Swap the car for the bike

This might seem an odd place to start – you wouldn’t be on a cycling website if you didn’t like to ride your bike, right?

But, while you may be happy clocking plenty of miles at the weekend, how many riders then jump in the car when you need to pick up a pint of milk or get to work?

It may mean investing a more affordable bike (your all-singing road bike may be a bit over-the-top or impractical for a trip to the local shop), but it’s a philosophy encouraged at the very top of the sport – British Cycling encourage their riders to do every trip out, including commuting to the velodrome, on two wheels.

Get a bike fit

You can have the best machine in the business but if you are not positioned correctly then you may be more likely to pick up injury – or just be plain uncomfortable on the bike.

As a result, plenty of riders are turning to a professional bike fit to get properly setup, with many local bike shops investing in the equipment and expertise required.

Several different systems are in operation, such as the Apex Bike Performance or Retul – the latter being used by British Cycling, among others.

If you are not ready to commit to the full bike fit, here are five starting points from British Cycling head physio Phil Burt, who also looks after bike-fitting for Team Sky.

And if you want to take it to the next level check out our buyer’s guide, which looks at everything you should expect from a bike fit.

Write (and stick to) a training plan

Once of the best ways of improving on the bike is to have a clear plan of action, which is where a well-written training plan will pay dividends.

You may want to invest in a coach to help you in that regard – and here’s what to think about if you’re considering a coach for the new year  – or you could always do it yourself. Follow our tips here.

Start by setting some clear and achievable goals, and then work backwards from there in order to progress towards those goals.

If it’s a big event you are targeting, your training should also become more event-specific as the big date looms.

Save for a new bike

OK, so walking into a bike shop and parting with your hard-earned in return for a shiny new steed may not be the most taxing of resolutions to set, nor can most people buy a new bike at the drop of a hat.

So why not give yourself a long-term goal of saving up the money to buy your N+1?

Putting away just £20 a week will put enough in the kitty to invest in a £1000 bike come next Christmas. And why should it just be a new bike you save up for? How about some new hoops, a cycling holiday or a winter training camp instead?

If you can cut costs from your daily routine, whether that’s quitting smoking, cutting down on drinking, or commuting by bike, your can spend the rewards on cycling.

Ride a century

Riding a century is a rite of passage. It’s a significant challenge – 100 miles is a long way, make no bones about that – but an achievable one for regular cyclists.

Many sportives will have a route option of more than 100 miles and having a specific event in the diary gives you a date to work towards, but there’s also a joy in plotting a route and following it turn-by-turn on a long summer’s day to bag your first century with friends for company.

Of course, by virtue of improved weather and more daylight hours, summer is the best time to ride a century. However, even if riding 100 miles seems like a daunting task at the moment, you have plenty of time between now and then to prepare.

Follow a training plan, slowly build up your mileage (if you can ride 75-85 miles in training then you can ride 100 miles on the day), plan your day out and think about nutrition.

Introduce a friend to cycling

Cycling can open a world of opportunities to you, but why keep it all to yourself?

Even if you don’t fancy joining a club, just having someone to share your time in the saddle with can improve your time on the bike tenfold.

Introduce a friend to cycling, and alongside the social element of it, you will find it can help boost your own motivation to get out and ride too.

Unsure where to start? Here are five essential items every new cyclist needs.

Ride a Spring Classic and/or Tour de France stage

From the cobbled Classics to the Etape du Tour, there are plenty of sportives throughout the year which give you the chance to ride a stage of a pro race ahead of the WorldTour peloton’s arrival.

The 2018 Paris-Roubaix Challenge, for example, takes place on the same weekend as the Hell of the North – Saturday April 7 – while a week earlier you can take on the cobbled bergs of the Tour of Flanders on the RVV Cyclo.

Into the summer, and perhaps one of the most notable sportives is the Etape du Tour, which this year follows the route of stage ten of the 2018 Tour de France.

Four major climbs feature on the 169km route, including the Col de la Croix Fry and Col de la Colombiere – complete with a stretch of dirt road.

Set a mileage target

Target setting does not just have to revolve around a handful of big events in the spring and summer.

Why not challenge yourself over the full year by setting a 2018 mileage target?

Users of online training tools such as Strava or Garmin Connect can easily track how many miles they have clocked on their beloved steeds and it can be a great base for target setting for the next 12 months.

If you ride regularly, 500 miles a month gives a target of 6,000 for the year – though chances are you will have the opportunity to clock more in summer than winter.

Make your target challenging but achievable and if you find you break it earlier than anticipated use the rest of your year to set a new target to beat in 2019.

It can be hugely rewarding to see the target draw ever closer after every ride.

