A year of Angela loves cycling

Today marks a full year of Angela loves cycling, and publication of my 53rd post.

Around the Mountains Cycle Trail

The newsletter has evolved a lot since it started. Initially, my focus was on letting people know what I was doing to prepare for riding the North Island leg of the Tour Aotearoa and my experiences along the way. I thought Angela loves cycling would come to an end after I finished that ride. But then I kept riding, and so I kept writing too.

I've written about a diverse range of rides:

• The North Island Tour Aotearoa route, which includes some of New Zealand's Great Rides (like the Hauraki Rail Trail, Timber Trail and Remutaka Cycle Trail), as well as many Heartland and Connector Rides (for example, the Far North Cycleway, the Kauri Coast Cycleway and the Kaipara Missing Link).

• Various Great Rides around the South Island - the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, the four trails accessible from Alexandra (Otago Central Rail Trail and the Lake Dunstan, Roxburgh Gorge and Clutha Gold trails), the West Coast Wilderness Trail, the Queenstown Trails and the Around the Mountains Cycle Trail.

• Other rides around Christchurch or in the Canterbury region - the Hurunui Heartland Ride, the Kaikōura Cycle Trail, a tour of the Waimakariri district, and rides around the Port Hills, the Ōtākaro Avon River and the Christchurch Northern Corridor.

• A few overseas rides, including cycling in and around Cairns, Australia, and along the east coast of Taiwan.

(You can find all these posts in the rides section of Angela loves cycling.)

West Coast Wilderness Trail

I’ve done more cycling than ever in the past 12 months. All those rides (and training for them) add up to over 8,500 kilometres. And that doesn't include the times I’ve forgotten to push ‘record’ on my sports watch or the many small commutes I’ve done by bike.

I also discovered a love of hills this year, climbing approximately 50,000 metres over this time.

But I haven’t just written about the rides. I’ve written about the people you meet, the places you stay and the wildlife you see when you are travelling around the country (or overseas) on a bicycle. I’ve written about what I’ve learned, the challenges of cycling in the city, and the different communities that have formed around cycling.

I’ve written about books I’ve read by people who have had amazing adventures cycling around the world. And, closer to home, I’ve enjoyed having conversations with other cyclists about their views and experiences of cycling and sharing these with you too. I’m hoping to do more posts like these in the new year.

(You can find these posts in the general section of Angela loves cycling.)

Wedderburn Farm Stay, Otago Central Rail Trail

The subscriber base for Angela loves cycling has also evolved over the year. It started with family and friends interested in following my North Island ride. Then more of you signed up - people I’ve worked with in the past, people I met during the year, and people who discovered Angela loves cycling through Substack.

Interestingly, readers have gone from being almost exclusively New Zealanders to a roughly even split of New Zealand and international readers. And that is pretty cool.

So, I would like to thank you all for subscribing and continuing to read my posts. I will take that as a sign I am doing something right. (And feel free to let me know if there are any topics you would to hear more about - or less of.)

A special thanks too to my lovely husband Chris for continuing to come cycling with me and letting me share his amazing photos. I know many of you enjoy them, so I will keep including them in the new year.

Hunterville, on the Tour Aotearoa route

I am going to revert to fortnightly posts for a while. So, the next post will be on Thursday 28 December 2023.

In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas.