What on Earth was I thinking? I mean, I've never even sat on a road bike before let alone cycled 874 miles!
Somewhere along the line, Will and I decided it was a good idea to try and cycle from one end of the country to the other - Land’s End to John O’Groats. Sounds simple enough, give yourself long enough, time wise, and you can complete anything.
So, we do a little bit of research; most sites are saying to allow between 12-14 days, 60 miles a day. Challenging, but not impossible.
Now I'm not sure if it’s because Will and I aren't able to take that much time off work, or that we were wanting to prove a point or if was simply sheer arrogance but we've decided to do it in eight. I know... eight days. Mental.
Baring in mind, like I've stated previously, I've never, EVER used a road bike before so some serious training needs to be done. Not only do I not own a bike or any of the necessary gear at this point but, if you know me, you know I Iove my weight training and only do cardio to improve my football skills. Cardio just doesn't do it for me, plain and simple. What does do it for me is pushing myself to a point of no return, getting in, getting it done and coming out the other side victorious. So, naturally, we've go to get out on the bikes.
Training Cycle 1 Debrief: Room for Improvement
Starting point was Penshurst Place and Gardens. If you're a local, you know what's coming next. If you're not, let me clue you in on my pain: HILLS.
Our route out of Penshurst took us up Fordcombe Hill. Just over a kilometre long, 9.6% gradient and a 71m elevation gain all within 5 minutes of being on my first ever road cycle.
Forever the optimist, I was looking on the bright side: Fordcombe Hill was complete. Surely there can't be anything worse than that to come? Wrong! Our cycle took us out towards Groombridge, up a nasty hill towards Crowborough and along to our half way point in Hartfield... 28km done. Time for some food and a drink!
Once refreshed, we’re back on our way out of Hartfield (more hills, what fun...!)
After conquering the hill up past Hartfield Nurseries and avoiding some pedestrians determined to walk in front of us and cause us to crash, we had to chose a route home. Nice and flat (apart from a relatively short hill) through Ashurst, or through Cowden and past the station with two much longer hills... Obviously we chose the latter (I had no say in this whatsoever).
More hills conquered, a further 16km completed, totalling 44km in total in 2hrs and 17mins of riding time. Not a bad first effort.
All in all: didn't love it, didn't hate it. A small victory considering I've got to do this on a weekly basis for another 14 and 1/2 months before I can tick the box and say I've done it.
So what is this all in aid of?
Besides wanting to challenge myself and do something I've never done before, there is a very real reason as to why I'm taking on such a massive challenge.
Having grandparents, loved ones and close friends who have relatives suffering from dementia I knew it was a cause I wanted to support. My experience with dementia was incredibly difficult, as I'm sure it is for everyone who has loved ones who fight this horrible disease. At its worst point it's almost impossible to deal with and it takes a toll on everyone involved.
I will be cycling to raise as much money as I can for Dementia UK and I will be setting up a donation page within the next few days - if you’re feeling generous (or just feeling incredibly sorry for me!) any donation you can offer will go a long way.
Any questions? As always, please fire away!
Ryan
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