Using Strava is also a great tool for winter training as a source of informing and motivating you through your training. Are you making the most of Strava? Check out our guide  here.

Go on a training camp

The sun on your back, miles of tarmac ahead of you, long climbs and undulating terrain with nothing to distract you from you and your bike.

It’s with good reason that winter and spring training camps are proving more and more popular for amateur cyclists. After all, what better way to get serious miles in the bank to prepare yourself for the summer?

Already a significant fixture of the professional cyclists’ off-season build-up, the winter training camp also offers amateurs the chance to live the professional lifestyle for a weekend or week, and bask in some southern European sunshine.

While the rest of the UK freezes, there is nothing more satisfying than packing up your bike and kit and heading for warmer climes such as Majorca, Girona or the Canary Islands.

In fact, there are plenty of great training camp destinations out there, with seven of the best listed here.

Enter a race

Racing is at the heart of cycling and it’s easy to get involved, whether it’s a road race, an hour-long crit, cyclo-cross racing or time trialling.

Engage your competitive streak, pin on a number and have a crack at racing.

You will need a British Cycling racing licence to enter most road races and crits, though some will let you buy a provisional licence on the day.

– Diary of a newbie racer: five things I learned from a year as a fourth cat –

Crits are hard and fast, and riding in a big group at that pace takes practice – but it’s an exhilarating experience with the London Nocturne among the highest profile events that are open to amateurs.

Time trialling, meanwhile, is the simplest and most accessible form of racing. It’s you against the clock and the chance to beat your personal best.

All you need is a roadworthy bike. Many clubs organise a series of ten-mile time trials in the spring and summer and if you need some top tips, then five-time national champion Alex Dowsett has shared his with us.

Ride on the track

There are few more intimidating sights than that the super-steep banking of a velodrome for a track cycling newbie – with even Olympic champion Elinor Barker admitting to RCUK she was terrified when she first tried it.

But riding on the track can be an exhilarating experience, which marries speed with skill.

Most of the UK’s tracks are outdoors but with six indoor velodromes at Lee Valley, Manchester, Calshot, Glasgow, Newport and Derby there are plenty of opportunities to follow the tracks of the likes of Sir Chris Hoy.

All six of the aforementioned velodromes offer taster sessions for beginners, with hire bikes available, while many clubs will also look to make use of their local facilities.

Fancy yourself as the next track cycling superstar? We got Tim Kennaugh’s top tips on getting started here.

Tackle an iconic climb

Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment which comes with scaling one of the sport’s most famous peaks.

From Alpe d’Huez to the Stelvio, there are Grand Tour giants throughout Europe, with many of the iconic ascents of the continent packing cyclists’ bucket lists.

What climbs are on your must-ride list? Alpe d’Huez and the Col du Galibier in France, perhaps? The Passo dello Stelvio and Monte Zoncolan in Italy, maybe? Or how about the giants of  the Angliru and Pico de Veleta in Spain?

Nor do you have to go too far to tackle some of Europe’s toughest climbs because, while Britain’s peaks often lack distance, there are plenty of shorter but very, very steep UK ascents on offer too.

From the 33 per cent gradient of Rosedale Chimney in North Yorkshire, to the twisting, Alpine-like passage of Scotland’s Bealach na Ba, you’ll find plenty of climbs to seriously test your legs.

Whether you want to venture into Europe to tackle some of the cycling greats, or prefer to stay closer to home for some British thigh-burners, make 2018 the year you tick an iconic climbs off your bucket list.

Organise a cycle tour

Cycling is about exploration: finding previously unridden roads, tackling new climbs, putting a pin in the map and devising a route to get there (and back).

There are few better ways to see the world than by bicycle, so why not plan your own tour? The world is your oyster but start closer to home: the UK has thousands of miles of beautiful roads through diverse landscapes, even if the weather is hit-and-miss and the tarmac often potholed.

Round up a few riding buddies, choose a region of the UK to explore and book a series of B&Bs – then it’s up to you to ride between them.

You could devise a circular route to take you back to your car/home, or ride from A to B.

Why not take on Land’s End to John O’Groats, the opening three days of the 2014 Tour de France (with an additional leg between Yorkshire and Cambridge for good measure) or the 173-mile Chilterns Cycleway?

Enter a gravel event

Gravel racing is on the up, with all-terrain bikes a common addition to many brand’s line-ups at the annual tradeshows which dominated the latter part of 2017.

But what’s all the fuss about? Why don’t you enter a gravel event to find out – Grinduro is back in Scotland in 2018 after a successful first edition last year, while there’s also the likes of Yorkshire True Grit, Dirty Reiver and the GravelCross Series.

If you love all things two-wheeled, or just want to change up your normal routine, gravel racing could be your chance to embrace something new in 2018.