Spring is in the air, somewhere among the ice, rain and snow, and the 2018 sportive season lies ahead. From the classic Monuments of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to summer giants like the Marmotte, Maratona and Etape du Tour - via a host of equally spectacular UK sportives throughout the year - there's never been such a wide choice of rides to take part in.
And no one's looking forward to it more than our team of sportive reporters. Year round, they'll be riding some of the UK and Europe's biggest and best sportives and reporting back to give you the inside line on what to expect.
Here are just a few of the rides our team are looking forward to this year.
And if that gets you inspired, don't forget to check out our Sportive calendar and sign up to a ride or two yourself.
JIM: Haute Route, Tour of Wessex, Chiltern 100, Marmotte
For anyone that knows me, it will be no surprise to hear that 2018 will be dominated by big mountains, and me riding up them in varying states of disarray.
My big goal for the year is the Haute Route Iron - a 14 stage event racing through the Pyrenees and French Alps - but I've got a few very chunky stepping stones on the way. I'm hoping that riding the Tour of Wessex and Chiltern 100 will get the endurance milage into the legs on home soil, whilst trips to France and Italy for the Marmotte and Haute Route Stelvio respectively will get me in some semblance of climbing form.
Squeaky bum time all round. Wish me luck.
ABBY: Eden Valley Epic, Wooler Wheel Borderlands, Cyclone
My cycling year got off to a false start when the Eden Valley Epic was postponed until October due to Penrith being under a large snowdrift in early March.
Then my plan to ride the Wooler Wheel Borderlands with my mum was shelved because her village rather grandly has its own cycling festival which falls on the same weekend (and if she doesn't take part she will be drowned in the duck pond for insubordination).
Having persuaded her that 71 is the perfect age to ride her first sportive, I now have my sights set on the Cyclone in Northumberland. It takes place on Saturday 30th June and the national road championships are in town the following day.
In time honoured tradition (if you can call something a tradition when you've only done it twice), I'll be up early to ride a circuit of the Curlew Cup route before the women's race gets underway and I can settle in for a bit of roadside loitering.
SEAN: Mad March Hare, London Revolution, Malvern Mad Hatter, Ride Across Britain
After a busy couple of years I'll be easing into the 2018 season with a few hand-picked events to look forward to.
Keeping it local I'll be riding the Mad March Hare in early April (rescheduled from March - the Beast from the East's work) and Staffordshire Festival of Cycling sportive in July, while further afield I'll be tackling the two-day Dulux Trade London Revolution in May and in June, the Malvern Mad Hatter.
There will undoubtedly be others as the summer cycling bug strikes, but to top the year off I'll once again be riding the Deloitte Ride Across Britain, just to get a few miles in my legs!
JOE: Fred Whitton Challenge, Marmotte
I have two main targets for 2018 which are the Fred Whitton and the Marmotte Alps. I'm way behind on my early season training (partly weather, partly work, mostly laziness) so with only six weeks before the Fred I need to get some miles in.
I have Rapha's Hell of the North in a couple of weeks to give me some idea of where I am on my fitness levels. I've done the Marmotte before and I have a new Battaglin to ride it on with a 32 on the back. That should help on the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.
I am hoping it is a bit cooler this time as I am not great in the heat. But the key aim for me this season is to remember to ride to proper zones on big rides and also to get my nutrition right; that's something I still really struggle with.
EMMIE: Strade Bianche, Tortour
After last year's excitement with the Taiwan KOM and the 3T Jeroboam Gravel Challenge, I'm stoked to build on this endurance by taking part in Switzerland's multi-day Tortour cyclocross event as well as a circuit of Northern Italian and Swiss hill climbs, including the Stelvio and the Gavia.
In fact, Italy will be a common haunt for my riding this year with Strade Bianche and a few other gran fondos too.
