Monthly Archives: August 2014

A year on my bike !!

Its been a year now since Geoff bought me my bike, he was preparing to go off on his travels and I was wondering what I would do with myself,so the bike came along to help me fill my time, little did either of us know how much it would change my life 🙂

140720_Cambridge_Sportive_1779Soon after getting my bike I joined SWNC for a club ride, which almost killed me, I still remember getting home and lying on the kitchen floor thinking I might die !! but that one ride had me hooked and I was determined to keep going and to conquer them Norfolk hills, yes there are hills in Norfolk !!

Luckily the club was very friendly ,helpful and full of encouragement even though I moaned at them sometimes when I struggled to keep up 🙁 but this just made me more determined and I pushed myself harder and harder as I loved this social group riding.

Then I discovered the Bike Sportives , the first one I did was the Wiggle No Excuses, riding with a small group and my friend Gina the atmosphere was fantastic and  I loved every second.

Needless to say I could not wait to do one of these events with Geoff and I finally managed to do the Boudicca with him after he returned from another mega trip 1484-1031-WNOEX02

So far this year I have done five Sportives and have two more booked  I have also been to Rutland twice and conquered the Rutland Alps and done four 100 mile rides. Amazingly I have also been to mallorca and loved biking up those long slow climbs.

A grand total of 3300 miles biked in one year, with my biggest climb being 1793 ft and my longest ride has been 106.

Geoff is now preparing to go off and bike down the Elbe River and although I still feel distraught when he goes away I know I wont be too lonely because I have my lovely bike, biking friends and Sunday Club rides to look forward too….. oh and I have that half Marathon to train for !!!

Circuit of the Fens Sportive

After the heat and hills of last weekends ride we were hoping for a nice contrast with this ride. and we were not disappointed.

Eight of us met up at Whitlesey for the 85 mile Circuit of the Fens Ride where the day started off cloudy and cool, and by the time 8.30 came we were raring to go !!

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It was a nice flat, well sign posted route with 2 good feed stations, the second one offered lots of savoury food too which really suited me, in fact I think I shall start to carry marmite sandwiches on these longer rides as too much cake really does not suit me !!

By mid-day it had turned hot and humid but the gentle breeze kept us cool, if it had been a Fen wind this ride could have been hard, so I think we did well with the weather.

Towards the end of the ride there was a “nice” gravel road to contend with,quite uncomfortable at our speed so I can only imagine how it felt for the elite riders doing the road race the following day.

I totally enjoyed the final stage of the ride, riding as a group along smooth roads,being pulled along by each other, something I had not done for a while and it reminded me just how much I love group riding………