Saturday 22 May 2010

Big Red Ride

I realise that I’ve not been blogging on here recently but nothing of much interest has happened. I am still cycling and my bike has now done more than 2200 miles. This week I started cycling again after 3 weeks off because of a cold. My legs felt really strong when I got back on the bike and my average speeds on the way in were 13.9, 14.4 and 14.9 MPH which I’m really pleased with. I am for 15 but rarely get very close.

Anyway, on twitter the other day I saw a link to the Red Cross’ Big Red Ride… and I signed up – for the long one.

So I have agreed to cycle 80 miles from London to Eastbourne at the end of July! This is quite a scary prospect as the furthest I have ever ridden in on go in the past is about 14 miles.

I am not too concerned about my legs, I think they are pretty strong and I hope they will last ok. Riding in the country will be a lot easier than commuting where I have to stop for traffic lights so frequently.
What I am concerned about is getting saddle sore sitting on the saddle for that long and I am concerned about hills which I have never been too good at.

For training I am going to ride a different route to work that has some steeper hills. I am also going to try to loose a good bit of weight. I do this better when I have a target (I might even bore you with some graphs if I get round to doing them).

I have also booked a couple of cycle events organised by Evans Cycles. The first one is only 12 miles but is hilly. The second is less hilly and is 60 miles – close to the distance for the charity run.

How can you help? Well I’m doing this for charity so of course you can help by donating! If people sponsor me then I am going to be far less inclined to give up half way. Please give as much as you can using the widget below or by visiting my just giving page.