New here? Come say hello (January 2023)

[Soren]

👋 Hello and welcome to Strava Community Hub!

We love getting to know all of our new members every month, so if that happens to be you, we are excited to hear a little bit more about you. If you're comfortable, here are some points to share: 

• Your name
• Which country/state you're from
• Your favorite Sport Types
• Your 2023 intentions

My name is Soren and I am from Switzerland but live in Denver, Colorado. I am a passionate cyclist, but I enjoy many other kinds of movement such as weight lifting, walking, stretching, water sports and badminton. Last year, I set a big distance goal, which I achieved a few days before the year ended, but it left me feeling quite depleted. This year I've decided that I would much rather prefer to have experience-based goals, such as go bikepacking with co-workers, discover more dirt trails, ride under the moonlight, run a marathon (with the goal to simply complete it), focus on fostering a community of cyclists that's interested in having fun and being curious (vs. ego or competition).

Leave your introduction in the thread below and let's start talking. 

[alexrieu]

Thanks Soren for the warm welcome! 
Not my first marathon, It will be the 11th actually ^^, and 3rd time the Paris one. The weather is usually good, a bit cold in the morning but sunny! 

[Soren]

😲 that's impressive! We will be cheering you on for marathon #11, best of luck!

[Anthlis]

Kia ora Soren and the Strava Community! 

I'm Anthony, from Aotearoa New Zealand. I'm a cross country hardtail 'keep-it-real' mountain biker, and use a road bike for commuting to work and back. I hate racing these days as I'm more of a diesel-engined grit your teeth type-2 kind of guy nowadays. I keep looking at today's gravel bikes and thinking 'why not?'. Always loved the big adventure rides with good company. My cycling goals for 2023 are to keep it social, sustainable, and more consistent. And beat a few segment times too! 

Happy New Year everyone!

Port Hills night ride

Anthony

[Soren]

Hey Anthony, Happy New Year and welcome to the Community! New Zealand has been on my bucket list for ages, I just googled Port Hills and it looks stunning there. Is that a better spot for MTBing or road cycling, or both?

Love that you're including sustainability in your 2023 goals -- I'm curious about what that looks like for you?

[Anthlis]

Yeah, Christchurch offers heaps of cycling options, good for road and mountain biking options alike, on the flat or up/down the hills. 

My sustainability goal was around buying more from the local bike shop rather than the web (I hate waiting for couriers these days anyway), getting involved in community cycle mechanic workshops, and keeping on responding to cycle path proposals from the council etc. 

[Soren]

I looked at flights to NZ out of curiosity... it looks like I'll have to wait till I retire, haha. Thanks for sharing more around your sustainability goals. Cycling is incredibly effective at reducing one's carbon footprint as is, I feel like we who spend more time outdoors are much more in touch and involved when it comes to environmental concerns. I like that you're involved with local cycling infrastructure initiatives, too. I should definitely take a page or two from your book!

[DHall13]

Hello! I'm Ashton and I'm from Ohio in the United States. Over the past year, I started running competitivelyagain with a running group out of Dayton, Ohio. I turn 30 in May and I must say I'm in much better shape than my early 20s. In 2023, I plan on crushing PRs from 1500m to 13.1. I work as a software engineer and see a lot of potential in this application 😄

[Soren]

What's up, Ashton? Thanks for joining the Community, it's great to have you here, especially with your engineering perspective. We love to hear about people's fitness journeys and it's awesome that you're running competitively again. Are you participating in any events or races? I'm personally looking into running a full marathon this year (most distance I've ever ran is 30k), which I'm excited about since recovering from reconstructive knee surgery from a year and a half ago. I'm a little unsure how to balance cycling and running training though.

[fanatic_cyclist]

Hi,

I’m John from Raleigh, NC.  I predominately use Strava for cycling and occasionally walking, hiking, and work outs.  I also managed to figure out how to put a sensor on my ancient NordicTrack ski machine to log some indoor skiing.  Right now my goals are all cycling related, but am thinking about mixing it up a bit in 2023.  Covid and the flu knocked down my fitness last year so am really interested in using Strava to track my recovery.

John

[Soren]

Hey John 👋 good to hear from you and thanks for sharing the photo of that beautiful road, too! I feel you on the recovery post-covid, I got hit by it and then had bronchitis afterward! I was coughing for what felt like 3 months straight and my lungs haven't quite been the same ever since. Are you participating in any cycling events or races this year or planning any other noteworthy rides?