The catalyst...

I needed a challenge.

It's the onset of winter. It always makes me restless.

In winter you go to work in the dark. You come home from work in the dark. The lights are always on in the office. Clothes are wet, cycling is cold and your bike gets clagged up with grime and muck.

If you don't have a plan to get through winter... you might not get through at all.

I needed a goal, an image of something sunny, light and beautiful. Something to make me train. To make me get on my commuter bike in horrible weather and ride to work. To make me get up at 5am on the weekend and do a training ride before the kids get up. And that kind of impetus needs a decent goal.

[God, I'd love a Fat Bike]