Intro

A couple of years ago, my nephew Ben was born with Cystic Fibrosis, one of the UK's most common life-threatening inherited diseases which affects over 9000 people in the UK, including five new babies every week. It affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, clogging them with thick sticky mucus which makes it hard to breathe and digest food.

To raise funds for the CF Trust, I took on the Nightrider 2012 challenge, a 100km cycle ride through London at night! and raised over £1600.


I'm now tackling the Oxford to Cambridge bike ride in September 2013, this time for the British Heart Foundation, another charity that means a lot to me.


I'd be very grateful if you would sponsor me for this challenge at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/rew. All funds raised go to charity.


Thursday, 7 June 2012

Am I ready?

Two days to go, so I'm doing final preparations and taking stock of my training.

It seems a long time since the cold wet dark nights (and frosty mornings!) of February when I decided to take on this challenge, and a lot has happened since then...
  • Total weeks since start:           16
    • Weeks lost to man-flu:  1.5
    • Weeks lost after crash:   0.5
  • Total training distance:            1,155 km (= 717 miles = a long way!)
  • Number of training rides:        42 (about 3 per week)
  • Total training time:                  52 hours
  • Shortest training ride:              8km (25 minutes, frequently in the beginning)
  • Longest training ride:              71km (3.5 hours, once!)
  • Highest speed:                         60.8 kph (downhill, = 37.7mph = scary!)
  • Average speed:                        About 23 kph, unless it's hilly or in town centres
  • Weight lost:                             8 lbs (just over half a stone, mainly when I was ill!)
  • How wet did I get?                  Very, in the wettest drought ever!
  • Money raised:                         £1,140 so far (plus gift aid for total of £1,345)
So am I ready? Well, if it was a day-time ride then I'd say yes, I'm definitely ready for it.  The 70km ride I did two weeks ago was hard work but certainly manageable and I could have done a bit more, although it helped that the weather was good.

However, it's a night-time ride and I start at 12.55am.  Getting food and energy levels right to start at that time of night when the body wants to be asleep, and then keeping those energy levels going for another five or six hours through to the next morning, adds an additional challenge into the mix.

Also, most of my training has been on country roads with little traffic, junctions or other interference.  I know it's at night, but riding through Camden or the West End at 1.30am is hardly going to be quiet so I'll have to be on the lookout for taxis, pub-goers and other general hazards/drunkards.

I've done a couple of routes through Cambridge city centre, which slowed me down more than I expected even on a Sunday morning as the stop/start nature of traffic lights, roundabouts and other junctions puts a real dent in progress on a bike.

But in conclusion, yes I'm about as ready as I'll ever be.  The training went generally according to plan, minus the illness, crash and other setbacks, and I've done the distance I was aiming for.

By the time I've finished the event, I'll have done over 1,250km in total, which is more than London to Edinburgh and back!

So, roll on Saturday night.  The weather forecast isn't good, but then much of the last few months have been atrocious anyway.  As long as the 60mph winds they're forecasting for tonight and tomorrow have abated by Saturday it can't be too bad, surely?  At least it shouldn't snow!

Wish me luck, and if you haven't sponsored me yet then please do so now:


It's all for a very worthy cause!
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