tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64011987223014254332024-03-13T01:02:46.255+00:00Stories from the saddle of a not-so-serious cyclist...Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-31896909892660050892017-04-02T14:58:00.000+01:002017-04-02T14:58:38.478+01:00Back on my bikeWell hello, it's been a while! I've not been on a bike, not outside anyway, since last October so it felt absolutely brilliant to be back on the saddle this morning. We kept it simple with one of our favourite little local rides to Bridge of Allan for a bit of brunch (sitting outside in the sunshine too, hooray!) and I just thought I'd scribble down a few thoughts following this year's first ride out:<br />
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1. I love cycling, but one of the things I don't like is the palaver around getting ready to go out for a cycle. Now, anyone thinking of taking up cycling, please don't be put off by this! I make it much more complicated than it has to be! For example, I'm hopeless at deciding what to wear: will I be too hot/cold?; should I go for leggings, shorts or both?; would fingerless or full gloves be best?; will vest top/cycle top/jacket do, or would long sleeve vest/cycle top/hoodie be better?; or should I go for a vest/cycle top/hoodie combo?; one pair of socks or two?; buff/balaclava or both... and so it goes on. Meanwhile, Alex has pulled on the first bunch of things that comes out of the drawer and is twiddling his thumbs waiting...<br />
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2. Actually, Alex is rarely twiddling his thumbs waiting because usually there'll be some last minute palaver with some technical aspect of the bike or another - and it's usually my fault...This morning's palaver revolved around toe clips. Only one of my pedals had a toe clip attached. I think it was because I needed a strap for something back in about December and a toe clip strap fitted the bill nicely! So, while I was faffing around, pulling various layers of clothing on and off, Alex was hunting the house for toe clip straps...<br />
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3. As soon as we did get going, it just felt brilliant to be back on my bike. Brilliant. Until, after only a few turns of the pedals I, predictably, had a changing gear issue. <i>'Alex, which should I be in again, big cog or wee cog...?!' </i>It always takes me a few minutes to get used to the gears again after a long spell off the bike...<br />
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4. The first cycle of the year is always a special one (I can see you, you lovely people who cycle most days or at least much more often than me, I can see you rolling your eyes in the air at the fact that my first cycle of the year is in April...) but this morning's cycle was extra special for an additional reason:<br />
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5. We were only cycling on main roads for short spells. Every person driving around me today was considerate. Of course, some of them may well have been cursing the fact that there was a 'bloody cyclist' in front of them, but if they were unhappy about me being on the road they didn't show it. They all gave me plenty of space and some returned the waves I gave as they passed me by. The same can't be said for a fellow cyclist. He showed us no due consideration and nearly knocked Alex off his bike at one point. It served as a reminder that it's <i>people</i> who sometimes behave in an inconsiderate way, not 'drivers' or 'pedestrians' or 'cyclists'. People. Fortunately, most people we come across on our cycles are nice - just like in life really.<br />
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6. Stopping for a poached egg roll and a latte mid-cycle reminded me why I don't miss running as much as I used to...<br />
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7. I wonder why it had taken Alex and I so long to get back on our bikes when we love being on them so much. Cold weather and rain probably. We're unashamedly fair weather cyclists, and today was just a perfect day for the start of our 2017 cycling adventures...<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-3225999072515073922016-10-21T20:59:00.000+01:002016-10-21T20:59:55.320+01:00A little tour of AndaluciaWell, I really have been living up to the title of this blog, as a not-so-serious cyclist, since my return from the Women v Cancer challenge in Tanzania. I've hardly been on a bike since July - not because I lost my cycling mojo, but really just because other things have been taking up my time.<br />
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Actually, if I'm being honest, I suppose I did also lose a bit of my cycling mojo for a while...<br />
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However, it well and truly bounced back last week when we left Scotland for a few days of cycling, on a self-guided tour, in beautiful Andalucia. We used a company called <a href="http://www.cyclingcountry.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Cycling Country</a> and I can't recommend them highly enough. They provided great bikes, good maps of fantastic pre-planned routes, lots of hints and tips, an efficient luggage transfer service and some lovely accommodation along the way.<br />
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It was only a short trip, but we loved our four days of cycling, mostly around the Alhama de Granada area, then on through Montefrio and finishing off in the beautiful city of Granada. We were never too far away from spectacular scenery, especially when we caught a glimpse of the distant Sierra Nevada mountains. We were also never too far away from the next big uphill climb! So many hills...! Every uphill though was well worth the effort for the thrill of the descent on the other side.<br />
