30 miles…

Well, I managed 30 miles on Saturday – wohoo!! Still a long way to go but I think that is an achievement.

Sam was trying out his new bike. It’s a Carrera Vanquish though he just refers to it as his Aston Martin. Here’s a picture of him trying not to fall off it – he’s used to mountain bikes generally! Sammy on his Aston

The ride went pretty well – it was essentially the same one as last week but with an extra loop added to make it 30 miles. Despite the padded cycling shorts I was definitely aching by the end! Sadly the cable for my gear shift went half way round cutting my 18 gears to 9. Luckily it got stuck in the lower end so I could still get up the hills (after a fashion)! What is worrying me is that I only managed to average 9.4 mph which really isn’t enough for the cycle ride as I will be very much bringing up the rear. However, I do still have about 4 and a half months to work on that so hopefully it’ll steadily rise!

I definitely need to work on my hill climbing – getting up some hills without stopping would be good at this point! It’s also embarrassing when you are climbing St David’s hill in Exeter and you are going at the same speed as the pedestrians and being cheered on by the people who have just come out of the pub! 3 blokes on Saturday were yelling “Go on girl, you can take the hill!” and I wasn’t sure whether to be engcouraged or whether they were taking the mickey out of the tubby girl with the high vis jacket and the almost purple face struggling to keep up with those walking! I think for my mental sanity I will believe they are encouraging!

The thing I do need to remember when struggling up the inclines is why I am doing this ride. Having seen the poverty in Kenya and the fantastic work Christian Aid is doing there I should be using that to spur me on. After all, my life is not in any way hard compared to the people I have met so I darned well should get up that hill! I hope that isn’t too cheesy but it is true!

Lastly… here is the long awaited awful photo of me on a bike for you all to laugh at:

~ by charlottepage on February 25, 2008.