Soldiering on

Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals. (Henry Ford)

I’ve not been finding the training easy. The weather is warmer and drier, the sun is shining more but there always seems to be a headwind whichever direction I’m going. There have been days when I’ve struggled to get myself out of the door, others where nothing seemed to go right and a few when both of those applied.

I forced myself out a few weeks ago, the aim being simply to get on the bike, and set off to do hill repetitions over a motorway bridge. I was nervous, white-knuckled, breathless and my legs were screaming in agony After a couple of miles my brain was free-wheeling as well as the bike and I’d given myself the name of Chattering Chimp Brain. This sort of thing used to happen frequently when I was training for or running marathons: a succession of random thoughts which often started to lead a life of their own. 

I am also aware that some muscles aren't working as well as they should: quads and hamstrings overworking while the glutes are being lazy. This can put undue strain on the knees and lower back and I’m wary of getting injured. I asked Kim Ingleby of Energised Performance how best to strengthen the glutes and was told to think of them when pedalling. That didn’t sound too difficult so on my next ride I decided to concentrate on getting faster on the flat and stronger on the hills. Edge back on the saddle, make sure it’s the right gear, push harder………… Left glute, right glute, left glute, right glute, left glute, right glute……… Three gluteal muscles on each side……. Gluteus Maximus is the greatest and strongest but cannot win alone. He needs help from the others. “Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus, come to my aid. We advance more swiftly but the road is long and we must not fail.  We will win the fight together! Battle on, mighty ones, we are making progress but the end is not yet in sight. We struggle but will not give in. Divide and conquer! Gluteus Medius Dexter, take the right flank. Gluteus Medius Sinister, you the left. Call Glutei Minimi and their battalions! We cannot fail!”

Downhill. Thank goodness! The bike freewheeled and the brain stopped, relaxed and carried calmly on. I still call on the Latin Legions when necessary but am spared from calling out loud as I don't have any breath to spare.

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There have been other things to think about: a number of team additions and subtractions and subsequent changes to the accommodation needed, transport, kit and basic bike maintenance for starters.

Ness’ daughter, Anna, a GP, has offered to take Ness and all the bikes to Land’s End and stay with us for the first couple of days, while Pete Stables will take the rest of the riders and drive straight back to Bristol. As Anna leaves, Gail White of Energised Performance will join and stay with us for the next few days. She’ll be able to provide massage so we’ll be well looked after as far as Runcorn. Beyond that, well, we'll just have to hope for the best.

We leave in just over three weeks.  And breathe…………………….

A bed (or five, six, seven, eight or nine) for the night

Some of us (Judy and I) have been getting rather twitchy about accommodation for the trip. Yes, it’s three months away and yes, it’s not the height of the tourist season (and Runcorn’s tourist season may not be too hectic) and yes, it does go through some remote areas which are largely bypassed by the holidaying hordes. 

Therein lies the problem: if there aren’t many tourists, there aren’t many places for them to rest their weary heads. Our penultimate stop is planned to be at the Crask Inn, south of Tongue on the A836. It merits its own dot on the map and if we can’t get beds there, we would have to go on for another eight miles. I rang: no room at the inn. After a moment of panic, I was told that we can have the bunkhouse for the seven of us to use, at the exorbitant cost of £31.50 each for the night (including breakfast and evening meal, served at the inn). Panic over.

At the other end of the scale and the route, lies Cornwall. It’s busy in June and has no Youth Hostel in the right place for us, so we have looked at B and B’s. These sound lovely, most providing wonderful cooked breakfasts, but the rooms are small and some don’t have enough bedrooms. There will be five of us for the first week or so, four women (combined age of approximately 220) and one man (aged 30), and none related in any way to any of the others. The one B and B which seemed to provide the perfect solution (a single room and another which took four single beds) was happy to accommodate us for the night but in three double bedrooms. I’m sure we’ll all be much better acquainted by the end of the trip but being quite so cosy on the second night seemed to be rushing things a bit.  We continue looking.

It’s been much less stressful booking Youth Hostels. YHA* have given us group membership so we get a discount on stays of about £3 each bed. They’ve moved on a lot since I last used one: some have private rooms and licensed restaurants and bed prices start at about £19 before discount with a three-course evening meal for under £12. They also have the advantage of being designed for groups of people spending all day outdoors so have drying rooms for wet clothing if you happen to get caught in a shower.

I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end. Even the places I’ve booked so far are giving us plenty of variety and I’m still only half-way through the bookings. We’re getting there, slowly, and with luck we’ll have the right number of beds on the right date in the right place.  If not, sleeping under the stars has been on my To Do list for a while so it would be one more thing to tick off.

*See Youth Hostels Association and Scottish Youth Hostels Association if you want to find out more.