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I didn't realise how much I'd missed being on the saddle till I was back on it again. I loved it. Pedalling along between nice wee villages and interesting towns, taking in everything round about me - whether that was nothing very much, or the farm workers picking the cauliflower (so much cauliflower!), or the never-ending patchwork of different crops on the hillsides, or the smell of the pine, or the smell of the wild garlic, or the stunning rocky outcrops and gorges, or the olive groves, or the winding, steep, road on the hill ahead, or the moorish buildings, or the friendly people - and sharing all of that with Alex. Bliss.<br />
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I'd hoped to capture some good footage with the GoPro (regular readers might remember how technically challenged I was with it in Tanzania...), but I forgot to take the charging cable and the battery was pretty flat to start with. Silly me. And, during the short amount of filming that I did manage, I've got the camera pointing too far down, so there are some lovely views of my bike bag...<br />
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I've attached the Strava profile for each day of our mini tour of Andalucia, for those of you interested in such things, down below. As you'll see, I wasn't kidding about the hills! And, as you'll also see, I stuck to my usual manta of 'slow and steady' throughout...!!</div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-13326982947589780662016-07-03T23:11:00.000+01:002016-07-04T21:08:21.283+01:00Cycle AfricaWell, after two long years of waiting, my 'Women V Cancer Cycle Africa' box has well and truly been ticked.<br />
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I've actually been back home for the past two weeks, but I've just not known where to start with a blog post.<br />
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I didn't want to write a 'we did this, we did that' kind of diatribe but, equally, I didn't want to miss the very essence of the experience, which still feels too big for my limited vocabulary. I guess I'd make a pretty rubbish travel writer!<br />
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So I've pulled together a selection of words, footage and photos that'll hopefully go some way towards sharing with you one of the most extraordinary, wonderful and challenging experiences of my life...<br />
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I loved Cycle Africa, I <i>absolutely</i> loved it. The whole 9 days. (Only 9 days - it felt very much longer.) Cycling for four and a half days, travelling, being on safari - it was incredible. Even when I was exhausted, scared (cycling through a Tanzanian town in the midst of a torrent of tuk tuks is terrifying...), sore, stiff or struggling to keep the pedals turning - I loved it. Whether it was down to the extended wait I'd had to get there, or the little upset I had before I left (with a doctor daring to tell me that I should be pulling out because of a wee problem with my joints, tsk!), or to do everyone who'd donated to my fundraising efforts proud, or to make my family and friends proud after so much support and encouragement, or the never-far-from-my-mind reason why I'd signed up for this Women V Cancer challenge and the faces in my head of all the people I know or have known who've been affected by breast, ovarian, cervical - and many other types of - cancer, whether it was any of these things or a multitude of others, I was determined to make the very most of every single moment.<br />
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Whether I was feeling completely overwhelmed by the breathtaking scenery; feeling excited to be amongst a fantastic group of like-minded women; feeling the buzz - that buzz - that I always feel when I cycle; feeling super excited to stand up on my seat, eat the dust and spot the animals on safari; feeling humbled by the local people and the children who reminded me so beautifully that the poorest in wealth are often the richest of heart; feeling inspired by hearing the stories and seeing the achievements of the wonderful women I was with; feeling excited to, at last, fulfil a life-long ambition to visit Africa; feeling lucky to be forging some special friendships for life or, of course, feeling chuffed to bits when the training paid off and I was able to cycle across the toughest terrain and up the longest, steepest hills I've ever attempted before, I loved it all.<br />
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I'm saying I cycled the whole 257 miles, but that's not <i>strictly</i> true. There <i>were</i> a few stretches of 'road' (I use this term very loosely...) where the sand, mud or water was simply too deep for cycling.<br />
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In fact, on our very first morning, torrential rain meant we had to walk with our bikes for the first half mile or so as the 'road' had turned into a flowing river of mud! But we'll not quibble over a little bit of '<i>for health and safety reasons'</i> bike-pushing!<br />
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Not long after that photo was taken, and after getting on the saddle at last, I was back off it again...<br />
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So the first day brought my first, and luckily last, puncture of the trip. But every day brought other challenges to tackle and, of course, lots of surprises to embrace... <br />
