So, although what I kind of want to do is stick my fingers in my ears and sing "la la la" very loudly (!), instead I've been trying to stick really hard to my training plan. I'm trying to get on my bike 4 times a week: -
- cycling to work and back twice each week, once with a Box Hill loop thrown in (which makes it just over 20 miles return);
- a spin session (usually this Global Cycling Network HIIT video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiDD_aqdnK0); and
- a long ride on the weekend (started at 30 miles and hoping to get up to 75/80 miles before the race).
When I first decided on this plan (not my own, stolen with pride of course - see here if you're interested: https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle/training-100-mile-ride), the bit that really scared me was the long rides - I don't really like doing a route I don't know by myself. And how do you find the right length of routes? So I decided to start cycling with a club and emailed Epsom Cycling Club to see if I could go out with them. They were super welcoming but I still felt like a very nervous 11 year old going in for my first day of school on the morning of my first ride with them. I REALLY didn't want to go. Felt sick and panicky. Not helped, when I arrived at the meet point, by the fact that they were all in matching cycle jerseys on bikes that looked way better than mine, and all knew each other. I'd never cycling more than 30 miles before and they were planning on 50 miles. And they were bound to be faster than me. But I forced myself to go up and say hello and start chatting and everyone was so friendly and lovely. Admittedly I was the only girl in a group of 14, but they made me feel super welcome all the same - loads of them came to ride alongside me and chat and, by the end of, I was raving to Nick about how awesome going out with a Club was!
I've ridden with them a couple of times and its been fantastic. I don't have to plan a route - just turn up and cycle. The time goes much faster when you're in a group as well. My favourite character from the club, I have to admit, is Brian. Brian is 74 and has been cycling for about 70 of those years. He organises most of the rides, both the long rides and the time trials. From what I could see, Brian knows the roads around Surrey and the neighbouring counties in about the same way as a black cab driver knows the London roads. And which cafes do the best cakes. Brian always drops to the back and makes sure that no-one gets left. He checked in on me a few times in my first ride to see how I was doing. And he cycles 40/50/60 miles each weekend with a group of people about 30 years younger than him. I love Brian. He doesn't worry about being the fastest in the group or doing the longest distance - just enjoys getting out in the gorgeous countryside around here, with a group of lovely people, and rides at his own pace.
I've ridden with them a couple of times and its been fantastic. I don't have to plan a route - just turn up and cycle. The time goes much faster when you're in a group as well. My favourite character from the club, I have to admit, is Brian. Brian is 74 and has been cycling for about 70 of those years. He organises most of the rides, both the long rides and the time trials. From what I could see, Brian knows the roads around Surrey and the neighbouring counties in about the same way as a black cab driver knows the London roads. And which cafes do the best cakes. Brian always drops to the back and makes sure that no-one gets left. He checked in on me a few times in my first ride to see how I was doing. And he cycles 40/50/60 miles each weekend with a group of people about 30 years younger than him. I love Brian. He doesn't worry about being the fastest in the group or doing the longest distance - just enjoys getting out in the gorgeous countryside around here, with a group of lovely people, and rides at his own pace.
So when I started panicking a couple of weeks ago about how unprepared I felt and how much faster than me most people I talked to about RideLondon seemed to be planning to ride, I tried to think more like Brian and just focus on enjoying it and getting to the end in my own time (which I still think is going to be about 7 hrs 15 mins). I did a 65 mile ride by myself that weekend and actually really enjoyed it (well, most of it - it was very, very hot!) I didn't panic once.
So I've been trying to be more like Brian ... keep plodding through the harder bits of the training and enjoy the long rides in the knowledge that it will make the race a lot easier (and hopefully faster). Having said which, I decided to go cycling with the RAC Club this weekend and was again, really quite terrified by the thought of cycling with a load of very fast and, I suspected, pretty competitive men. Turns out, they're all just as friendly and welcoming as Epsom Cycling Club. I was still the only girl though ...
So I've been trying to be more like Brian ... keep plodding through the harder bits of the training and enjoy the long rides in the knowledge that it will make the race a lot easier (and hopefully faster). Having said which, I decided to go cycling with the RAC Club this weekend and was again, really quite terrified by the thought of cycling with a load of very fast and, I suspected, pretty competitive men. Turns out, they're all just as friendly and welcoming as Epsom Cycling Club. I was still the only girl though ...
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