Last weekend I took part in the Tour de Force training weekend in Cheltenham. This was an organised event to get to know some of the other riders that will be there with me this summer as I ride four stages of the Tour de France (more details here) and, more importantly, an opportunity to do back to back rides over two consecutive days.
Aside from the wind, the weather across the weekend was great - I even managed to get sunburned!
Saturday consisted of two rides, both quite hilly. About a third of the way through the second ride, an optional extra 20 miles, we turned on to a side road with a 25% sign at the entrance. To help explain the sense of dread that I felt as I saw the sign, I found a blog which describes anything over 16% as "very challenging for riders of all abilities". I got about halfway up and needed a rest (to be fair it might have been my second rest). I somehow managed to get back into a rhythm, before turning a corner to find that the hill was much longer than I had hoped. In that instant, my resolve to struggle up the rest of the hill deserted me and I took the decision to walk for a bit. I managed to get back on my bike when the hill levelled off a bit, but was somewhat grumpy after that.
After Saturday's escapades, combined with a bad night's sleep, what should have been a fairly routine ride on Sunday felt like hard work. It also seemed that whichever direction we turned we were cycling in to the wind.
All in all, the weekend was hard work, but definitely worth doing. The organisation was good and the route was well signed (I didn't get lost, which is a good start!). It was also great to meet some of the other cyclists, which addressed some of my concerns about this summer's ride. We regularly exchanged pleasantries* and got to know each other during the ride and over dinner.
Disappointingly, while reflecting over the weekend on Monday, I found myself thinking that I had actually enjoyed it.
The Charity
All of this hard work is to raise money for the fantastic William Wates Memorial Trust. WWMT gives funding and support to organisations and projects which help disadvantaged young people by keeping them away from a life of crime. Three of the trustees of WWMT were at the training weekend and it was great to speak to them and hear how enthusiastic they are about the charity and the projects they support.
Please visit my fundraising page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TomHoldaway.
Shout outs
A huge thank you to everybody for your support and for taking an interest. A special thank you goes out this week to my Dad and Sue, Michael and the charity team at Bond Dickinson for your very generous donations.
Thank you for reading!
* usually something along the lines of "flipping hill" or "flip off wind"!
No comments:
Post a Comment