>>> Read Emmie's report on the 1st edition of the Jeroboam Gravel Challenge >>>
JOHN: Magnificent 7, Gritfest
Having a lot more time to myself this year I'm aiming to get back into racing, time-trialling and hill-climbing. Magnificent 7 in Sheffield, held in early March, is kind of early in the year to be racing up hills, but mixed up within a friendly mass Sunday morning club-run it's a fantastic event and one in which I hope to better last years 2nd place.
I'm becoming a marketer's dream, and have fallen well and truly for the gravel boom! The joy of just riding a bike that can go anywhere - turn down that forest track if you fancy it - but also capable of mile-munching on the roads has rekindled the fun of bikes for me recently. I'll be riding the Gritfest in June, which depending on how the Welsh weather gods are feeling will be either the best or worst fun ever.
The hill-climb season doesn't really kick off until late summer so that's a pot that is currently simmering, but it's safe to say I'll be leaving the gravel bike in the shed for those efforts...
JAMES: Le Classique, Ride London, Vélo South
It will be tough fitting life around cycling, starting with the Evans Cycles Windsor Sportive in April, 75 miles with around 1,000 metres of climbing. The course should offer a prelude to the Windsor Triathlon I'm doing in June.
Next up is Le Classique, on May 16, my first cycling jaunt onto the continent. With an early meeting at Dover, it takes in some coastline, quintessentially French villages, and gets you back on the ferry after 75 miles - all in a day. It's one I hope to enjoy so I'll set a manageable pace and take in the sights. After all, I'll still have Ride London and Velo South to go so I'll have to keep the legs fresh.
OISIN: Mallorca 312, Veneto Trail, Le Loop
My sportive year starts with a return to the Mallorca 312 at the end of April. I rode it in 2016, so I know what I'm in for: a stunning first half in the Tramuntana mountains, followed by a frantic 100-mile race to stay ahead of the back-markers. I'll be trying to beat my previous time, but I'll hopefully still have a few minutes spare for a beer in Arta at the 270km mark...
>>> Read Oisin's report on riding Mallorca 312 >>>
In June it's something completely new: I'm off to Italy for the Veneto Trail, an unsupported gravel/cross/MTB ride over what looks like a beautiful route skirting the Dolomites. This is a complete step (or, more likely, pratfall) into the unknown for me - total experience on knobbly tyres to date, less than 500km.
Thankfully I'll be chaperoned by the father of an Italian friend, an experienced mountain biker and veteran of the Tuscany Trail. My 'cross bike is primed to go, but I've set his expectations suitably low by sending him a picture of a time trial bike and asking if that'll do... Still, something tells me the last laugh may yet be on me.
Finally in July is the pinnacle of the year: three days pretending to be Pantani on Le Loop. If you haven't come across Le Loop, they offer the chance to take on the entire route of the Tour de France each year - either the full three weeks, or shorter loops of 2-10 stages.
I'll be tackling Loop 5, The Alpine Triple, with three mountain stages including the course of this year's Etape du Tour.
I can't wait to get started.
DAVE: Wales in a Day, Dragon Ride, Struggle Dales & Moors
A new year brings a new bucket list and sitting firmly at the top of that list is Wales in a Day. Scheduled for the end of July, it's a gruelling 185 miler from Caernarfon on the north coast to Chepstow in the south. The event's title is very apt, it's not Wales in a few hours or even several hours, it's a day... a whole day. I can't get my head around how daunting this is... I need a distraction.
Some may consider the Fred Whitton Challenge in the Lake District to be the hardest sportive in the UK, with brutal climb after brutal climb, culminating in the ascent up Hardknott Pass some 90 miles into the route. Others may opt for the Dragon Ride over the Brecon Beacons, taking in the mighty Bwlch and Rhigos mountain roads. While some may vote for either of the Yorkshire Struggle events, the Dales or the Moors, which both offer a day of brutal climbing set to bewitching backdrops.
Completing one of these would be tough, conquering two would be challenging, but all four... that is definitely a distraction. Now, what was that event at the end of July again?
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