67 miserable miles

I managed 67 miles today and I can honestly say it was my worst ride so far! It was ridiculously windy the whole way there and back (how is that even possible) which made every single mile so much harder. The hills seemed to be bigger, and longer and I didn't have any motivation at all!

I would obviously rather ride with people, but training on my own hasn't really bothered me that much before. Today was different though. I started to feel it from about mile 20 and just didn't feel like I could go on. I started to think about how hard training alone was and how it was so difficult to motivate myself. I almost turned back at 23, 27 and 29 but decided to carry on, hoping that I would get a second wind.  I started to at around 30 miles, struggling up a hill, thinking about how good the training will doin preparing me for the actual ride.

Then at mile 33, I had just been speeding down a hill and stopped for traffic at the bottom (luckily) when my pedal fell off! The whole arm came away and fell into the road...giving me quite a fright! I don't think you need to refer to any previous posts to understand how far outside of my technically ability a broken pedal falls. I phoned Ads who (luckily) lives about 5 minutes away from where I had stopped but there was no answer so I left a desperate message and then phoned my brother. He would have happily got me but luckily for me, Ads was home and came to collect me.

Her boyfriend, Pete, was able to fix the pedal for me. They have been building a project bike and so happened to have the right spares and tools to help me out. I sat and had a cup of a tea and a good whinge and tried to re-motivate myself (not that I was particularly motivated to begin with). However, I decided to call it a day, as the gods just seemed to be against me having a good cycling day. I then spent a further half an hour deciding if I was going to ride home or get the train. I really wanted to get the train as I didn't feel like I had the energy to make it home, with the first 33 miles being such an almighty struggle. However, I know that I would have been so mad at myself for days if I hadn't even tried so I got back on my bike.

The way home was even harder than the way out as I was tired, had no motivation and was half expecting to lose my pedal again on the way back. I made it home but it seemed to take forever and I was really disappointed that I hadn't been able to make my mileage (AGAIN!). However, now that I'm home and I've had a long soak and a cup of tea, I've realised that some days are going to be really hard and just because today was, it doesn't mean I won't be able to make Paris, or that I'm not fit enough...it was just an off day and next weekend I am going to smash the 100!

16 miles...just stretching my legs

I did a little 16 mile ride today with my friend April, who has just signed up to do a week long cycling trip in Brittany with school. She, like me prior to my training, has only ridden a bike twice in the last 2 years and both were on school trips. We did a 2 (or maybe even less) mile mountain bike ride on the Moors last summer with a group of 11/12 year olds on school camps and we were both absolutely ruined afterwards. Out of breath all the way round and sore bums for a week afterwards!

She has decided that she had better do a little bit of training (if only to save face in front of her students) so after months of me pestering, finally gave in and came out for a ride with me.  It was nice to go at a steady (okay, pretty slow) pace and actually have a leisurely ride, rather than worrying about distance/speed/time etc like normal.

We did a route that I started off on early in my training and am proud to say that while it was horrendously hard a few months ago, was actually very easy today. It was a hilly route but didn't seem anywhere near as bad this time around. The sun was shining too, which always makes everything seem a lot better.

Although we only did a short distance today, my legs felt fine and the bike was still comfortable despite riding 2 consecutive days. I feel like I'm really starting to get into good stead for Paris

Stok Gabriel - Tea stop at the River Shack

87 miles...

I was, again, determined today that I absolutely was going to make the 100 mile mark today...but alas, I did not. :-(

I am quite disappointed as now I still can't 100% say that I am ready for the trip or that every day is achievable for me, as I have so far been unable to achieve the 100 miles.

I cycled from home to the double lock in Exeter and then back again, which is no mean feat and is definitely still an impressive ride. I think last week, I took a few wrong turns and managed to clock up a bit of extra mileage without realising I has done so. Therefore, this week I got closer to Exeter in less miles than last week (something which massively confused me until I just realised how I had managed it) so by the time I got to the double lock I was on 42 miles (as opposed to the 50 something I had expected).

I considered continuing to Exmouth but I don't really know the way and didn't want to get lost and have to call someone to come and get me. So, I stopped for a brief rest and a cup of tea and then headed home. I did think that I would be able to get the extra 16 miles in somewhere on the way home, and although I did put a few loops in on my way back, I only managed to add an extra 3 miles (although it seemed waaaaay further at the time)

I'm still disappointed that I didn't make the 100...but on the plus side, I absolutely owned the hill up to Longdown (got up in one go as opposed to three last weekend!)