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Camping was one aspect of the challenge that I knew I would find, well, challenging. I made a new friend for life during the trip in my 'roomie' Sally, becoming especially close when us two tallest girls in the group - just by the luck of the draw - ended up in the smallest tent! It was certainly cosy but, to be honest, the downsides of the camping were far outweighed by all the good stuff; such as the warm Maasai welcome on our arrival at the first campsite, the thrill of having a shower outside with Mount Kilimanjaro as a back-drop, the joy of being entertained by the Maasai and our crew as we sat round the campfire, the sunset, the stars in the night sky, the sunrise and, of course, an actual real W.C.</div>
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I often got a bit carried away with the surprises and the unexpected, especially when I was on a bit of a cycling buzz, which sometimes ended up with me getting some well-deserved comeuppance as a result...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I wasn't the only thing to get stuck...</i></td></tr>
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However, even though it sometimes resulted in being stuck in the mud, or slipping in the sand, I really did revel in the 'tough terrain' aspect of the challenge, and - even though it was hard work - I thoroughly enjoyed trying to negotiate the deep sand, the boulder-strewn tracks, and the puddles along the way.<br />
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Often, successfully negotiating the hills, or the difficult conditions, was down to the support offered by everyone around us. The Women V Cancer events are about so much more than reaching the finish, and they're definitely not about reaching the finish fast. From the moment we all signed up for the challenge, we were part of a team - working together to raise awareness and funds for three of the charities that support people affected by breast, cervical and ovarian cancers - and that team spirit travelled with us, with bells on, to Tanzania.<br />
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We all had individual, personal challenges and goals, but everyone's over-riding aim as a group was to work together and support each other. We varied in age, level of fitness, state of health and emotions - but we were the same in our shared determination to make the very most of it for ourselves, while helping our fellow team members and friends make the very most of it too.<br />
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Em, unfortunately for the others, this often meant having to listen to me burst into song, especially on the steepest of hills and the longest, bumpiest of roads...<br />
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It wasn't just our fellow Women V Cancer team-mates who were a great source of humour, support and plentiful hugs, we were fortunate to have two fantastic event leaders, Anne and Eleni, who kept us all in check, kept us all going when the going got tough, and kept us all blissfully mis-informed about how far we really had to go or how steep the next hill really was! Anne's briefings in the evenings and early mornings were a joy - but by the end of the week we were taking her estimated distances and elevations with a rather large dose of salt.<br />
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As for our support crew, well, what can I say? What a privilege it was to have a fantastic crew of local people from the surrounding villages. They were with us every turn of the pedal, from the moment we arrived - touching down in Kilimanjaro Airport - to the moment we sang and danced with them during our 'Celebration Dinner' on our last night in Tanzania. <br />
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They cycled alongside us, changed our punctures, sorted our gears, kept us fed, kept us watered, chased the cows away, sang to us, danced for us, cheered us on, gave us a wee push, and kept us safe. They were brilliant.<br />
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It wasn't only the local people who made up our crew that were brilliant, the local people we met along the way were too. Especially the children. Whether we were cycling past isolated small holdings, or Maasai boys herding their cattle, or through busier villages and small towns we would be greeted with a friendly '<i>Jambo!</i>' ('Hello!'). The kids would wave and holler as we cycled past. It's no doubt that we were a bit of a curiosity, with our modern bikes, our cycle helmets and our lycra.<br />
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Cycling in East Africa is mostly a necessity, not a sport or leisure pursuit. We saw bikes carrying whole families - the mother and children balancing nonchalantly on the back - bikes carrying massive sacks of potatoes, wide loads of wood, huge bunches of bananas, a bed (yup, really, a bed, on a bike) and all sorts of other combinations of people and goods. And all of this on the most basic of bikes with none of the luxury that a change of gear affords. It was truly humbling to be passed on the steepest of hills by a young lad on a steel framed, no-gears bike wearing flip flops on his feet and dangling his hands by his side, carrying two young girls on the back. "Look, no hands and no low gear for me!", he might have been thinking as he casually cycled past. But all I heard him say was '<i>Jambo!</i>'.<br />
