December 8th 2023
If you read my blog a few weeks ago you will know that right now, if I was thinking about setting Cycling targets for next year just getting back on my bike and doing straight forward club rides would probably be a sensible choice. Especially following my surgeon’s go ahead to start cycling again has resulted 2 weeks later in me doing absolutely nothing – the result of feeling dreadful as I gradually wean myself off Pregabalin and suffer withdrawal symptoms.
My fitness level will be poor and how much I can push myself when I do get back on it and how far I can go is a complete mystery as I will only find out when I try, just how much I will need to nurse my spine gradually into physical activity again.
BUT in one of my videos where I give my opinion on how to prepare for your first 100 mile bike ride and how to motivate yourself for it, I thought I’d watch it again myself and take some of my own advice, especially as the video is equally appropriate for any milestone distance really. I’ve posted the video here which might be worth a watch for anyone reading this .
One piece of advice in this video is to get dates in the diary, make a commitment, which if you have the right mindset becomes an obligation, especially if you combine this with another point I made, and that’s getting others to join in and make the ride a social ride and this is exactly what I’ve done
I love my multi day events but after what I’ve been through I can’t be too adventurous but the big target for me is a 3 day tour across Wales at the end of June, giving me 6 months to get back to some kind of decent fitness. I’ve gone with Pedal Britain again for this. I just can’t fault their tours and the added bonus is that others I’ve ridden with feel the same which has already led to 7 of us who first met on the Pedal Britain LEJOG trip also riding together this year in the 14 day tour across France. My pal Clive is one of those and he will join me on this Wales trip. The HUGE motivator for me though is that my son Jamie is also coming along. Jamie hasn’t cycled a great deal at all and is using this trip in a similar motivating way to get himself to a level of fitness that he will say himself has eluded him for a very long time . So a very exciting prospect, I just need to shake this horrible feeling off and get on my indoor trainer and see where I’m at.
Stepping up to a tough 3 day event will be challenging for Jamie as he may struggle to get the mileage in beforehand as he lives a couple of hundred miles away from me and doesn’t have friends who cycle where he lives in Brighton. So I had the idea of entering some early season Sportives. I may well do one anyway with a few of the guys I did LEJOG with as we have done that the least 2 years now, in Somerset and Wiltshire. So i had a good trawl on Google and found a nice small event which starts and finishes in Ditchling, just a few miles north of Brighton, Puncheur 2024 and we have both entered it. To put the icing on this particular cake my eldest son Andy , who does cycle, is going to join us too . And you know what? The motivating effect of doing this is real because I’m actually feeling excited for the first time in 2 months at the thought of getting back in the saddle and enjoying these things so bring them on !!
