So the 31st of December is upon us once more and as is tradition its that time of year when we look back and review the previous 12 months normally with a sense of disappoinment and look forward to the next year with the excitement and mystery of the unknown.

When I look back to 2012 in a cycling sense it looks like a year of let downs , mostly caused by the terrible weather. My original target of 2000 miles was amended to 1700 miles and i failed to reach that target missing it by a measley 11 miles !!! If only i had gone for one more ride Grrrrrrrrr!!! Easier said than done of course and as it stands today I have not ridden since the 9th of December. Pretty poor show really but who wants to ride in the rain , certainly not me.

That said I did complete Bath Sportive,Wiggle Isle of Wight sportive and also the Lands End Sportive all of which I really enjoyed. I also have a fantastic new cycling buddie who is really able to push me (not literrally) so thanks Uncle J. I raise a glass to you and your new found bicycle parts buying OCD illness which i too suffer from.

A few other disappointments this year is the constant battle for sponsorship I am sure it seemed easier in 2010 when I cycled from London to Paris or maybe people have become bored of me asking or maybe its the financial climate ??? Who knows ??? 

When you consider the huge outlay for me to self fund this trip which is currently looking to be around £1600 ish ish!!! Then the knock backs from huge companies when you look for help not in financial support but a discount on a hotel or car hire is sometimes hard to take but hey ho. Have they lost their charitable ways or maybe its wrong of me to expect them to offer discounts ?? 

A few things i am certain of is

A. In 16 weeks time I will be cycling from Lands End to John O groats (even if I only raise £300)

B. I think this will be my last charity adventure

Blimey that sounds like a proper grumpy arse rant ;-(

Anyway onwards and looking forward to 2013 a few resolutions as always which I expect will last a few days haha then be totally forgotten about 😉

1. target mileage 3000 (easy peasy considering lejog is over 1000 miles)

2.20lb weight loss before April 30th ( d day for Lejog and any pound lost is one I dont have to drag the entire length of our country)

3. give up smoking (sorry mum)

Erm think thats it for now hopefully next Blog may show a bit more positivity and maybe even that I have actually been cycling , Maybe my new Shimano Ultegra brake calipers will inspire me to get out there………..nope wont want to get them wet  hahahahha 

PS dont forget I can be sponsored at 

http://www.justgiving.com/neil-bradleyLEJOG1

or

http://www.justgiving.com/neil-bradleyLEJOG2