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I often wondered what the local people thought of us being there. Everyone I came across was welcoming and friendly, but I couldn't help sometimes feeling like an intruder. The Tanzanian government encourages groups such as ours to visit the country and, in doing so, help give the economy a much-needed boost. But it just felt sometimes that our presence served to highlight the sad and devastating effects that drought, poverty, civil unrest - and interference from the outside world in the form of such things as land-grabbing - has had on the erosion of the Tanzanian people's traditional ways of life, and their perhaps reluctant need for the tourism industry to flourish.<br />
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One of the most uncomfortable moments of the trip for me was during one of our school visits. The children had been lined up and were standing in very quiet, unsmiling, lines waiting for our arrival. Poverty abounds in Tanzania, and never was it more apparent in the schools, or on the faces of the children who stood outside the schools. As we walked toward the children, standing in their rows, it felt very much like there was a line drawn between 'us and them', almost like we were curious visitors to an exhibit, rather than friends from afar popping by to deliver some gifts and say hello. After what seemed an age, things became a little more relaxed and, after mingling in with the children, we finished our visit by listening to their songs and singing a few back. Everyone joining hands to have some fun and do the Hokey Cokey finished off the visit in a much nicer way than it had started.<br />
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My favourite moments with the kids were the spontaneous, rather than pre-arranged, ones. At one of our snack stops, on the outskirts of a little village, a small group of children had gathered to curiously look on. As '<i>Jambo</i>' was just about the extent of my Swahili vocabulary, I had to use some other way to reach out to our new friends...<br />
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Before I left for Africa, one of the things I was most looking forward to was seeing the animals - animals that I'd only ever seen before in a zoo, in a safari park or on the telly - in their natural habitat. I thought that we'd only see 'big' animals when we were on safari, when the cycling part of the trip was over. So how very special it was indeed to witness a family of giraffes gracefully wander through the woodland at the side of the dirt track road during our second day of cycling.<br />
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The safari was everything I'd hoped it would be. I loved sharing it with some of my lovely new friends, and I wasn't at all disappointed with the plethora of wildlife that we spotted. Wildebeest, lions, hyenas, flamingoes, zebra, ostriches, gazelles, elephants, hippos, and so much more. And I had a blast standing up at the front of the jeep, eating the dust and pretending I was David Attenborough!<br />
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I'm ever so grateful to have had the opportunity to go on a short safari at the end of the trip - aside from the animals, the views from the rim of the Ngorongoro crater were absolutely breathtaking...<br />
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...but the cycling days were by far my favourite.<br />
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The training that I'd put in before the trip paid off and - even though I sometimes had a bit of an issue with painful joints - I managed the miles, the hills, the testing off-road, and the tarmac just fine.<br />
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We were provided with bikes and I was extremely lucky to be allocated one that was a good fit. Also, I took my own trusty saddle and used every available opportunity to re-apply lashings of chamois cream to my nether regions! So, I'm delighted to report that I had not one bit of chaffing and no numb-bum problems to contend with! Some of my poor friends weren't so lucky, but they carried on regardless, wilting flowers or not!<br />
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I've attached the Strava profiles, at the end of this post, for anyone who's interested in such things. But, in summary:<br />
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<u>Day One: 54 miles from Moshi to Olpopongi Maasai Village</u><br />
This day, like every day, we were up at 5am and set off around 6.30am. Every other day we watched the sun rise as we cycled. This day we couldn't see the sun for the heavy rain and dark clouds! However, the rain soon cleared and after cycling for around 20 miles on tarmac - through towns, villages and banana and mango plantations - we found ourselves out in bush land, in a landscape dominated by the beautiful acacia trees. This day finished with Mount Kiliminjaro at our backs and the Maasai people ahead, welcoming us to their village.<br />
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<u>Day Two: 52.5 miles from Olpopongi Maasai Village to Arusha</u><br />
This was the most challenging day, with miles and miles of difficult off-road terrain (even our seasoned mountain bikers found some of the sections impossible to cycle through) followed by a long, steady uphill climb on tarmac and ending with a truly terrifying ride through Arusha in rush hour! There seemed to be no rules on the roads and we had a fair few near misses with Tuc Tuc, motorbikes, mini-buses and bicycles. Nearly every one of the hooting zig-zagging mini-bus's had some sort of Christian slogan, such as '<i>God Will Save You</i>!' plastered across its back window. '<i>Praise Bloody Be!</i>', was what I was thinking every time I was nearly knocked off my bike, '<i>This heathen might be calling you to account on that you crazy bloody driver you!</i>'<br />
