Monday 30 June 2014

Saturday 21 June 2014

Story 35: A Saturday cycle, and most enjoyable it was too

Today was my first time out on the roads since Ride the Night, and what a lovely day it was for it too!



It wasn't long till the Gala Parade came along, and what a lovely sight and sound it was too!




The cycle to Callander was hard going, with a few tough hills, but the village band were out when we arrived and what a lovely welcome it was too!



We slipped up with the pub we chose for refreshments (the cleaners clearly hadn't been in for a week or six...) but we did enjoy our visit to Galleria Lutia; a fantastic little gallery that's owned by my friend Sandie and her family. I spotted a pile of my wee books on one of the shelves and what a lovely feeling it was too!


By the time we arrived back home the Gala barbeque was in full swing, but we opted instead for a quiet night in...and a very nice evening it was too...






Monday 9 June 2014

Story 34: From Arran to Africa...

Last July Alex talked me into going for a wee cycle in Arran. We ended up cycling 53 miles in two days all the way round the island, and I ended up hooked on not-so-serious cycling. 

After that, and following some lovely rides through the summer, I managed to raise some money for the STV Appeal by cycling 47 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh in the Pedal for Scotland event. 

I enjoyed it so much that I immediately looked for another challenge, which came in the form of Women V Cancer Ride the Night, and last week managed to cycle 62 miles through the night from Windsor to London and back to Windsor again. 

I loved the whole experience so much that I've already signed up to do it again next year - but it won't be as much of a challenge next time around as I'll already have cycled the distance. I am, however, passionate about the Women V Cancer organisation and definitely want to continue supporting them.

So, I've signed up for another challenge. In October 2015 I'm aiming to cycle 220 miles across a mixture of dirt tracks and tarmac, starting in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro and finishing at the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. I'll be raising funds again for Women V Cancer, sharing the experience with some incredible women, and hoping to see some lions and giraffes and elephants along the way! It's a serious challenge, but I'm seriously up for it. (Well, as seriously as a not-so-serious cyclist can be).

From Arran to Africa - who would've thought...?! 

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Story 33: Oh What A Ride

(I'll apologise now for the over-use of superlatives in the post you're about to read!)

While I was still on my adrenalin-high after completing Pedal for Scotland back in September, I Googled 'cycle rides'; I was desperately keen to sign up for another 'fun' cycling event. One of the first things to come up on the search list was the Women V Cancer 100km Ride the Night. I had absolutely no idea what I was letting myself in for when I clicked on the link and registered.

My daughter Gemma had just moved to London and I was looking for any excuse for visits, I had just managed to cycle 47 miles and was looking for another cycling challenge, I'd just finished my latest fundraising venture and was looking for ideas for my next one, and I was looking for something constructive to do to help raise the right kind of awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer. So, registering for this new event seemed like the perfect solution to all of the above!

Since registering, I've had a blast. I've had some great fun on training cycles with Alex, I've discovered that cycling when it's raining can be fun after all (thanks to the turbo trainer...), I've resolved a fair few of my cycling issues (found the perfect saddle, found the perfect riding position, found the perfect bum cream...), I've found many new friends (thanks to a Facebook group set up so that participants could lend each other support before the event and, in doing so, get to know each other a wee bit better), I've been inspired by so many of those women, I've written a little book that's been published and continues to raise money and awareness - and, I've cycled 62 miles through the night alongside 2000 other wonderful women with Gemma by my side!

Altogether it's been a truly fantastic ride!

A blow by blow account of the actual cycle is maybe for another time. Briefly though; the distance, the cycling through the night, the double puncture after hitting a humongous pot hole only 6 miles from the start (I, em, supervised from the sidelines while Gemma and two wonderful Ride Angels sprang into action), the London traffic, the volume of cyclists, the wee fall (so embarrassing - we came to a stop at a red traffic light, I put my foot down, was standing waiting, somehow lost my balance, and fell sidey ways with the bike following on top! No real damage done apart from a broken light, a few bruises and a small dent to my pride...), the bunching up, the varied nature of our cycling experience, and the varied nature of etiquette on display (from cyclists and drivers alike) all made for quite a challenge!

And, as with any inaugural event - especially one that takes place in a big busy city, is supported mostly by fantastic volunteers and attracts participants with a very wide range of experience and expectations - there were a few wee teething problems. However, Action for Charity, with the truly inspiring Ann Frampton at its helm, did an incredible job of organising Ride the Night.

Many of us weren't very experienced, or very serious - I have to hold my hand up to not knowing every rule of the road as a cyclist; some of the others have pointed out that we should've been calling out 'passing on the right' when we were overtaking a group - I didn't know that and I hope it's the only thing I got wrong on the night from a safety point of view. I usually did shout things like, 'We're going great ladies!' or 'Keep it up folks!' or 'Are you doing OK?' on the occasions that I did cycle past anyone and I did only pass when I felt it was safe to do so! I did always shout out if there was a pothole, or if I was going to stop, or if there was a speed bump, or if there was a car needing past etc etc and I like to think most of us on the Ride did the same.

The event's raised over £850,000 so far for three fantastic charities and everyone taking part had to do their bit in contributing to the fundraising effort. If the ride and fundraising had felt like a walk in the park it wouldn't have felt like I was doing everyone - who bought the book, who donated to my Just Giving page or who inspired me to raise funds and awareness in the first place - proud.

I had so many mixed emotions throughout the night; mostly I was excited, happy and - especially when Gemma and I cycled back into Windsor to the sound of the dawn chorus and Alex cheering - chuffed to bits! But the night was also tinged with some sadness; thoughts were never far from the reason why we were all there, or from the women who'd had to pull out of the event due to illness or injury.

One of those women was Sandhy Robinson-Jones.

Sandhy survived ovarian cancer six years ago, is one of Women V Cancer's biggest supporters, encouraged many of us novice cyclists during the lead up to the event with her wit and wisdom, helped many of us with our fundraising efforts (she is the designer extraordinaire of my wee book) and had a massive brain haemorrhage a few weeks ago. She faces a long, hard fight back from the brink, yet again, and she was sorely missed on Saturday night:



This was my first cycle without Alex by my side as Ride the Night was the first 'women only' London night ride event. Having said that, Gemma and I found it a bit, well, strange that there were some men cycling in amongst the women. They appeared to be there supporting their partners but I guess I kind of felt that part of the challenge was to show that we could manage the 100km as a collective group of strong (in many different senses of the word) women. On the other hand, I don't know those particular women's stories; maybe it would've been impossible for them to take part without their men-folk there to assist.

Although he wasn't cycling with me Alex was still a massive support; not just for me and Gemma, but for many of the other women too. He stood, for four hours solid, around a mile from Windsor and clapped every cyclist that passed. My hero! It was really great for my confidence to know that I can go out and manage on my own (well, OK, not quite on my own as I had 2000 other women and Gemma by my side...), but I'm now really looking forward to getting back to our Sunday cycles!

My Hero!
I was proud of my wee girl (..nearly 23 but will always be my wee girl!). She's so very busy with many other things and had very little time to train for the cycle. After only six times on her saddle (for the first time since she really was a wee girl), with most of those times being for her 3 mile commute to work, she did incredibly well to finish the ride. Gemma also did well to put up with her auld maw's bletherings all the way round...



Get back on our bikes we did, and finish the ride we did. Ocht, it was just brilliant! And, it was my longest cycle to date! Hooray! So, I'm off now to hit Google, look for my next 'cycling event' and, of course, to register for Ride the Night 2015....!









(photo of bikes on racks courtesy of Judith Stoker)