do like that idea a lot. Pretty sure my Cousin was part of a trip down there a few years back where they based themselves at a B&B and went out to tackle climbs from there. Alas that e-mail with the details, including the name of the B&B is lost at my previous place of works e-mail :-(

We have also been to see the start of the TFD, and a stage of the Vuelta as well, all organised by my gf, who is a gem.

fenix

Awful news. You do sound young though so don't ignore the family - kids are only young once.

For bucket list climbs - take a trip to the Alps in the summer. You can ride the climbs and watch the pros making light work of them the next day.

daniel_b

Fenix wrote:

Awful news. You do sound young though so don't ignore the family - kids are only young once.

For bucket list climbs - take a trip to the Alps in the summer. You can ride the climbs and watch the pros making light work of them the next day.

Thanks Fenix - I'm 42 this year, so not that young - and as I work so close to home, I probably get a lot more time with my daughter than a lot of people - very fortunate in that respect.

Sportives, or long rides in good locations within the UK could be carried out on the odd weekend, and I'm sure they would either accompany me (Tricky with school) or not mind me going away for 7-10 days to carry out some cycling related activity.

I also already had a plan to buy a van of sorts, primarily to carry people and bikes, but could potentially, if it's just me, stick a stove, portaloo, roll up mattress in, and sleep in that for the night.

The Alps and the Pyrenees are sounding good - also my brother lives in Champoluc in Northern Italy - the Aosta valley, might be able to string some rides together to get over to him in the summer even.

I've taken the day off as leave after the funeral, just because, so might use that to carry out a load of research, and get a ride in too.

As an aside, has anyone ever used those coach services - there is a website I have seen, but I think it works that your bike goes in the luggage section, along with your minimal kit, and then it stops at a few locations down through Europe, and you choose where you get off to ride, and or to come back I guess. Would mean credit card B&B travelling I guess, which is fine.

kingstongraham

If you can get a week, I'd really recommend going on an organised group in any one of the classic mountain ranges. It means you just need to train, turn up and ride.

Riding in the Dolomites is the best riding I have ever done. It is relentlessly beautiful, along with recalibrating your perception of what a hard climb is. (After that Stelvio, which is magnificent, just feels like a long steady climb.)

You're right though, if you want to do something, get it booked, whatever it is, and go and do it.

daniel_b

KingstonGraham wrote:

If you can get a week, I'd really recommend going on an organised group in any one of the classic mountain ranges. It means you just need to train, turn up and ride.

Riding in the Dolomites is the best riding I have ever done. It is relentlessly beautiful, along with recalibrating your perception of what a hard climb is. (After that Stelvio, which is magnificent, just feels like a long steady climb.)

You're right though, if you want to do something, get it booked, whatever it is, and go and do it.

Thanks KG - the Dolomites I had heard of but not even considered, thanks for the heads up.
Stelvio I am well aware of, and an an ex Lotus Elise owner, know this is the pass they used to hone the handling of the first Elise all the way back in the mid 90's, so it has even more merit to being cycled up - thanks for the pointers, much appreciated

I think this thread is going to give me a huge amount of ideas and motivation, we have some good people on here for sure.

mamba80

i d second the Dolomites, staying for 2 weeks in somewhere like San Cassiano or Corvara and there are just loads of climbs, shops and restaurants to visit.

also string together the lesser known climbs in the Pyrenees/Midi Pyrenees, stunning area.

Matthewfalle

Have a squiz through Cyclist magazine and some of the routes they have done - the most recent in Israel looks really interesting and means its only a few days from your normal life so can all fit in.

Also - don't restrict yourself to road riding: strade bianche, other gravel stuff strewn around is also a great laugh.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Have you ever done riding around The Mendips, combining a number of the cat3s, including Cheddar Gorge and Draycott Steep?

There appears to be a cat2 climb south west of The Mendips, but all being well, my first real one (I ride to the radio tower fairly regularly) will be Bwlch Y Grows.

pblakeney

I went through a similar experience 3 years ago and booked a once in a lifetime tour of the classic cols of the Pyrenees which I did 2 years ago.
It was so good that I planned on doing the same in the Alps this year but that has been postponed due to injury. That injury also highlights that you should do it now, while you can. You never know...
I now also plan the Picos in 2020, and the Dolomites in 2022.
Best holiday decision I ever made and the cost is long forgotten. Much better to do these every two years than ride the same old roads in Mallorca year after year after year...
Although I have convinced my wife that going to Mallorca is good training for the tours!

lostboysaint

Tour Divide.