My legs are sore after the distance but not as bad as I had expected and hopefully they will be okay tomorrow...

50 miles...

I manged 50 miles yesterday...the sun and hills did not make it very easy though! It's also less miles than last weekend, but I thought Dartmoor was actually a lot further away from my house than it actually is.

Everyone on the facebook group (especially those who made the meeting last weekend) has been writing about hills and thought I'd better get some hills specific training in. Obviosuly, living in Devon, my rides are usually pretty hilly anyway but today was extreme.

I got dropped at Trago Mills and cycled to Bovey Tracey and then went up on to Dartmoor. As many millions times as I have been up on the Moors, I still  somehow managed to forget that the initial climb up on to the moors was more of a cliff face than a hill (only mild exaggeration here - it was ridiculous!) and it went on for 5 long, miserable miles!

When I eventually made it (after several stops and two shameful stints of pushing the bike) I cycled towards Wuidecombe, down to Manaton and Becky Falls (where I was going to stop for a while but didn't realise it's actually £7.25 to look at the falls so that idea was shortlived!). I did a 25 or so mile circuit on the Moors and then headed home. I had a great time flying down the 5 mile hill on the way home, making teh struggle up it totally worth it. 

One thing that did put a slightly negative tinge on the day was almost getting knocked over by some idiot teenage boys. I don't know what it is about sunny weather that makes most drivers seem to completely forget how to drive! I was charging along a main road and they were waiting to pull out of the side road. They clocked me and pulled out right as I got to their road. If I hadn't braked in time I definitely would have gone into/over them. They were all laughing so had obviously done it on purpose.

Luckily, I was able to write down their number plate and reported it to the police as dangerous driving. They got hold of me today and said they had tracked down the driver and given him some advice on his driving and a warning that any future incidents would be dealt with more seriously. I was fuming at the time it happened but am glad that the police took it seriously and the driver got a talking to.

I have read a few articles lately about supposed "Lycra Louts" and the idea seems completely obsurd to me. To me, the definition of a "Lout" would be the kind of person who pulls out in front of an oncoming cyclist. While the "loutish" behaviour of cyclist is often taking up too much space in the road, or making you wait a few minutes until you can pass. A useful tip for drivers who feel this way is that we are probably in the middle of the road so that you do not try and overtake us on blind corners or at traffic islands or any other place in the road where there is definitely not enough room for a car to pass us without knocking us over.

Anyway, rant over. The majority of the time I am out on my bike, I co-exist with drivers very peacefully. One good thing that has come to me recently, perhaps brought with the good weather, is that I now see cycling as much more of an enjoyable activity rather than a chore. I now WANT to gt up at 6am on a Saturday morning and get out for a day's ride as opposed to HAVE to (well, I definitely still have to, but you know what I mean). I feel I may be fast becoming a cyclist, as opposed to someone who just rides a bike.

65 miles...

I managed 65 miles today and am extra pleased with myself as the training goal for today was 50 miles.

I went out with a friend from work and it made such a huge difference to ride with someone rather than by myself. He set the pace and I was happy to keep up. He rides a lot faster than I do but I think that's good as I was pushing myself, whereas normally I would dawdle.

It was also nice to take in a completely different route than I have been used to. I've found that to be one of the most difficult things about training so far. I will pick a place to ride to that I think is pretty far away but when I get there I'll realise it's not that far and I still have mileage to make up. I also find that I have been doing the same routes, or slight variations of, for the past few weeks which is getting a bit tired. 

I did fairly well timewise, doing it in about 6 hours with 3 stops (one fairly long one towards the end to re-fuel physically and mentally). Towards the end of the ride I definitely lost the will a little bit which is where I think riding in a group will definitely come in handy on the actual ride.

Having got a fairly big ride under my belt now, I feel a lot more confident about achieving the 95.

26 miles...

I have had a lot more time this week as it is the school holiday's and I am working half days so decided to make use of a bit of extra time by getting out on my bike more.

Typical of my luck, I managed to pick the only wet day of this week for a ride. It looked like it was going to be okay and that the rain might hold off...until the very second that I got out of my car and the heavens seemed to open!

