My 2020 Cycling Challenge – Results

Year 16 of this blog and my silly annual cycling challenges. It was obviously a fairly lousy year. First, let me wish everyone well. Here’s to a better new year.

Of course, 2020 was a strange cycling year for me. Zero overnight trips and few ambitious new rides. But I definitely used cycling as a way of managing my personal well-being. The after effects of exercise are highly underrated and whenever I felt down, I went pedaling.

Here are the results versus my 2020 Cycling Challenge.

160,200 Metres of Vertical Ascent

• 525,600 minutes in a year
• 525,600 feet = 160,200 metres.

So basically climb a foot for every minute of the year.

SUCCESS! Basically, I enjoy cycling slowly uphill on quiet routes. I mainly cycled from home, usually on hilly unpaved local roads. I am lucky to live directly below the very interesting Mont Salève. I cycled its many routes and the much smaller Mont Sion a lot. So while my distance totals were lower than usual, I achieved my ascent goal.

During the November French lockdown, it was impossible to cycle as we were required to stay within a kilometre of home. I missed my bike.

Some 2020 Mont Salève photos:

Get Healthy

August 2019 I fractured my neck and spine on a local ride. Less serious than it sounds but it’s been a struggle. I still have pain and discomfort as I search for a solution. But I can exercise, so let’s move on.

20 New Climbs

I failed this part of my challenge. I did manage a few fun new routes. The highlights:

• An unpaved route up Col de la Biche and Grand Colombier. Details.



• An unpaved route above the main route to Col de la Madeleine. Details.



• Col de Sapey via Les Lacets de Montvernier. Details.


Col de Sapey!

• La Route de la Soif via the 42 hairpins of Col de l’Arpettaz. Details.


La Route de la Soif

Cycle 100 Different Cols

While I might have cycled my local Col du Mont Sion 100 times, I failed at this challenge. I believe I managed 70 distinct cols – with some “cheating.”

Cheating? During the first French lockdown, March – May, I was motivated but confined. So I rode roughly 30 cols on the home trainer. In this post I detailed my lockdown activities – I especially enjoyed BigRingVR.com software. So while I absolutely hate the trainer, I did get to virtually visit Stelvio, Mallorca, Galibier, Swiss and Austrian Alps, etc.



Moo !



At least one great sunrise ride.

Woohoo, a sunrise ride has become an annual tradition, especially with my great friend Tim. This year we kept it simple and rode the steep Le Coin side of Mont Salève in the dark to see the sunrise up high. This was my last in-person interaction with a friend (!!!) … and it was a fun one. Details. Thanks Tim.





More Adventures with Doreen

The love of my life. My wife has been my saviour in 2020. She keeps me cheerful and sane. We spend a lot of time hiking together but we managed a few rides too. The highlight was a visit to Lac du Bourget (largest lake entirely in France) and Col du Chat. Details.




Yes, Doreen likes to hay surf too!

Favourite Rides of the Year?

Here are three other great rides not mentioned above.

1. Col des Annes via Col de la Colombière 4 Col Loop – details. A superb route climbing the famous north side of Col de la Colombière and then higher unpaved.