It must be love, love, love.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it, go out and get busy.    Dale Carnegie.

I had a major crisis of confidence in the middle of February: my old bike was slow, my new bike gave a different riding position (etc), the weather was windy and wet, I was old, I was daft to think I could ride LEJOG when I was too scared to get on my new bike on the road, my legs weren’t as long as I thought they were and…. well, you get the picture.

Simon Tubb (http://www.sjtubb.blogspot.co.uk/) said he’d ride a few miles with me on Saturday 22nd. It seemed sensible to ride up and down our quiet road before hitting any with traffic so I gingerly pushed the bike to the kerb and got on, pushed off and……………… Oh, what a revelation! I suddenly saw why people had been telling me it would feel lighter (wobble to the end of the road, stop, walk bike round, get on), easier (wobble, stop, walk bike round, get on), smoother (wobble, stop, walk bike round, get on), more fun (wobble, ride bike round – woohoo! Success!) and I carried on wobbling down to Hallen (scary hill – walk down it) and the non-existent chemical works.

After a slight communication breakdown I met Simon on my way back and he managed to persuade me to ride a bit further. The weather was beautiful, spring was springing and we kept going from one possible stop point to the next, turning round after seven miles, back the way we came and up the scary (whichever way you go) hill! Yay! Success!

My next challenge was to ride by myself so I set off last Sunday in the rain down the scary hill on the bike (Go me!) and around the Avon Cycleway, concentrating on keeping upright in head- and cross-winds, with my mental sound-track on shuffle and playing “It must be love, love, love,” and Queen’s “Bicycle Race,” the latter’s segue into “Fat-bottomed girls” reminding me that the reward maybe should be more restrained than “eat anything with sugar in” when I get home. Something with a stronger rhythm was needed for the last few miles and Salt’n’Pepa’s “Push it” did the trick, then it was that ****** hill again. I started talking to myself: concentrate……. keep it going…….. relax……...  That did the trick and I rode up the hill with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, hoping I wasn’t singing aloud.  Thanks, Frank!

I’m gradually ticking things off my “Learning to ride my new bike” list: riding in the rain, cross-winds, head-winds, downhill, uphill, on the drops, standing on the pedals (I’ve done that once with each foot – it’s a start), etc. It’s helping me build confidence and strength. The bike still feels a bit wobbly at times but I’m slowly getting there. I ticked another one off the list today as I swung (ooh – get me) onto the drive and promptly fell off. Bike unscathed but I’m now the proud owner of a bruised hip and a grazed knee. Many years of watching the Tour de France showed how useful they'd been when the voice in my head said "Ooooh. That'll hurt when she gets in the shower."

I'm off for a bath.