30 miles...finally

Finally hit the 30 mile mark




I think I have been working far too hard on my bike rides…so many people tell me how they did 40, 50 and even 60 miles on a Sunday. I was beginning to think that perhaps I really am quite crap at the whole cycling thing. I had misinterpreted the advice…I heard get into the big gear – you’ll go faster. However, my cadence seemed very "below average" at 60 (reminds me of school reports...Lucy is below average at...) until I did a bit more research and listened to the advice again…this time though I heard “stay in a small gear” and pedal faster! Success, hit 30 miles (although that last few, turning away from home and heading outwards took every bit of inner monologue to motivate myself), cadence raised and speed improved.


I’m on a roll now and with less than a month before the big day feel that the possibility of a 60 mile bike ride is realistic and achievable. I am slightly disappointed I haven’t managed to raise the £300 but there is a fine balance between annoying people for sponsorship and doing something for a good cause and the overall experience.

I am a saddo Garmin geek

Eeeeeek what have I done?

I thought with all my cycling that I might try a little challenge this year.  I really would like to do the Coast to Coast bike ride, but thought I better start at something shorter and more local.  So this is it, 60 miles to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, in the Vale of Belvoir (note to self must look at how hilly it is).  I've set myself the target of £300 but there is still that thing about asking people for sponsorship that makes me feel a little uncomfortable.  But just in case:

Lucy's fundraising page

So I have started this weekend in "earnest" with the training and, weather permitting (any excuse!) I plan to go out three times a week on the Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday...and where I can't go out make up for it another day.

What made me panic slightly is that as I drove to present at the ITTE Research Seminar in Cambridge last Thursday, as I hit the 60 mile mark on my milometer I thought "can I really cycle this far?"  I'm sure I will be able to make it, and are humbled by the experiences of Justin who did a mountainous 1062 miles from the South to North of France after having a heart valve fitted less than a year before (read his Blog here)...so will stop panicking and being so silly and just get on with it.

To those of you who have sponsored me, thank you so much and I won't let you down!

Overshoes!

I have to say that when I have seen cyclists in the past - their overshoes have made me chuckle a little...why on earth do people need all this equipment to go for a bike ride?  How silly I thought...until about two weeks ago when I was on my journey to Gaddesby, the sun was shining, the winter leaves falling slowly to the ground, the crisp October air being drawn into my lungs as I huffed and puffed up a hill...who needs overshoes?

Then...the sun went in.  All of a sudden I was freezing cold, and had paused for some time by the church to take some pictures and see some departed relatives.  I had noticed the quiet babble of a near by stream, but the cold air and the noise of running water had a double effect on me and I knew I had to get home quickly.  By the time I got home my feet were freezing cold and my fingers.

So off I went to purchase "overshoes" with my colleague Pete...and some gloves...and a head band that covers my ears...and a gillet that was in the sale.  Went for wind proof rather than water proof thinking that I am less likely to go out in the pouring rain.

But they do make my feet look rediculous....don't you think?

My Sunday ride

I have had such a brilliant morning, riding in the sun, and wind around small villages and country roads I didn't even know existed.  Cycling is a great way to get to know your surrounding country side.  Other cyclists past me en-route and I notice the nods and the "mornings" similar to the camaraderie found amongst motorcyclists!

My route took me 17.23 miles across Leicestershire country side.  The first village I hit was Great Glen tackling the round a bout on the A6 and heading the "other side" towards Wistow.  A beautiful winding road surrounding by fields and sheep and dotted with little bridges.  I turned towards Kibworth and stopped on the bridge to take a picture of the locks.

Through Kibworth Harcourt I took the turning by "Jack's house?" to Carlton Curlieu - a village I don't think I have ever been through despite living in the surrounding area practically all of my life.  As I cycled into the village, coveting the houses and the picturesque views, I was greeted by a very large house with the most perfect hedges...I thought about my slightly scruffy cottage garden at home, and thought they surely have a gardener!  The picture doesn't do the perfect hedges justice!

I carried on my journey towards Burton Ovary but turning off before I reached there to head towards Kings Norton.  Now I don't know much about Kings Norton but its a very small village but as you reach the brow of the hill in the distance you can see this over sized church, almost Cathedral like, poking out from the houses.  I don't know who built it - but will find a little more out about it...

From Kings Norton I took the turning to Gaulby and then home.  Still not long enough at all for my Sunday ride so need to return to the maps and plot next Sunday's route.

Todays route took me 1 hour 18 minutes with a maximum speed of 28.59 mph, and an average speed of a measly 13.2 mph...don't laugh....it was windy honest!

How it all began

My husband comes from a family of keen cyclists...he knows about bike bits, you know, seat pins and stems (it's all just words to me). He spots a bike on Ebay which is a bargain...it's been messed about a bit, the handle bars changed, and its been stored outside (we think), but still a bargain. So around the end of July this year he gets it for me.

It arrives in all its slightly rusted glory, and immediately he changes the pedals for me so I can wear my proper biking shoes - what are they called, SB something? (You can see I am really into the equipment side)...and for those of you reading this, yes, I have had the experience of first wearing them and stopping and not getting my foot out quick enough and suffering the humiliation of tumbling towards the ground, still attached to the bike.

I take my bike with me all the way down to Helston for the summer holidays. Unfortunately little riding takes place (only one day on the Camel Trail to Padstow). However, staying in a fantastic location of Lower Pentire Farm, on the side of Loe Pool. I get some fantastic walking done along the cliffs to Gunwalloe and Church Cove.

Our other discovery whilst in Helton is a shop called Cycle Logic. I purchased some hard wearing tyres and a new "girlie" saddle. I was still not happy with the handle bars not being "drop" ones though. We visited Cycle Logic so many times that the kids even designed a "theme tune" for it, and would sing it as we pulled into their car park!

After returning home my trusty mount gets taken to local shop "On Yer Bike" where it is re-built from various components my husband has found in the garage. I am now ready for the off...