clairedavieswriter

Having made it through the first week, I’m now sitting in Miranda’s beautiful garden, nestled in Exmoor National Park, with warm sun on my back and birds twittering all around – the perfect way to spend a day off the bike.

Inevitably though, I’m already thinking about tomorrow’s 98k ride, one that I clearly planned in a moment of extreme self-confidence. It’s not so much the climbing that worries me – there will be plenty of it, but less than hitherto – but the length of time on the bike. I shall have to deploy all the cyc(le)ology I can muster, not to mention a generous layer of chamois cream.

Talking of which, the condition of my posterior seems to be of some concern to many of my readers. Let me reassure you that all is well, although I’ll be honest – after about 60k I would generally prefer a sofa to a saddle.

In terms of cycology, I’m sure my methods are not unique. They include:
1. Regular refuelling stops, because they break the day into manageable chunks, and let’s face it, because cycling is just a glorified excuse to eat cake (or is that just me?);
2. Avoid looking at the GPS until you think you’ve reached at least 10k, then think “Only x more of those today” (NB this tends to be less effective when x>5);
3. At the other end of the day, mentally switch to miles because you reach single figures quicker (I recognise this may make little sense to those more numerate / mathematically-minded than me);
4. On hills, avoid looking up. I routinely ignore my own advice here, and am consistently disappointed by how far away the top is;
5. On very steep hills, count in blocks of ten pedal strokes. When you realise you’re no longer counting, get off and push.