I knew it was going to rain but the timing of the downpour still seemed a little unfortunate. I did sit in the car for a good 10 minutes debating whether or not to go out in the rain but ultimately decided that I will be cycling to Paris in June, rain or shine, so might as well make the most of training time.

I was planning (somewhat optimistically) to ride the cycle path from Exeter to Dawlish and back (13 miles each way) twice, but by the time I got back to my car after the first 26 miles, I decided I was too cold and wet and miserable to carry on. I don't think I have every been so thoroughly soaked before! I did have the foresight to bring a change of clothes - ie, Jumper and joggers...but no spare pants, socks, or trainers so had to put dry trousers over soaking wet pants and sock-less feet into squelchy horrible trainers!

Oddly though, it always feels like you've worked harder when you've been out in the rain. Something about being that miserable makes me feel like I've really worked hard. :-)

Sun shine = Generous shoppers

I had another bag packing today with a local guide group. They are fund raising for a trip to the World Guide Centre in India so we agreed to split the money raised.

The last bag pack made £316, but it was at a much bigger store and was on a Saturday so I was expecting to make a lot less this time. However, the very generous shoppers at Sainsbury's proved me wrong on that one! We made £592 in total! I counted the money, and then counted it again, and then once more to be sure. I could not, and still cannot, believe how amazingly generous people are!

Adding the £296 to my total brought me over the £2,000 mark, which is very very exciting.

Yesterday's hard training sessions left me on a bit of a downer but this has definitely cheered me up!

50 Miles...

I did 50 miles this weekend and it seemed like a long hard slog compared to the previous 40. I got to 30 and didn't think that I was going to be able to make it another mile, let alone another 20! I did finish the full 50 but it was slow and gruelling and seemed to take forever.

I think that perhaps having the weekend off last weekend (due to Mother's Day and other commitments) did me a lot more harm than good. I'm not sure why I was so tired, perhaps a virus or a touch of cold coming but it definitely made me a bit worried about what is to come if 50 was a struggle...

40 miles...

I woke up this morning full of energy so managed to get out an about on my bike by just after 6.30am.

I did 40 miles and was home by 10.30am. I seem to be averaging about 10mph at a comfortable and sustainable pace. Thinking in terms of 40 miles being almost half way through the first day, I think my pace is about right. Also, thinkling about that makes a 95 mile day seem much (well, slightly) less terrifying!

My chain feel off a few times which was a bit annoying as I kept having to stop but other than that it was a really good ride. i feel a lot more confident about road riding now, as a lot of this was through town.

A few things I have learnt over the past few weeks:
Sneaky hills: Even if it seems flat in the car, it can still be a horrible hill when cycling.
Distance: Places seem to be a whole lot closer when you have got a high mileage count to reach (I arrived at a destination, via the long route, very disappointed to find I'd only done 12 miles!)

Would you like a hand with your bags, Sir?

We managed to raise a total of £316 from the very generous shoppers at Tesco on yesterday.

A group of Young Volunteers from the Lighthouse Music Hub very kindly gave up their sunny Saturday to help out with some fund raising.

The Lighthouse is the Bay’s (and the South West’s) only young people’s music hub, run by the Devon Music Collective - a not-for-profit community organisation, set up in 2009 to provide opportunities for local people to make and experience music in all its forms.

The backbone of the project is their Rock School; from 4pm to 6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they run an after school drop-in for 14 to 18 year olds to learn new instruments, jam with friends and try their hand’s at song writing.

The Lighthouse is currently looking to expand what they offer to the rest of the community. If you need a place to hold musical events, or an idea for a project involving local people in music and the arts, they would love to hear from you. They would also like to get more people with different skills and backgrounds involved in the project, whether as a volunteer or by joining the Board of Trustees.

Ready for the assault on Tesco next weekend...

35 miles...

I've had a mega busy week at work so have not made it to spinning/swimming/the gym or even out for a run this week. I thought I'd better step up my ride at the weekend to make up for it.

I went to a gig on Friday night and got home at about 2am, so despite my best intentions to get up and out on my bike at 8am...it was closer to 11.30 by the time I actually made it out.

The weather was cold (so cold) but sunny so I was happy. The 35 took me 4 1/2 hours which is twice the time 26 took and not a huge increase in miles. However, the 26 was flat all the way...the 35 was not! Living in Devon, I am used to hills but until I started cycling I hadn't realised just how many hills there are!

