This year, I rode ~10,500km and climbed 80,000m over 475 hours. Over the last few years, these numbers are steadily declining, but it’s still a lot, reflecting the special place cycling has in my heart.
What hasn’t changed is that (1) I still ride ~1hr every day, and (2) I still do a weekly hill climb. But other than those, a lot has changed.
First, I got myself a new road bike this year. It was pretty expensive. The kind of money you’d think I’m crazy if you don’t ride road bikes. But with the kind of time I spend on it, I figured I deserve it. It’s noticeably lighter, so it reacts to my push better. The hydraulic disc brake is amazing, so is electric shifting.
That led to my second big change this year – I took my old road bike to Tokyo, and I’ve been riding my road bike there. I’m discovering a whole new world, in a place I thought I knew well.
There are so many little places within a bike distance. The density of the place is amazing, and there are so many restaurants that I have no hope of ever visiting them all. The area doesn’t really have any long climbs, but instead it’s filled with short, much steeper climbs.
Another thing I did not realize until then was just how limited my mobility has been, when I was confined to train lines. They are, after all, lines. No matter how well those lines spread out, and they do, at the end of the day they are still one dimensional, and that just cannot cover any significant “area”, which is, by definition, a two-dimensional construct. When I’m riding a bike, there’s just so much between the two train lines. Farm lands. Shrines. Temples. Small parks. Hills. Residential areas of all kinds. Hospitals. So much depth. I got mesmerized.
The third big change this year to the way I ride is that I considerably reduced my home group ride. A part of it was forced due to my spending time away from home more often, partly business, and partly in Tokyo. But it’s also partly my desire to explore. When a large group of people are involved, a ride has to be planned upfront, the route has to be set, and so it just limits your ability to react to the unexpected. I also wanted to ride more in new places, whereas the group rides prefer stability and predictability of the same familiar routes. I do miss the people, though. It’s too bad I can’t have the best of both worlds.
Fourth, I started riding more and more on my business travels, in faraway places. I stay a few extra days, I rent a road bike, and off I go! I rode in Chicago, Brussels, and Amsterdam. I’ve been to Brussels countless times, but with a bike I was able to discover a whole new part of Brussels and beyond. On a bike, I get to leave the city. A bike is really a perfect vehicle to explore the unexpected.
Every year, I aim to do a multi day bike trip. There’s a sense of real adventure in those trips. Life gets really simple on the road. And you get to discover all the in-between places. I truly love those trips. This year, I was fortunate to do two of them. Once I rode from San Jose all the way to Mendocino. Then late in the year, I rode from Tokyo to Kyoto. Both of those trips were me and a friend. I like this setup. There’s only so many people who are willing to ride a bike over multiple days like this, to begin with. Planning is a lot easier when I only need to accommodate the needs and the preferences of two people.
In 2026, I hope to lean in on more of all those changes. Beyond those, I think I’d love to ride more with friends. Not a big group ride, but in the intimate 1:1 setup. I also need to get more comfortable taking my bike on the go, especially in Tokyo. If I get more efficient in packing my bike into a bag that I bought for my Kyoto trip, it opens up a whole new set of destinations.
If you are up for riding with me, wherever on earth you are, let me know!