Happy New Year!

I started 2025 as I mean to go on – riding my bike! We saw the new year in at home, after a tasty roast dinner, one of our friends came round with her son, who is friends with Owen. The boys played together nicely – although Henry wreaked havoc on their Minecraft world, by releasing all the livestock from their farms. Then the older boys started making some videos on their tablets. The grown ups were able to chat and drink Select Spritzes (a throwback to our trip to Venice last year). All the boys managed to stay up to see in the new year – a first for Henry.

Thanks to their late night, the boys gave us a lie in this morning and after a very late breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we got the fire lit and settled in for what was forecast to be a cold and rainy day. However, the weather improved, so I got out for a short local ride on some muddy trails. It was a slow ride, but it was good to get out for some fresh air, especially as I was not expecting to be able to get out.

Usually going into a new year we have a lot of plans, but do not really have anything firm for 2025, we have a few ideas for holidays – all we know is that we want to get Henry on a plane, and we would like to go back to Scotland. We may combine these ideas, but we could also go to France, or somewhere completely different, and drive to Scotland as a separate trip. There may be some big exciting changes coming, but they are just ideas at the moment, so I do not want to jinx anything. Our lives are still going to be busy with activities for the boys – Owen has decided that he wants to join Henry at cycle speedway and Henry wants to join Owen at karate – whilst better than two new activities being added, it was nice that they both had their own things going on. Hopefully not having too much in the calendar will leave plenty of opportunity for spontaneous adventures.

As in previous years, I have set myself some goals for the year ahead:

Spend more time with my friends

A carry over from 2024, but it was the topic of the group chat with my friends last night, so will continue to make more of an effort in 2025.

Make my blog more robust

Another carry over from 2024, but I did not get around to it – I have an idea of how I want to do it, and it should be easier than my previous plan.

Refresh my photography portfolio website

Like the previous goal, it is carried over from last year, and I have got some ideas, although in typical Lewis fashion I have started by sorting out my Lightroom catalog, to make it easier long term to find my top images. Writing this now, has made me have a rethink, so my portfolio may end up getting updated more than once…

Do something car/motorsport related every month

Some of my favourite days last year were motorsport events, watching a rally, and going to Festival of Speed. So I want to make sure that I do more of it. I have got a things lined up for the next few months – karting this month and Race Retro next month.

Get the MR2 to Wales

The MR2 has not had enough use, so I want to make sure that I get it out, and Wales is my favourite place to drive, so combining the two seems like an ideal plan!

Ride somewhere new with Owen

Owen’s riding has come on so much over the last few months, so I want to keep the excitement going. I have a few ideas on where we could ride, but it comes down to holiday plans.

Do some bike trips just myself and Henry

It is too easy for me to ride with Owen – we can ride fun trails together at a decent speed. However this has meant that Henry has not ridden with me as much as Owen had when he was the age Henry is now. Which means that Henry is not as confident on the bike as Owen was. I know Henry will appreciate some daddy and Henry time and hopefully it will help his confidence on the bike.

Get to the summer with three working bikes

At the moment I have one working bike, but only just. I have been riding my hardtail, a lot, but it is desperate need of a full rebuild. However in order to do that I need to get my full suss bike working again, and ideally my town bike, neither are big jobs though.

Ride at Bwlch Nant yr Arian

A goal carried over from 2023, Bwlch Nant yr Arian in Mid Wales has some great looking trails, and is also known for their daily Red Kite feeding – which is enough of an excuse for me to go for a ride. It also seems like somewhere that might be worth visiting with Jen and the boys as part of a Mid Wales trip.

Ride the “Ladybower Loop” with Partho

This is a more focussed version of the “Ride one of the 10 of the best XC trails in the UK” goal, which I have had for a few years. And also another goal which relied on my full suss bit being rebuilt. I last rode there in 2018, it was a tough ride, but very rewarding.

Tidy my garage

Another long running goal, which should help with other goals.

Take my niece Sienna to the zoo

Being an uncle is fun, Sienna is two and half now, which is the sort of age

Get my weight down to 90kg

For the last ten years, at least, my goal has been to get my weight down to 85kg, which has clearly not happened. 90kg is more achievable, but if I get there, I will try to keep going to 85kg. My plan is more riding and less pizza.

The lack of any firm plans for 2025 is exciting, the year has started well, and hopefully that will continue.