I am proud to say that I only got off and pushed my bike up a hill once (well, technically twice but once was by order of a sign so I'm choosing not to count it) and it was an ALMIGHTY hill that seemed to go on forever...I think I was climbing for about 45 minutes so I am not even ashamed that it defeated me.

This was the first big run on the new bike and it was amazing! So happy with it!

The (not so) long road home

I work about 4 miles away from home and have been saying for the last 6 months that I was going to start cycling the journey rather than driving. However, the excuses have been vast as to why I haven't up to now. I say excuses, they were all genuine reasons at the time ;-)

"I'll start when I get a new bike" - Good enough, but when I got the new mountain bike it was still freezing cold and raining.
"I'll go on days when I finish early so it's not dark out"  - If I've finished work early, I usually have 500 things to do so a car comes in handy
"I'll go on dry days" - Dry days are usually cold days!

You get the picture. Since I now have a shiney new road bike at my disposal, the excuses are not really cutting it. Since I didn't get out at the weekend I a) felt guilty and b) had yet to road test the bike!

If I new on Sunday what I know now I'd have been out like a shot. Road bikes are amazing! The ride home was not far at all (although it still took me 40 minutes as I took the wrong cycle path and ended up waaaay out) so wasn't too taxing but I felt like I floated all the way home. Minimal effort for better speed, time and ease than the mountain bike.

I can't wait to get out on it for a big run at the weekend - not even weather permitting this time!

Rain rain, go away!

I am a little bit ashamed to say that I did not get out on my bike this weekend. 7am was not happening at all when my alarm went off. When I woke up the second time, the rain did a fairly swift job of removing my last remaining dreg of motivation.

 

I did, however, get a little bit of shopping done at the weekend. I now have a very comfy gel seat, some very bright jerseys and, probably best of all, a new shiney bike computer! Well, okay it's not shiney but it is new and very very cool. No longer will I have to resort to mapping my routes online when I return from a ride. 

Training schedule

When I signed up for the bike ride, I downloaded all the forms and filed them in my 'London to Paris' folder. The training schedule went along with these forms and that's pretty much where it stayed until February 6th. I knew that training would have to start on the 7th as it's a 17 week programme.

The basic layout is 3-4 sessions a week, with one being a big cycle. The sessions increase in time/intensity/distance as the weeks go on.

I am now coming to the end of week 3 and it is all going well so far. The workout schedule is pretty easy going as it's designed to gently introduce you to regular exercise. Since I've been getting out on my bike and going to the gym for the last 6 months, the tasks are still fairly simple.

I was well aware of the physical demands of the schedule before I started and so they haven't caused me any particular distress (except maybe week 13 onwards 60/75 mile cycles) but the one thing I hadn't really factored in is time. I'm generally a fairly busy person but with work, fundraising and training I think I am going to struggle to have time to do it all. I've started to have to schedule in my sessions a week or more in advance so that I can allocate enough time for them.

I knew when I signed up for this that it was going to take up a lot of time but I think I have now had to resign myself to the fact that 'London to Paris' is my life until June 5th.

Mixing it up

Up until this week, my training has pretty much consisted of going to the gym in the week and big cycling at the weekends. Although I am only in week 3, that has started to get pretty boring so I decided to try a few new things to keep it interesting.

Zumba.
For those of you that don't know, Zumba is " an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party" (according to google anyway). I would say it's a bit like aerobics and salsa combined. I went along to the session with a few ladies from work on Tuesday night. It was definitely interesting! I was worried initially that the fact that I have absolutely no rhythm or coordination might hinder me but was told that this wouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't, to an extent, in that no one laughed at me getting the steps wrong, moving the wrong way (and several beats out of time) or flailing my arms around wildy. However, I think it created overall problems in what I was able to get from the workout. I spent a lot of time concentrating on trying to get the steps right and so subsequently did not end up working as hard as everyone else. At the end of the workout I didn't feel like I had done much at all so thing that perhaps Zumba is not for me.

