TRAINING CYCLE #7

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." ~ Edmund Hillary

I was grateful to have another cycling buddy today, and this time in the form of my mate Ben, who would act as my supportive wing-man. It's always nice to cycle with someone else: the trouble is usually finding someone you can chat to, who will match your pace, and who doesn't have a competitive cycle ego.

Ben is a runner, and sans bicycle, so had to arrange a hire bike from a shop on Tooley Street. Their leisurely Saturday opening hours meant us not being able to get away as early as we'd have liked, however we were on the road just before 11am. Ominous forecasts mean waterproofs packed along with various snacks and a spare inner tube, and off we went. We had no end point in mind - we decided we'd hit the Thames Valley Cycle route (no4) and simply go as far as we could.

The first few miles to get out of town are never particularly exciting. I always breathe a sigh of relief once we pass through Westminster bridge underpass and out the other side, leaving the manic crowds of tourists behind (in my head I call it "the bridge of freedom").



There are some really enjoyable stretches of this route: Battersea park being one of them. Unfortunately, getting out of London slowed us down remarkably. The stop-start of getting around both road traffic and people ate up more time than we could spare, and it wasn't until we came through Hampton that we were able to pick up a decent speed. I anticipate that on the London to Paris route there will be less of the stop-start, and I'll really be able to make some good time...

That's not to say I don't thoroughly enjoy the scenic route all the same, taking in the picture-postcard settings past Kew Gardens, and along the river near Weybridge.

The weather would change regularly from grey skies and showers to bright sunshine - often the rain would disappear after only a few minutes. Waterproofs on... then half a mile down the track we'd peel them off again! After 25 miles - and one particularly soggy downpour - we stopped for lunch, which was basically some mini scotch eggs, brazil nuts and an icecream of happiness.










Throughout the day we encountered plenty of hills, and I'm delighted to say I cycled up all of them - or rather, all but one particularly steep continuous climb which I almost made, but was forced to get off and push up the very last stretch. I felt a little bummed I didn't make it the whole way... until I saw a sign which said it was a 13% gradient road! Good effort after all, then!

Cycling in Windsor Park was particularly divine - trailing past the mighty stags in their private enclosure, and winding through forest lit by the evening sun. There was hardly anyone else around and we found plenty of delicious downhills to take in as well. We came out the far end of the park and decided to ride all the way around it again to return to the river, getting in some extra miles to boot.

This was when I suffered some problems with my gears which caused my chain to keep jumping - an incredibly annoying problem which instigated a lot of swearing and ranting from me. (Cycling with a jumping chain is about as fun as I imagine it would be to ride a bike with square wheels.) Thankfully Ben helped me tighten my gears so that I could at least make it home, but they're going to need a proper doing-over before I can get out on some more long rides. 

Ben and I rolled into Windsor town and decided, given it was already mid-evening, that it was as good a place as any to stop. We arrived just in time to roll into the train station and straight onto the cycle carriage of an awaiting train to London!

It was a very enjoyable day's training - my best day yet - and we completed 56 miles all up. However, the imperative has always been on hours in the saddle rather than miles - in this case it was almost 7 hours on the bike, which is exactly what I needed. What was really great was that I'd just hit more or less the same mileage I'd completed on my Brighton run, and yet I felt I could've kept on going. That in itself is progress indeed.


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I'm still trying to raise another £230 (or more!) for the British Red Cross, which is what all of this is in aid of. If you haven't already sponsored me and would like to, here's the link!
www.justgiving.com/claire-nelson
Alternatively, you can text BIKE95 to 70070 to make a donation.