That’s how long we have to train and raise the money. Strangely raising £8000 doesn’t seem as daunting as getting fit for the ride. But that crunch will start to be felt soon enough.
Last week we drove to our preferred training spot, Draycote Water near Dunchurch. It is five miles round and is ideal for training with scenic views, a sealed road and no traffic except for the ranger or the anglers but as they are already out in the water, the anglers that is, by the time we get there, there are very few cars on the road. Much more disconcerting are the many walkers who straddle the road as they also enjoy the outdoors. We’re learning things like getting there earlier or later in the day to beat the walkers - but never the anglers, they are a breed apart. I will take some to pictures to share with you.
We have been doing ten miles each ride and last Tuesday when we went out we struck head winds. I now realise we could also strike that in Kenya but I had forgotten how hard it could be. Stretches I had been riding at around 14 miles an hour dropped to around nine to ten miles an hour and by the end of the ride I was having one of those – ‘what are you doing, you can’t do this, you didn’t think about this when you signed up did you’ conversations with myself. Thank goodness I’m a highly trained coach (tongue in cheek) as I had to quickly banish the thought or I would become dispirited too early in the game.
Julian was stronger and sailed off into the distance, not the right metaphor I know, but that’s how it looked from where I was. I noticed that when I could see him I felt like I was losing and badly but after he went out of sight I settled down to ride my own race. More and more I can see that I have to create small milestones of my own rather than compete with him.
On Saturday when we went out again, he sailed off and I was pleased to settle into my ride with a good pace and managed some of the hills (well more like small short uphill bursts) more easily getting up them in 3rd gear rather than 1st and actually enjoying putting my back into it and meeting the challenge of the hill rather than dreading I couldn't do it.
That was pleasing and I did my promised 15 miles round. Julian thought he would lap me and did 20 miles, however I was only a few minutes behind him as I had found to my amazement that I was feeling stronger at the 12 mile mark and had picked up some speed (its all relative trust me). It was a beautiful warm morning and I was lying in the long grass resting after my efforts when he arrived back, very hot and very sore and whilst pleased with his effort a little disappointed he hadn’t caught me. We're noticing we are getting quite competitive about this...
We’re training in house on the other days with a turbo trainer which provides a different kind of exercise. More about that later….
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3 comments:
Great to see the blog developing, and you haven't totally defamed me yet ;-) so when are we getting the next instalment...? Jx
Key things: make sure you have the best saddle you can get as that's your main contact with the bike. I've moved away from gel to leather (Brooks). Takes a while to break in but when it does, it's very comfortable. Also, there are saddles specifically for women. Then, seamless, and I stress seamless, cycling pants which have just the right amount of padding in the right places--different for boys and girls.
Next, it's layers: wick and wick again. No cotton and no denim otherwise you'll be wet with sweat. For this you must have man-made fibres as they really do the job. And you can add and subtract as you require. They are light too.
Fix a minimum of 2 water cages. I don't know what kind of support you get on the trip, but it might not be a bad idea to contact your local cycling group to learn a few bike maintenance skills to get you out of any tight spots, eg. broken chains, bent wheels and punctures. They would also help you set up the bike for the optimum ride. An external observer can see things you can't.
It's going to be a fantastic trip! John
This is brilliant John, thanks for your support and words of encouragement - especially wick and wick again!!
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