Completing this challenging day after a sleepless night in our wee tent made the satisfaction of finishing the toughest day in one piece feel all the sweeter.<br />
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<u>Day Three: 69.7 miles from Arusha to Zion Campsite, Tarangire National Park</u><br />
This was the longest day, mostly all on tarmac, and I actually really missed the off-road terrain! Setting off from Arusha wasn't too bad as most of the tuc tuc and mini-bus drivers were still in bed. Hallelujah! Most of the day we were cycling through the grasslands then into the Maasai heartland. There were a fair few undulations but I fair enjoyed cycling the ups and the downs alongside our 'Queen of Tanzania', Judy. As the oldest member of the group, she was an inspiration to us all - I hope I'm still able to tackle hills like the trouper she is when I'm a great-granny! The views across to Lake Manyara as we approached the finish were truly spectacular, especially as the sun was starting to set over it. We ended this day at a pretty basic campsite. There was a loo, but the bushes were the more attractive option!<br />
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<u>Day Four: 51.5 miles from Tarangire National Park to Mto Wa Mbu Lake Manyara National Park</u><br />
This was my favourite day. Cycling out of the camp site as the sun rose over the Lake made the early start and the, yet another, sleepless night pale to insignificance! The terrain was ever changing, the landscape around us was absolutely breathtaking, the uphills were hard, the downhills were so much fun and I felt much more confident tackling the sand, water and the rough tracks. Most of my Tanzanian miles were cycled alongside my roomie Sally. We shared many laughs, tears, long chats, quiet times and had lots of fun along the way. We forged a special friendship, and I know we'll share many more good times to come.<br />
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However, on this day, Sally really started to struggle with severe pain in her back. She'd forged ahead, just needing to finish the day and get off the saddle as quickly as possible. My other friend Annie and I were enjoying a more leisurely finish, and were accompanied for the last mile or so by a local villager. He just pedalled up beside me, kept his eyes on the track ahead and quietly cycled by my side with his bundle of goods balancing on the back of his bike. It was a special wee moment for me, and I'm sure something a little bit different for him.<br />
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<u>Day Five: 29 miles from Mto Wa Mbu to Ngorongoro National Park</u><br />
Although this was the shortest day, both in mileage and in hours on the saddle, it was a real toughie. The gentle incline at the start, passing under a massive colony of nesting cranes and past a troop of noisy baboons, soon gave way to a long, steep, winding road - the road that would eventually lead to the entrance to The Ngorongoro National Park and our official finish line. Ngorongoro is a deep, volcanic crater - so we were basically cycling up the outside of that crater. There were one or two short, level sections of the road, and one of two really fun downhill dips, but the vast majority of the 29 miles pointed up, and steeply up at that. Much of the last section was spent cycling alongside another of the most inspiring - and youngest - members of our group. Sarah was cycling in memory of her mum, who died last year after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her mum would've been so very proud to see Sarah dig deep and meet this whole challenge head on. Watching her sprint to the top of the hill was possibly my favourite moment of the trip. And it felt pretty good to get there myself!<br />
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On our cycling days, my gear was carefully chosen in recognition of friends and family members who've had cancer. Some of them are still here to tell their tales - the survivors - but many of them, sadly, are not. They were all never too far from my thoughts, especially when pulling on my vest or my cycle shirt in the morning, or when I was looking for some extra motivation to get me to the end of a long road or up those steep elevations.<br />
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I've been lucky not to have been caught, as yet, in cancer's ever-spreading net. And I'm so incredibly fortunate to be part of the Women V Cancer tour de force. It's a special organisation which encourages women to come together, work together, cycle together, laugh together, cry together, face up to difficult personal challenges, push themselves, and support each other - all while raising much-needed awareness and funds so that one day, maybe one day, we'll see far fewer people affected by this bloody awful disease.<br />
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Cycle Africa was an incredible experience, more than I could ever have hoped for, and I loved it. Especially, my friends, when - just like in life - the tough uphill struggles were followed by the fantastic thrill of the ride...<br />
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Strava Profiles:<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-61905359978797424202016-06-03T11:32:00.000+01:002016-06-03T11:32:00.091+01:00Being inspired, feeling the fear and doing it anywayI've been inspired this week by the incredible achievement of one of my friends, Andrew Simpson, who's just competed - and did incredibly well - in The Cape Wrath Ultra. If you've never heard of it and would like to know more, you can <a href="http://www.capewrathultra.com/" target="_blank">check it out here</a>. It's worth a look - if not for details of the race, then just for the wee video showcasing some of our stunning Scottish scenery...! <div>
