So how did that happen? The Prudential London-Surrey100 bike ride was a long-term goal, something away in the distance to aim for. And now it’s only a week away! That is scarily close. And I feel scarily unprepared!
This last week has been about preparing myself more mentally than physically. This wasn’t the week for big long testing rides, but for getting the miles in to my legs gently. Or, at least, that was the theory! As my training partner and I have been telling each other, the recommended ‘taper down’ of training rather supposes having reached a crescendo of training effort that has rather eluded us! Still, this was not the week to try to catch up on lost time.
Over the last week, however, I have managed four medium-length rides and notched up over 100 miles. The first was a ride home from Mosaic’s Old Street offices, through the joy of London traffic. Whilst I ride in town most days on my commuter bike, riding on my road bike in London is incredibly frustrating; it’s just stop-start for the first 12 miles at a very slow place (typically, 12 miles in the first hour, followed by a further 11 miles in 40 minutes once I get the other side of Croydon…). But a good 24 miles put in and at an okay pace.
Later in the week, my training partner and I did a ride in to London at the start of day and then a ride home at the end. Thanks to the diversion of two grown men having a scrap in the street (I blame the hot weather), we failed to take the right turn on the way back and therefore took a new route home, which turned out to be incredibly pretty in places. So, a big thanks to our street pugilists for helping us to discover a new route out of London avoiding the lovely Purley Way! The two rides added 50 miles to my weekly total.
Finally, the three of us doing the ride together reverted to an old standard circular route on Sunday morning, adding a further 30 miles to my weekly tally. It was great to be on country roads again and away from the smog and traffic. But, the promised ‘relaxed’ approach to this ride soon went out of the window, when one of my friends got ‘in the zone’ and I was left desperately trying to keep up (and, yes, failing!). I do hope he doesn’t repeat that trick on Sunday…!
So, that’s pretty much the training finished. The bike has been serviced (a painful blow to the wallet), the new shirt has arrived (fantastic!) and I have stocked up on energy bars/gels/sweets/drinks (yuk!). Other than a few gentle rides during the week, some early nights and lots of wholemeal pasta, there’s not much left but to do before the big ride. My only remaining challenge is to overcome my abhorrence of porridge. And hope beyond hope for any weather at all other than strong winds!
Wish me luck! And, if you haven’t already, do please help me to reach my £5000 fundraising target, which is now almost achieved.
Mosaic’s work encourages in children from an early age a sense of tolerance, an appreciation that, whatever your religion, people share the same fundamental desires to work hard, to achieve and to aspire. There are few better ways of demonstrating that faith exists to bring harmony rather than strife. I...