This year has gone by in a blur and has felt like one of the fullest in a while. Although we did not make any long-haul trips (flight prices for Indianapolis ruled it out), we filled our time with many other mini-adventures.
The summer came early and it was a good one. We were out paddleboarding on Loch Lomond in early April and the warm weather carried through May to make for a scorching Helensburgh Ale Festival. Sadly, Julia injuring her neck & shoulder in May meant we got less paddleboarding done together as the summer wore on but I was still able to scratch that itch whilst she sunbathed!
In the height of the summer, to celebrate my birthday went to a gin tasting in Glasgow before meeting up with my friends for a few drinks. The weekend that followed, we went camping east of Edinburgh and finally got to visit places that had long been on my bucket list, such as Scotland’s Secret Bunker and the National Aviation Museum.
Finally treating myself to a new bike after 26 years made all the difference to my motivation to ride and, since I got it in early September, I’ve been out many times, rekindling my love of the sport and fuelling my desire to increase my cycling fitness and take on longer rides. Every ride leaves me grinning and I’m looking forward to going further afield to visit different trails in 2026.
The weather finally slipped away by the time Cove Ale Festival came around in late September but we still had a blast meeting up with the usual suspects ’round the peninsula.
A few days later we stole away to Spain for a week, enjoying some beautiful sunshine, plenty of food, sunbathing, exploring the local area, and visiting the skatepark a few times to burn off the food & drink.
Finishing off the year we visited Adrian down at his new place near Galashiels, spent a week in December down in London whilst I was there for work, and have just enjoyed decompressing during the festive holidays.
All in all, it’s been a cracking year. Which is essentially why I thought it was worth knocking up a blog post about it. Hope yours was a good one too – all the best for 2026.