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Basically, it's an extreme ultra running event where the competitors run (yup, I did say run) 250miles in 8 days from Fort William to Cape Wrath (the furthest north-westerly point in the British Isles) over the mountains and through the glens, navigating themselves all the way with no set-out route on the ground for them to follow. <div>
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Coincidentally, this time last year I was about to be inspired by another of my favourite ultra runners; Andrew's wife, and my smiliest friend, Lois. Lois was about to run the length of the West Highland Way - all 95 miles of it - in under 30 hours. I remember being knackered just helping out with a bit of support along the way, so I have oodles of respect for Lois and Andrew, and all the other ultra dafties, who attempt these challenges - never mind complete them!</div>
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Of course, inspiration doesn't always come from the people who tackle extra-ordinary sporting events. I remember shedding a few tears last year when photos popped up on Facebook of my pal Linda after she'd crossed the line of a 5k run with her friends and family by her side. Linda's journey to get to that place had been a scary, tough and extremely challenging one. But she set herself a goal, faced so many of her fears, and bloody well did it. I was so proud of her then, and I'm feeling a wee lump coming on thinking about it now..!</div>
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Emotions were also running high in November last year when I crossed the line of the Supernova 5k at The Kelpies alongside my oldest and dearest pal Karen. Just a few months previously Karen had hardly been able to walk, due to some ongoing health issues, but she took off from the start line that night and there was simply no stopping her! It was an unforgettable moment for me to be with her (once I'd caught up...!) when she flew across the finish line. Karen's determination was awe-inspiring stuff and I'll never forget it.</div>
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Andrew, Lois, Linda and Karen are just four among the many, many people who inspire and motivate me - with my husband and my kids being at the very top of the list. And I'll be pulling on all of their stories this time next week when I'm needing a wee bit of courage before I set foot on the plane that's taking me to Tanzania!</div>
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It's become a bit of a cliche since the publication of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PYJ5Y6W/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank">Susan Jeffers' book</a> a few years ago, but 'feel the fear and do it anyway' still resonates with me. </div>
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Whether the fear is setting out with a group of women that I don't really know (but who all seem lovely!), to a country far far away; or wondering how I'll manage with the call of nature when I've got issues even using public toilets in the UK...; or thinking about just how sore my bottom's inevitably going to be..; or fretting about how my roomie will cope with the foostiness of my holdall that's been up in the loft for too long and smells like an old lady but I don't want to waste money on a new one; or how much I'll miss Alex as this is the longest we'll have been apart since we were, em, 17; or having niggling doubts about whether I'm physically (and mentally!) up to the challenge of cycling 250 miles over sometimes difficult terrain under the African sun; or any of the jumble of other things swirling around in my puggled head at the moment...whether it's one of those fears or any of the others that are bound to crop up before I leave and while I'm there - I'll be facing them, then doing it anyway.</div>
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Yup, I'll be feeling the fear - then I'll be grabbing life by the handlebars and going for a ride!</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Me and my roomie Sally, the only time we've met, at a recent training weekend. I think I'm saying 'r</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">emember to bring a clothes peg Sally!'...)</span></span></td></tr>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-21815748269562346652016-05-30T22:03:00.000+01:002016-05-30T22:03:17.860+01:00Cycling in the Scottish sunshineThere's been lots of lovely Scottish sunshine over the past few days, so we've been making the most of it and fitting in some warm weather training! We're very, very lucky to have some beautiful cycle routes right on our doorstep...<br />
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I was also practising a wee bit more with the GoPro. It'll be better once I've got it attached to my helmet, but in the meantime I'm using it strapped on to my chest till I figure out which button does what and when! Maybe then there'll be less of the handlebars and more of the surrounding scenery. I also need to work on editing the clips, but it all takes time! Hopefully the next video I make won't be quite so long - but I kind of like this as it is anyway as it's a wee record of two of the things I love most about cycling: whizzing downhills and being out in the very heart of our beautiful country...</div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-19380503621701605812016-05-27T15:10:00.002+01:002016-05-27T15:58:17.948+01:00Scarier things than ranting driversThe third Women V Cancer Ride the Night is tomorrow night. I'm sad to be missing it, but with it being so close to the leaving date for Cycle Africa (two weeks today, gulp!!), it was too much - both financially and practically - to fit it in. Instead, I'll be waiting to hear how all of my Women v Cancer friends get on during this most special of events.<br />
