I took part in a small charity cycle ride the weekend just gone and because I have been working 16 hour days since then I feel like I haven't even had time to appreciate my achievement. I figured I may as well share it here - then it might feel real!
I started cycling again at the start of the summer this year, after a gap of about 20 years and bought myself a Carrera Subway (thanks to some great advice from people on here). My cycling was aiming towards a 2 day charity event of approx. 120 miles. Not massive amounts compared to what some people do but a challenge for me considering my first few cycles of 4 or 5 miles were a struggle...oh and the fact I had only 3 months to train.
Due to the nature of my job I could only get out on my bike at weekends, and even then only 3 weekends in a month. I went out as much as I could and quite quickly progressed to 20 miles...and then hit a bit of a wall. Things just seemed to keep going wrong! I had mechanical issues (and not a scooby how to fix them), aborted cycles, injured animals needing rescued and perhaps most spectacularly of all, a fall in the canal! I FINALLY broke the wall and managed a 36 mile ride...the weekend before.
So not convinced I'd make it through day 1 (54 miles) I packed up my bags and travelled down to the North West of England the night before. I did manage to raise a decent amount of sponsorship which provided much needed motivation! Day one began in Morecambe and we travelled down to Blackpool and then on to Preston. It was much hillier than I usually cycle but I discovered going downhill is so much fun it almost makes up for going uphill! I did fall behind the others at times - possibly due to my chubby tyres, everyone else was on road bikes. Passing the 36 mile mark was a great feeling (thanks to my Aldi Garmin I could see it happen) and whilst I did struggle a bit from miles 45-50 it was much easier than I expected.
Day 2 obviously had the painful bum before even starting but I managed to get back on my bike and leave Preston with the others. Today's ride was off the roads so should have been the shining moment for my chubby tyred bike - except for the fact that about 20 miles were on canal path. I am quite spoiled with the canal path locally - it's mostly wide and smooth. This canal path was more like the birmingham canal that I still have nightmares about. Very narrow in places with hardly any space between you and the water and oh so bumpy. I underestimated how scared I would be and as such I spent 20 miles clinging on for dear life. I ended up so tense that I was in agony from my neck downwards. I am not too proud to admit that there were tears! My average speed along the canal was about 7 miles per hour (I usually average about 10) but I was so relieved when we came off that I sailed along at 14mph up to our next stop! We started from Preston, went down the canal to Wigan, along some more canal and then road to Southport, from there it was the Trans Pennine way to Aintree and finally Edge Lane in Liverpool. 68 miles in total (which i think is more or less a metric century?) - I still can't quite believe I did it! I struggled a lot after leaving Southport and had the Trans Pennine not been in the middle of nowhere I may have called my 'support vehicle' (aka mum) to come and get me but I am so glad I did it.
I had to travel back to Glasgow on Sunday night and was up early to go to London on Monday for work. That was tough and I did hurt but since then I've felt absolutely fine! I'm tired but not even my bum hurts. Beginning to think I dreamt the whole thing. I suppose now it's time to think "what next?!"
Two consecutive 60 mile days after only 3 months is a brilliant achievement 
