Thank you to everybody who asks how my training is going when I see them. I am very grateful that people are taking an interest (for anybody that doesn't already know, I will be riding four stages of the Tour de France - but not with the professionals... obviously. More information here).
During one such conversation, one of my friends recently insisted (I was given very little choice in the matter) that I get in touch with a friend of hers who is keen on cycling. I did as I was told, which eventually led to me arranging to meet this guy on the Bristol to Bath cycle path yesterday morning.
Whilst introducing myself, what struck me as particularly novel about the experience was not necessarily that this chap (who I had never previously met) was about to lead me on a 65km-plus cycle ride, but that for the first time in my life I was introducing myself while wearing a fairly snug pair of cycle shorts which show off a bit more leg than I would usually feel comfortable inflicting on the general public.
To make it worse, the pair of cycle shorts that I chose (partly because they were in a January sale) are quite, ahem, conspicuous. I have discovered that nothing makes you feel quite so self-conscious about showing off a bit of leg like a pair of tight shorts with a bright orange pattern down one side. They seemed a good idea at the time.
The ride itself was described as having "plenty of lumps". We rode north from Bristol to the edge of the Cotswolds, passing through Hawkesbury Upton, Badminton and stopping for cake and a cuppa in Castle Combe. The ride home was quite tough as we had to cycle into the wind and the lumps continued, but it was great to get home after 70km knowing that it had been good training.
It was also nice to get out with an experienced rider from whom I could get some useful advice, push myself to keep up with and who didn't seem to mind that I needed to catch up a bit after wimping out on some of the descents (and was not too offended by my unsightly shorts/legs).
Shout outs:
Thank you again to everyone who has helped me so far. Shout outs go to Mike & Sue and to Louise & Pete for sponsoring me - I am very grateful for your kind donations.
I would also like to say thank you to Leon for venturing out in the wind and rain with me and to Rae for putting me in touch with him.
To anybody else reading this, please visit my fundraising page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TomHoldaway. A donation of any size will help a lot.
Finally, I need to step up my fundraising activities as I need to raise 80% of my target before the end of April. I am trying to arrange to set up a static bike somewhere (venue to be confirmed if it works out) and may also try to organise a charity gig. If anybody is able to help with organising a fundraising activity, or fancies getting involved in a gig, please do let me know.
Thank you for reading!
By the way, this is what I look like:
No comments:
Post a Comment