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Ride the Night will always hold a special place in my heart. It introduced me to many incredible women; it motivated me to write my first little book; it made me cycle further than I'd ever done before; it introduced me to three charities that do a great job of supporting women affected by breast, ovarian and cervical cancer; it gave me some fantastic friends and it was truly humbling to be surrounded by so many women who'd faced the toughest of times (who'd had a cancer diagnosis, who were in treatment, who'd lost someone dear to them, or who'd faced a whole host of other adversities) but were grabbing life by the handlebars and making the very, very most of the ride.<br />
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I was reminded this morning (by an innocent Facebook post from one of my lovely friends, that led to the usual tirade of angry comments) that throughout the year, us cyclists face a lot of ill-feeling on the roads. Let's face it, most drivers just don't want us there - taking up their space, getting in their way, holding them up...we're <i>so bloody annoying!</i> And sometimes they're justified in being angry - when numpty cyclists jump a light, when they pull out in front of cars, when they cycle four a breast etc. <i>Tsk, bloody cyclists! They drive me nuts, talk about inconsiderate! They don't even pay road tax or insurance. Hate when there is a cycle lane and cyclists don't use it! Now that really gets me annoyed! I</i><i>'d love to run them over...</i><br />
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So it's fitting that I read those comments on a day when I'm thinking about all of those amazing, incredible women who'll tomorrow night face their fears, get on their bikes and ride. Despite the animosity they face from many drivers.<br />
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After all, they've faced things far more scary than a few red-faced ranting drivers in their time...<br />
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So a wee message to my fellow Women v Cancer cyclists: Best of luck to each and every one of you for tomorrow night. Stay safe, enjoy the ride and have an absolutely brilliant night! You're all amazing.<br />
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And a wee message for my fellow drivers (again...!):<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-60030199496493012452016-05-22T20:57:00.003+01:002016-05-22T20:57:54.764+01:00Giving cycling through sand a go with the GoProI've been told so many times by everyone who completed the challenge last year that the hardest part of the whole experience was cycling along the sand trails. So, with less than three weeks till I head to Tanzania, I thought I'd better fit in a bit of sand-cycling training!<br />
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Armed with my shiny new GoPro (a fantastic surprise birthday gift last week from the family), Alex and I set off along the sandy tracks of Tentsmuir Forest and out onto the beach.<br />
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I wasn't brilliant on the sand, and I was even worse with the GoPro! But I fair enjoyed the practice with both...<br />
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Next time I'll make sure the camera's pointing up the way - then you might just be able to see more of this...</div>
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...and less of my handlebars, knees and slowly turning pedals...!</div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-48501379357420038202016-05-09T23:39:00.000+01:002016-05-09T23:39:45.242+01:00Getting good at falling offI'm clearly needing much more practice on a mountain bike.<br />
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At lunchtime today I decided to make the most of the lovely weather. So, I pulled the bike out of the garage and set off for a wee trip to our neighbouring village for a sandwich. (One of the advantages of working from home...)</div>
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En route, I took a bit of a detour up a short local trail to an old reservoir above our village. It's not very far, but the track's quite steep, bumpy and muddy in parts. However, the sense of achievement from making it all the way up without having to stop made the effort well worth every turn of the pedals.</div>
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After a short break to draw breath by the side of the water, I set off feeling fair chuffed with myself. '<i>Yup, I've nailed this mountain biking lark</i>!', I was thinking as I rode off down the track...</div>
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I was still a little bit muddy when I eventually made it to Kippen for lunch, but thankfully the lovely staff in <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g551848-d4451625-Reviews-Rhubarb_Lime_Delicatessan_Coffee_Shop-Kippen_Scotland.html" target="_blank">Rhubarb Lime</a> didn't seem to mind and I thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich before cycling back home. </div>
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Straight back home - no detours up the hill on the way back!</div>
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So, I've not quite cracked the mountain biking yet and I've clearly still got a lot to learn - but, I'm having a whole lot of fun in the process. And I'm getting really good at falling off.</div>
