Our First 'Real' Week of Training

‘They’ say that you never forget how to ride a bike. Well, I would like to challenge that and say that this saying is incomplete and lulls you into a false sense of security. It may be true that you never forget the theory of how to ride a bike, but just because you remember how to do it, doesn’t mean that you can! I don’t think I have ridden a bike in about 15 years and the thought that I might not be able to do so, never crossed my mind!

The weather has not been our friend over the last few days – heavy rain and cold winds have not made the thought of cycling very exciting at all! However, we did manage a bit of training although this was not without its problems!

On Friday (03/10/08) when I got home from work, Penni, my dad and I went out on the bikes. (Dad has decided that he is going to come training with us and offer moral support). We went, goodness knows how far – we think it was probably about 2 miles around the ‘old harbour’, the Knap and Romily park, then up through ‘slug lane’ and home for a cup of tea and a warm before the rain started! This all sounds nice enough doesn’t it – an autumn’s evening bike ride and not a sign of the aches and pains that we had the week before when we rode our then brand new bikes home from Halfords. It’s only when you consider the fact that my chain came off the cog because I am not used to ‘Shimano’ gears, steering around winding paths is very difficult for an adult who has not sat on a bike for a very long time and remember that balancing on a two wheeled device in very narrow lanes was never easy anyway, that we start to realise just how much training we need!

Nevertheless, we were both more than pleased that we had done a reasonably long bike ride without feeling totally ‘dun-in’. That is, until the following day! On Saturdays, I like the fact that I can sleep until I wake – I imagine most people do – and after a bit of a lie in, a reasonably long bath and a trip to the supermarket (which is always the down side to the weekend in my opinion!) my mum’s invitation to join her, my dad, my granddad, sister and brother in law for lunch was very much appreciated! Well, a few too many sausages and some rather nice Mr Kipling’s are not the best things to have before going cycling! It wasn’t until we got onto the bikes that we realised the effects of the day before!

Once we got going, nearly got blown into the sea, worked out a new signal with our bells (person one ring the bell once and it means “are you OK”, person two rings back once for “yes” and twice for “no”) and again got home just as the heavens opened we again realised that we have a lot of training to do! With this in mind we have made a plan which is to do plenty of cycling between now and Saturday the 18th in readiness for our first ‘big push’ to Cosmeston Lakes. A 14 mile round trip and the start of our achievable goals on the way to Paris – I mean, if we are setting ourselves up for 270 miles and we manage 14 we only need to practice to go another 256! I have bought a computer to help us and will tell you all about it, when I have it up and running!

Till the next time!
Take great care all,
Loadsa love, Jx