There is also a new one being created called the "Wild West Route". That as well!

Dorset_Boy

Sorry to hear that sad story Dan.

Maurienne valley in French alps - Cols Telegraph, Galibier, Glandon, Croix der Fer, Madeleine, Isere, Val Cenis all on your door step - plus not difficult to pop over the southern side to ride Alp d'Huez too.

Alta Badia in the Dolomites as others have mentioned, is where the GCN guys go regularly looks lovely - Maratona territory. I'm keen to get there.Stunning scenery.

Route des Grandes Alps from Lake Geneva to Nice - pretty much all the major French alpine climbs over a week.
There's another route that goes from Geneva to Venice across the alps.

Mallorca if you've never been there before.

The Massive Central in France has some nice routes, and a few climbs of about 600-700 m elevation.

Lakes Como and Garda have some great cycling in the vicinity and are stunning.

A long weekend in Nice - rides into the hills for the cols de Braus & Turini, over over into Italy, of Lance's favourite, the Madone, or flat routes heading west. Cafe du Cycliste have a range of good routes on their website.

lincolndave

Hi Dan sorry to hear about your cousin
Whatever you decide to do on your bucket ,make sure you do it
I wonder how many have laid on their death bed , thinking I wish I had done this, that and the other
Good luck with completing your dreams

davep1

Sorry for your loss Dan, I would echo everyone's sentiments so far. Dorset Boy's list would do for me!

If you have never ridden a proper mountain, riding in the UK is totally different.

In the UK - try the Fred Whitton if you haven't. It is bloody hard, but the countryside is stunning, and it is the best UK sportive I have done. Nothing can ready you for Hardknott after 95 miles. If the weather is bad I dread to think how hard it would be.
Ridelondon is also fantastic, but in a different way. Closed road riding is one of the joys of cycling, and combining that with the major sites of London, some reasonable countryside, crowds to cheer you on, and a lot of people going VERY fast, is a very special and unique experience. You can get novices behaving erratically, and you can get people who think they should be pros being arrogant dicks, but it is still worth doing at least once.
I've got family in Devon, so can really recommend Dartmoor. I've done the Dartmoor Classic sportive, which is a great event, but you could just borrow the route, or try the 4 hills from the 100 Greatest Climbs list that are in Devon.

Actually, the 100 Climbs is a good motivator. If you can't do them all, can you do the ones in your area? There are 14 down south, so I planned a few long rides to get some of them, and then a couple of drive & rides to get the ones where time was against me.

Coast to coast ride maybe?

South Downs Way off road is fantastic. Two hard-ish days, or one full on killer.

I'm lucky enough to ride in central Italy. It isn't as famous or glamourous as the Lakes or Dolomites, but the climbs of the Blockhaus and Gran Sasso are as tough as any, the scenery is stunning and you can stop for a coffee and dolce for under €5...

wrf1001

Hi,

Try the Dunwich Dynamo - it’s an amazing experience not matter what type of rider - it’s a must! Riding through the night with hundreds of other riders and arriving at the beach for sunrise and a swim is unforgettable!

I’d echo doing the Dartmoor classic which is a fantastic event so well run and it sells out fast, it’s gruelling but so rewarding- some of the toughest terrain in the UK! Enjoy!

davep1

Whatever you do, DON'T look into Everesting.... :evil:

mrb123

Marmotte
Maratona
Ventoux Cingles
One of the Haute Route Events
Quebrantahuesos
Mallorca 312
One of the cobbled classic sportives - Paris Roubaix, Flanders etc.
Eroica
Fred Whitton
Land's End to John O Groats
St Malo to Nice

daniel_b

I knew this was going to be a good idea - there is plenty of gold in this thread, thankyou so much, and for the kind words.