Spinning
Spinning is "a type of aerobic exercise, done by cycling indoors on a stationary "spinning" bicycle". It differs from using the normal bikes in the gym because it is a much more intense workout. I know quite a lot of people who swear by spinning so have been meaning to check it out. Again, I was nervous about how hard it would be, would I be slower/less fit than everyone else there. Everything I knew about spinning prior to attending the class was learned from American TV programmes (which, I think you'll agree, is usually an accurate description of real life) so I was expecting a class of stick thin middle aged women. There was a mix of ages, gender, fitness levels in the class so I was happy. I was also happy that it was really really hard! Which may sound a bit sadistic but I definitely like know that something's working properly. I usually gauge how hard I've worked by how sore I am the next day and I think it's pretty safe to say I worked incredibly hard! So, time permitting, I am planning to sub spinning in as one of my weekly sessions.

26 miles...but faster this time!

This week I did the same route as last weekend but in reverse (Dawlish to Exeter and back). I went with my friend Dan, who teaches PE and coaches football, and does not know the word 'slack' or 'rest'  - which proved a very good motvational tool.

As I was doing the same route as before, I decided it would be a good idea to time it so that I can get a good idea of my average mph and get an idea of what pace I will need to be setting for myself on the actual cycle to Paris.

Not including a break for some lunch, it took 2 hours and 20 minutes, which I think is more than reasonable. I did it on the mountain bike too as I don't have the equipment for spares/repairs on the road bike and didn't want to risk getting a puncture/flat tyre and not being able to fix it (26 miles is a long way to cycle but even longer to walk while pushing/carrying a bike!). With that in mind, I can safely assume that I will be able to go further/faster on a road bike with the same level of effort.

One of the great things about doing this is how good it has been at motivating other people. A lot of my friends and family have been keen to get out their old bikes and dust them off ready to come out for the day with me.

The Evolution of Bike

As I may have mentioned once or twice before, I am in no way a keen cyclist and know next to nothing (if not actual nothing) about it. Prior to taking on this challenge, it had probably been about 10 years since the last time I have owned a bike. For this reason, I definitely underestimated how difficult this challenge would be. Not just in terms of the physical but also in terms of having to learn so much about bikes and cycling.

The main and most important aspect of the whole ride is having the right bike. However, a few months ago 'a bike' was pretty much that category covered as far as I was concerned. I realised that the bike I started with would not be suitable for the ride but I didn't really have any idea what would be.

Bad....

Luckily for me, I know a lot of people who know what's what about bikes who have been amazing at giving me advice and tips. Now, when asked about tyre leavers, schrader valves, cassettes etc I can actually answer rather than just stare blankly (in a mild panic that I've never even heard these words before). I am now able to repair punctures and change an inner tube by myself - I realise that this doesn't sound like the most impressive thing ever done but it is still a great feeling to know that you can fix your own bike (please see 'a cautionary tale' if you still fail to see the relevance).

Better...

A friend at work saw a picture of my new mountain bike and quickly realised how hard it would be to complete this challenge on it. Worrying about my choice of bike, he custom built me a hybrid road bike from an old frame and parts he had lying around in the attic. (I will make clear that he is a keen cyclist/enthusiast and owns several bikes - one friend commented that she was imagining a bike built out of old rocking chairs and other things you might find in the attic!)

Best...

So, I now have another new bike (although only on loan) to train and complete the ride on. I also have an expert on hand to advise me on kit lists, clothing, bike repairs etc. I feel like everything is coming together now to make this a really enjoyable experience.

Sugar and spice, and all things nice...

I spent a good 4-5 hours baking and decorating cakes when I got back from cycling yesterday. My lovely friend Tara and her mum also donated a vast portion of their weekend to baking for me. See below the finished result...Cake, anyone?

Fingers crossed people will be wanting a nice sugary kick start to their week tomorrow...

UPDATE: In total, the cake sales managed to raise £80.88!!n :-)

26 miles...

I went out with Adelaide and Pete this weekend and we managed 26 miles. We took the cycle path along the canal from Exeter to Dawlish and back again. I don't know if it was having a new bike, or the ride being flat or just being generally a bit fitter (or probably a combination of all three) but 26 miles this weekend seemed a lot easier than 19 two weeks ago.

I've started to really panic a bit about what this cycle actually means. I think before it was just something that I was saying I was doing, without really thinking too much about it. Now training's started it's all very real and I've realised just what a mission it's going to be.

However, I am very lucky that I have a lot of good people who are happy to come out on rides with me, give me pep talks, assist with fundraising etc...and probably most importantly - educate me about bikes and cycling!