Tuesday 19 May 2015

Only 38 days to go until we roll out of Utrecht...Gulp!!

Firstly, a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far, your generosity has taken the total raised so far in excess of £1800, and heading towards my target of £2500.

So, what have I been up to since my last blog? Well, those of you who know me, will be aware that I've spent most of it training! I'm now up to a total distance of 1783miles for the year so far, and over 78000ft of climbing (heading towards 3 times the height of Mount Everest).... that's the good news!

The bad news for me is that during the event I will be riding over 2100 Miles in 3 weeks, or 3340km if you like your stats in Metric...Note to self: I really must start using KMs - it sounds further! and by the time I roll into Paris, I will have climbed the equivalent of Scafell Pike, Snowdon, Ben Nevis, Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest...Sacre Bleu!
My latest training event was the small matter of a Tour of the Peak District, which as you may know is known for its beautiful countryside and stunning views, although after riding 114miles up n over it on Sunday, i'd seen enough thank you!

There were 3 "named" climbs involved, the 1st was Winnats Pass, a steep climb of about a mile with sections of over 20% - a few expletives were uttered going up that one I can tell you!
                         View from the top of Holme Moss...bleak!

The 2nd one was Holme Moss, not as steep, but a longer drag of about 3miles and into a strong headwind (not a cyclists favourite!). The headwind made everything seem much harder, and everyone was trying to find cover behind someone bigger than them to keep out of the wind, which meant I was very popular, and had plenty of people sheltering behind me!
As I was cursing the fact that I didn't have anyone to hide behind another rider pulled alongside me, also cursing that he was having to ride into the wind. As I looked across I could see he was bigger than me and made his bike look like he was riding a kids toy, I was about to take shelter behind him then thought better of it cos he was in a bad mood - it was Martin Johnson the former World Cup winning England Rugby captain (all 6ft 8in of him, and still built like a brick sh*thouse !) after sharing our thoughts about the hangers on behind us "Johnno" as I now know him, disappeared backwards as we headed further uphill

Not someone to be messed with!

The final named climb (there were plenty of others that I had unofficially named, but probably best that I don't say what I called them on this blog..ha ha) was The Cat n Fiddle, an easier climb despite having 92miles already in my legs - the pub at the top was very tempting to stop and *ahem* "replenish lost fluids" but I resisted and headed for the finish. Just over 7.5 hours in the saddle averaging only 15mph, and over 12000ft of climbing...a brutal day out on the bike, but gave me a good reminder of what to expect when I get to the Pyrenees and Alps!

If you would still like to donate to the charity but haven't yet had the opportunity, please click on the attached link
www.bmycharity.com/wickstdf2015