{"id":31238,"date":"2024-12-31T12:23:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T10:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/?page_id=31238"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:03:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:03:32","slug":"highlights-2024","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/summary-2\/highlights-2020-2024\/highlights-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlights 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Not a bad year. I did fewer races than normal and almost no ski touring. Still I fitted in another Giro Sardinia and we had another nice sea kayaking trip in Sweden in autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\"><ul class=\"wp-block-post-template is-layout-flow wp-block-post-template-is-layout-flow\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-30795 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-cycle-touring category-cycling category-kayaking tag-highlight tag-highlight2024 entry has-media\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/11\/japan24\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" src=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Japan24\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/2-Lots-of-red-gates-Japan-2024-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/11\/japan24\/\" target=\"_self\" >Japan24<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Friday 25th October 2024 With not even an hour of sleep I arrived at Narita airport to the North East of Tokyo. Things seemed to go quite smoothly. I managed to book a train for the morning, inquired about potentially leaving luggage and at 4pm I was unpacking my bike that had survived the flight&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-30785 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-austria category-climbing category-cycling category-gravel-biking category-via-ferrata tag-highlight2024 entry has-media\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/10\/autumn-adventures-sept-2024\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" src=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Autumn adventures Sept 2024\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Cycling-in-snow-Autumn-adventures-Dachstein-Sept-2024-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/10\/autumn-adventures-sept-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Autumn adventures Sept 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">I took the train to Munich on a Wednesday evening and on Thursday Johannes and I set off for the Dachstein mountains in Austria. We had booked an apartment in the wops and were planning to do some gravel biking. Initially our plans had been to ride the Tour de K\u00e4rnten Gravel but it got&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-30775 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-kayaking category-sweden tag-highlight2024 entry has-media\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/09\/sea-kayaking-sweden-august-2024\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" src=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Sea kayaking Sweden August 2024\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/nggallery_import\/Stars-in-the-sky-with-the-glow-from-sunset-Seakayaking-Sweden-August-2024-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/09\/sea-kayaking-sweden-august-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Sea kayaking Sweden August 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Another sea kayaking trip to Sweden! Tuesday I took the early train to the airport from Johannes\u2019s flat in Munich, where I\u2019d been staying and flew to Gothenburg arriving a few minutes before Ari. We took the bus into the centre and found our way to the rental car depot by the use of unpaid&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-30764 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-canyoning category-climbing category-italy category-switzerland category-via-ferrata tag-highlight2024 entry has-media\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/08\/summer-road-trip-aug-2024\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" src=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Summer road trip Aug 2024\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nggallery_import\/A-very-Swiss-view-Summer-road-trip-August-2024-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/08\/summer-road-trip-aug-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Summer road trip Aug 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">It was time for a summer road trip and Ari and I rented a car and headed South to the expensive lands of the Swiss. &nbsp; Thursday We drove to Ticino where they\u2019d accidentally left the heating on. We camped near the river not too far from Ponte Brolla in a camping ground I\u2019ve stayed&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-29810 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-cycle-touring category-cycling category-new-zealand tag-highlight tag-highlight2024 entry has-media\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/02\/bikepacking-poulter-2024\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1551\" src=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Bikepacking Poulter 2024\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-800x485.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-2048x1240.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-150x91.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-768x465.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/nggallery_import\/Simon-and-Katie-on-bikes-Bikepacking-Poulter-Jan-2024-1536x930.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/2024\/02\/bikepacking-poulter-2024\/\" target=\"_self\" >Bikepacking Poulter 2024<\/a><\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">For something different, Simon, Katie and I planned a bike packing trip. I had an abundance of bike packing gear lying around from previous trips and over zealous purchasing from Ali Express. Katie borrowed a little more gear for herself and between us we kitted out three bikes for a short trip up the Poulter&hellip; <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not a bad year. I did fewer races than normal and almost no ski touring. Still I fitted in another Giro Sardinia and we had another nice sea kayaking trip in Sweden in autumn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31385,"parent":31242,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":7484,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31238","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31238"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31869,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31238\/revisions\/31869"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}