The Singing Cyclist: My First 7 Day Century

Well my word, what a week, talk about high highs and low lows. So much has happened since my last post, I'm really not sure where to start........and if I tell you everything, we'll be here all week and I know you're all very busy people so I'll try to be brief!

BUT there is one MASSIVE thing I have to tell you which is soooooo exciting & overwhelming for me. It was confirmed this week that my lovely employers Virgin Holidays are going to fund the whole cost of my ride to Paris, which means that every single penny (and every one counts and is gratefully received I can assure you) will go to Community Music in Action. Thank you so much Virgin Holidays - you really do treat everyone like a Rockstar, even your employees! This takes my total raised so far to £1610, thank you all so very very much - but I still need your help to reach my target of £2,000 - so you know the drill - the donate button is just to the right of this post - go on, you know you want to - and if you want to know more about the work of CMIA and what your kind donations will be used for, please click on the newly added Community Music in Action link at the top of this blog - you'll see that we've been busy and we're doing some really exciting stuff.

So in my last post, I said I was looking forward to the Easter weekend as I was going to cover over 100 miles IN ONE WEEKEND, well guess what, the Easter bunny prevailed & I'm afraid I slipped into my old ways & a night of reveling with great great friends Mandy & Danny (her Danny not mine, although he was their too!) put paid to my Sunday riding plans - it wasn't big or clever but all pedaling and no play make Gilly a very dull girl.

So I managed 27 miles on Saturday with my Club, Big Foot (before wine-gate) which was fraught with slowness, punctures, mechanical problems and some very gruelling hills (hence why I needed to be embarbed on Saturday night) and it was all a bit horrible and distressing if I'm honest.

Racked with guilt on Monday I set out to do my first 50 miler. The guilt-trip must have been my motivator as the weather was hideous, in fact at one point I passed this retail opportunity and really did consider part-exchanging my trusty steed, as this was a more appropriate mode of transport.........

A wrong turn meant that by the time I got home (sodden & very very cold) I actually only did 46.2 miles, which I should still have been happy with, but when you are trying to hit your first big 50 miles milestone, I have to say I was disappointed with the mileage, but still quite proud of myself. Although that brought my total weekend mileage to a paltry 73 - not quite the 100 I'd promised you all.

So fastforward to yesterday. I was very excited, still riding high on the crest of Easter Monday, I arranged to do a training ride with Ed, my friend who is also training for this ride & the guy who firstly told me I could do this. At the time when he suggested it, Ed didn't even own a bike - so we should really be able to do this together - right? Well Ed bought a bike, started commuting to London and has been doing rather well. So out together we went, he'd also done his first 50 miler a couple of weeks ago. Within minutes of starting out together, I realised that Ed's 30 mile round commute 2-3 times a week, had really helped his fitness and agility on his bike and I began to realise we were poles apart in terms of fitness & to say I was feeling inadequate was an under-statement. I didn't know what was worse, seeing him disappearing around every corner way before me, or when he was being kind and cycling behind me, and me knowing I was holding him up. It was awful. Then to add insult to injury my blasted tyre went AGAIN - I mean really? The third tyre problem in a week? My love of cycling was definitely starting to wane. Desperate, I had to walk the last mile or so to my local bike shop Deen's Garage in Beckenham, I went in and almost threw my bike across the counter & put on my best "damsel in distress" act. They told me to leave the bike with them for a couple of hours and they would sort it. I can't tell you how soul destroying it was to WALK down Beckenham High Street in my cycling gear sans bike -a very different walk of shame than I've previously experienced in my youth, but shameful all the same. And I have to confess, I was lured into Costcutters by a packet of 10 Marlboro lights.......c'mon it'd been a really awful morning.

So I got the call from Deen's, new tyres could be bought that would practically guarantee no more punctures and would literally cycle themselves to Paris, apparently all my problems would be solved, oh those and ditching the backpack that for the last 4 months I've been carrying that holds 3 litres of water in - apparently that was slowing me down too & a bike computer, would also help to gauge my speed and help my training. What could I do, I was desperate, I didn't know what else to do - so I took their advice....and they took my £130, who said cycling was a cheaper alternative.

So, did they see me coming or were they right? Well all I can say is THANK YOU DEEN'S.......I have just returned from my first 52.2 mile ride, it was one of the most pleasurable rides I've had on the Scott 45 - it was like riding on a cloud. And I now reckon the last couple of week's struggles have all been down to tyres not being pumped up to the right pressure and the wrong type for the roads I've been cycling on. Oh and the backpack, I can't believe the difference not lugging that extra weight along with me has made. It was still very tough, but soooo much more enjoyable. My speed is still not up to Ed's (a Mark Cavendish in the making), but I'm feeling a bit more positive that I may see the Eiffel Tower on two wheels and not in the back of the relief vehicle. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY DAYS.

And just to finish, here's some chocolate-box villages & classic British hedgerows from my ride today, I'm so lucky to live where I do, with all this on my doorstop, stunning, stunning scenery around every corner!