2014 in numbers

That was another fast year to me. A lot has happened both on and off the bike. It's time to check what I've been up to in 2014, so here's my stats for the year.

Distance:                             3900 km

Training time:                      221 hours and 30 minutes

Elevation:                            68712 m

Rides:                                  117

Races:                                 1

It's not a whole lot I think (I know in fact). One of the main reasons for these numbers and the lack of training in 2014 was the fact that we have moved country and there was a ton of stuff to be done in relation of that. Big operation it was that took a lot of my time. 

Funny enough to see when I compare these numbers with last years stats: got out a lot more often and done more elevation also than in last year but the mileage was lower 'cause I didn't do any road training (on a road bike) in 2014. 

If I have to sum up my year in one word that word would be AWESOME! Loved every minute on the bike and I hope 2015 will be just as good as this year was if not better. There's a lot of racing on my bucket list, so roll on 2015!! :)

2014 video, thanks to Strava 

Last spin of the year, good bye 2014!

On a cold winter day...

Can anyone tell me any better than this: sitting in the sauna on a cold winter day?! Can't beat it!! I simply love saunas so I visited tha Family Home this evening and had a savage 30 minutes session. It was brilliant! Felt exhausted but good and I'm sure this wasn't my last time in the sauna this winter. ;)

Let's wake up from the Christmas hibernation

Christmas was brilliant but it was time to get up from the sofa and start to burn off that 28 million calories that I had during the Festive Season. Today was an amazing day for it: sunny, -2 degrees. So I wasted no time, got the bike out of the shed and I was on my way up to the top of the nearest hill. 

The savage climb got the system going again

Riding the 29er today was a real joy. And the sub-zero conditions were nice too! Was good to get the legs turning again and was good to get some fresh air into the lungs. Happy days! :) 

Christmas in my home // Photos can say it all! :)

"The Tree"

Little bit of a preparation

Hmm...it's not very wintery, is it?

A Must-Have Decoration :)

Building Lego together is fun

Bike related present, woo-hoo!!

Yummy orange cream soup

Traditional Hungarian salty jelly, made from pork, served with bread and vinegar to sprinkle over it. Sounds a bit rough I know, but it is absolutely lovely!! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

This Christmas is going to be a bit more special: we'll be spending Christmas home again. We haven't been home for the Festive Season for a good few years. It's also going to be special because we are spending Christmas in our own house. Will be great to have the family over and spend time together. My little son Rhys will love everything I'm sure, he loves the tree and the lights too! :) 

So, it's Christmas again. It's time to get the decorations out of the box, wrap all the presents, get the tree dressed up & eat all the yummy goodness! Let's do it! :)   

Merry Christmas everyone, have a great time!

Message of the day

Hollókő, where the time has stopped

Today the weather was super nice, so I decided to visit one of my favourite places near my home. Hollókő is a truly special place that is part of the World Heritage. It's a small village where the time has stopped: once you step into the Old Village it seems like you have travelled back in time a couple of hundred years. The streets, the buildings and the generally everything has been kept exactly the way it has been back then. Visiting a place like this is absolutely amazing I have to say. 

Riding as far as Hollókő from my place was perfectly suitable for today's training spin, ended up doing 60 km just under 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was good enough to get the legs turning and enjoy the still very mild Hungarian winter. And of course it was lovely to visit this spot after so many years, I'm sure I'll be back more often from now on! :)

#yummyumm #treat #hardtoresist

The Bike Shed Project // Part 1

My own bike shed...not just a shed for the bike though but something like a little workshop type thing that I can use for maintenance and for all my bike needs. This has been my dream for a good few years and the time is finally here to get it done!

Still a lot to be done but it has started to look like something that I was thinking about. 

I love working on the bike and keep it in a good order. This bike shed (when it'll be ready) will be serving me well. All I need to do is finish it. The next big task is getting the heating sorted and a workshop stand is also a missing piece of tha puzzle. But I'm sure it won't take long before these things are no longer an issue! :)

#crosscountry #wintertraining # Hungary

Love living the country life

Life is nice and quiet these days and I have to admit that I love this change. Leaving a big city like Dublin behind and move back to my small country village again is nice in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I loved every day that I lived in Dublin since 2005 but I can't deny that how much I enjoy living the country life again.

One of my favourite job of the day

I enjoy the peaceful flow of the everyday life and also love taking care of things around the house. It is nice to live life like this. Yes, there's a ton of advantages of living on a big city but somehow I would rather prefer this calm type of life.  Clean air, no traffic, very quiet evenings and the hills just 10 minutes away. What more could I ask for? :)

My future bike shed, just the perfect size for what I need it for!

There's plenty of things that needs to be taken care of around the house, one of them is the "Bike Shed Project" that has started to shape up slowly already. But let's say more about this some other time! ;)