Friday 14th August

 

 

Well, having made the difficult decision NOT to do the London to Paris ride this year, I was planning on keeping this up to date with details of my training for the York 100 ride which I was going to do instead of the trip to France. As you can see, that’s not been the case.

I did spend the time that I would have been in France working at home, finally beginning to get things back to normal after the flood in March, and before the baby arrives next month. Despite being very disappointed not to have gone, it was definitely the right decision to stay at home and get cracking. We then went down to Devon for four days, which was great fun – spending some time with our nephews and niece. Before we went, Mel gave me my (very early) birthday present – a new bike! I now have a lovely new cyclocross bike, to take on some of the rougher stuff, and to use throughout the winter. And I love it. We stuck it on the roof and took it down to Devon, and I was able to take it out for a bit of a spin in the very heavy rain (conditions and terrain in which I would never take my road bike).

Since returning from holiday, I’ve not been too well. The nagging toothache that was developing in Devon, turned into an abscess and a swollen face, an ear infection and a throat infection. A large dollop of pain, no sleep and not a lot to eat. And no training either. I’ve been on antibiotics and painkillers for two weeks now, and I had root canal treatment on Wednesday. Not really ideal preparation for cycling 100 miles on Sunday. But, I said I’d do it, and that is still my intention. Two days now after the root canal work, and the pain and swelling is getting worse again, and I’m not sure he actually did it on the correct tooth. Couple this with the fact that I’ve done very little training for the last two months, and Sunday is looking like being a very long and painful day. Wish me luck!

 

Monday 17^th August

So, the York 100.

The ride itself was OK. Despite being up bright and early in the York sunshine, I still managed to miss the 7am start that I’d planned, thanks to the TWO punctures that I had to fix on the 500 yards on the way to the start.  Definitely not the greatest of beginnings.

I’ve also had a bit of grief from my tooth over the past few weeks. Funnily enough, it turns out that riding a 100 miles on a bike, ISN’T the best thing to do when you’re half way though having your root canal done. It hurts.

As I managed to get the old legs turning though, things picked up. The back tyre remained inflated, despite the immense strain it was under, and the miles managed to fly by at quite a reasonable rate. The scenery was stunning, but quickly began to undulate as we moved east of York. Whilst I am not built for climbing, I am pretty good at the downhill sections, and the pain of the inclines was more than made up for by the exhilaration of some rapid descents. 46mph on slick, skinny tyres when you’re my size is probably not advised, but it IS immense fun and I can heartily recommend it!

So, the first 50 miles were done in just over two and a half hours, and I was feeling pretty good. Lunch was welcome at the half way point, and I did wonder if I’d overindulged as I started going again for the second half of the ride. It was very difficult, and the realisation that my good progress had been aided by a tailwind meant that next 50 miles would be straight into the teeth of a strengthening headwind. Just as is started to rain. And my tooth really began to scream.

Needless to say, the second half of the ride wasn’t quite as quick as the first. The wind was unrelenting, and the rain remained at a constant drizzle. My tooth was pounding, but I was still enjoying it. Despite the lack of preparation, my legs still felt good, and the scenery and the route continued to inspire, as did the knowledge that I was raising some money for such a worthy cause.

I crossed the finish line 6 hours and 45 minutes after starting, and my computer said that I had actually done 105 miles overall. They lied! Happy to have finished, ready for some more painkillers (one of my fellow cyclists couldn’t believe his luck when I was able to supply dihydrocodeine for his broken collarbone as he waited for the ambulance to pick him up...), but having enjoyed the ride immensely.

All in all, a good day. A great route through some beautiful countryside, and all for a very deserving cause. If anyone wants to join me next year, it would be good to have you along.

I have to say a huge “thankyou” to everyone who has sponsored me. THANK YOU.