There is LOADS of info up above that I will be looking at in more detail - I plan to make lists, one for this country, nearby, one for further away, and then one for different mountain ranges and countries, love that idea, then can try and refine that to a list of what I really want to complete and achieve, then figiure out how to go about it.

Dunwich Dynamo is one I was aware of, and does sound good - the getting back home might not be as fun, but hey, everyone else has to do it to, so.........
I did apply for Ride London this year for the first time, but did not get in - I will try again next year, and may get in eventually.

I have not ridden in that many parts of the country - local to me of course, in Berkshire predominantly, also up into Oxfordshire\Wiltshire etc, then across south east towards Egham and what have you.
Also ridden in the Cotswolds and the New Forest, but I suppose a good place to start is rides and routes within this country.

C2C also does appeal, JOGLE, would be nice at some point too, but maybe a bit further down the road, want to find some more bitesize opportunities first.

I do have the 100 climbs book, so will have a look at that at the weekend too

Please keep em coming, feeling strangely motivated at the moment, both to train, and to get this in motion and in progress.

Thanks again all, greatly appreciated.

Matthewfalle

Alternatively, give something to cycling at the same - Help for Heroes ride leader, riding for the disabled etc etc. All that sort of jazz.


Doesn’t even have to be riding related: get a spanners qual and do some work for a charity that gives bikes to underprivileged children in Britain or ships them to kiddies in Africa.

very fulfilling and giving your most to someone who will very much appreciate it in memory of your cousin.

daniel_b

Matthewfalle wrote:

Alternatively, give something to cycling at the same - Help for Heroes ride leader, riding for the disabled etc etc. All that sort of jazz.


Doesn’t even have to be riding related: get a spanners qual and do some work for a charity that gives bikes to underprivileged children in Britain or ships them to kiddies in Africa.

very fulfilling and giving your most to someone who will very much appreciate it in memory of your cousin.

A valid point indeed MF, like your thinking

Frank Wilson

My planned adventure is not quite as exotic / heroic as some of the previous but as retirement has now arrived my aim is to cycle around Wales for no other reason than I am Welsh, I cycle, so combine the two things.

mamba80

Daniel B wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Alternatively, give something to cycling at the same - Help for Heroes ride leader, riding for the disabled etc etc. All that sort of jazz.


Doesn’t even have to be riding related: get a spanners qual and do some work for a charity that gives bikes to underprivileged children in Britain or ships them to kiddies in Africa.

very fulfilling and giving your most to someone who will very much appreciate it in memory of your cousin.

A valid point indeed MF, like your thinking

MF has come up with a great idea, when my Mum died in 2016, me an my daughter did a Sportive in France and she raised money for the Stroke Association, made all the more special by doing it for a special cause.

So, your GF drives the 'van and you cycle the Haute Pyrenees route, stick a justgiving link on here and you might even get a few donations

cougie

I'm going to do LEJOG when I retire. Don't want to rush it or take the busier crappy roads - I'll take my time and enjoy it.

orraloon

My (step)son did a solo JOGLE last September, no make that Sep 2016, tick tock... but included Ireland as well, crossed Stranraer to NI then Eire back over to Wales, not in any hurry, just let it unfold. Loved the whole experience, even his down days, reckons Ireland north and south was the best for friendly encounters with the locals.

twotoebenny

Was watching something on tv about cars racing up Pikes peak and thought wow that's a bucket list cycle. Would much prefer coming down though
Found this link
http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/1384/ ... k-colorado

davep1

Lots of inspiration in the Col Collective videos. Pikes Peak at it's best in Climb Dance, although not cycling!

haydenm

Have you thought of doing any self sufficient touring? Take some mates, go somewhere scenic and you are sure to have an adventure. NC500 is excellent

js14

If you like endurance cycling, the next 1200 km Paris - Brest -Paris is in August 2019. I've never done it myself, but the event attracts cyclists from all over the world and support from the locals along the way is fantastic.

The PBP traces its routes back to the long distance cycle races of the 19th century and is organised every 4 years. To have a good chance of getting a place, you would need to do some qualifying events this year.

You could even combine taking part with a family holiday in Brittany and rope the family in as a support team.

fenix

Oh good call on the NC500 - looks fantastic.

http://www.northcoast500.com/