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I settled back down to work this afternoon feeling all the better for my splash in the mud and well-deserved sandwich.</div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-73989208900444212002016-05-05T10:27:00.000+01:002016-05-05T15:28:38.897+01:00Aberfeldy Adventures<i>(Warning! I got a bit carried away so this is a post full of photos, videos and Strava profiles....)</i><br />
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We're just back from a glorious few days away (staying in a wee lodge in Aberfeldy) that'll hopefully go some way towards my Cycle Africa preparations.<br />
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The idea was to get in some proper off-road training, but we took the road bikes along too - so it was a full house on top of the car when we left on Sunday...<br />
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First stop, on the road up, we tackled 13 miles or so of the Griffin Forest trails:</div>
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The next day we headed to the village of Dull (paired with the town of Boring in Oregon...) for a <a href="http://www.highlandsafaris.net/" target="_blank">Highland Safari 'Drop at the Top'</a>. We were given this treat as a 50th birthday present by our good friends Elaine and Eric - and what a treat it was!</div>
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As you can see, we were given a lovely Scottish welcome by the staff, then were driven up through the forest in a land rover and, well, dropped at the top! There's a selection of trails to choose from, but the guides gave us great advice, based on our experience and how crazy we appeared to be. Needless to say, we were dropped at the top of a fairly challenging route (based not on our experience, but on how crazy we appeared to be...)</div>
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I found the first part of the trail on the way down genuinely terrifying! But, once I got my confidence up a bit I really did have a blast. It wasn't all downhill and there were a fair few challenging climbs thrown into the mix. I found the terrain at times really, really tough...</div>
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But every turn of the pedal through the mud, up the hills and down the scary slopes was well worth it for the views, the thrills and the fantastic fun!</div>
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We started the following day with a short (but valiant!) attempt to see how far we could cycle up the Birks of Aberfeldy (named after a poem of the same name by Robert Burns). It's a beautiful, but steep and bumpy, route up the hill to the Falls of Moness.</div>
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It seemed like a good idea at the time but, as I'm sure you all know...<i>the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley...</i></div>
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After drawing breath over a bacon buttie and a cup of tea, we set off later in the morning to tackle part of the Rob Roy trail from Aberfeldy to Kenmore. I think the website said something like, 'the route is fine for walking all the way and <i>some</i> parts can easily be cycled...'. Tsk, why let a bit of advice from a website put us off - and anyway, I needed all the tough training I could get, didn't I..?</div>
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We were, yet again, rewarded with stunning views from the top. The mud was soon forgotten as we looked down to Loch Tay and Kenmore (and the thought of lunch...) below.</div>
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We stretched out lunch in the lovely <a href="http://www.kenmorehotel.com/" target="_blank">Kenmore Hotel </a>(where they fortunately make muddy cyclists feel very welcome...) to put off for as long as possible the long steep climb up the hill out of Kenmore. Now, Alex (in his wisdom) decided to record some of this part of the cycle. I was totally miffed when I watched it - I'm going at about minus 2mph and the video just doesn't do the hill justice! Honest! It was really, really steep! Honest...!</div>
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The descent back over the muddy trails was scary in parts, but really great fun. And I did feel a great sense of accomplishment by the time we made it back to Aberfeldy. </div>
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Having said that, I was glad to get on my road bike for our last day of cycling - a gentle cycle round beautiful Loch Rannoch was the perfect way to finish off our wee holiday. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;">I'm feeling a bit more confident about the cycling in Tanzania now. The rough roads, climate and other challenges are going to be very different from those we face cycling at home - but surely if I can plough my way through the Scottish mud, fend off the midges, and manage up and down a few of our rugged routes then I'm in with at least a fighting chance of staying on my saddle from one end of the 250 mile African route to the other...only five weeks tomorrow till I find out!</span></div>
Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-83138346679774963992016-04-30T11:12:00.001+01:002016-04-30T11:12:36.004+01:00Limericks based on a local not-so-serious cyclistLast year, in March 2015, I was invited to speak at one of our local Women's Institute meetings (or 'The Rural' as it's still defiantly and fondly referred to locally).<br />
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I had a thoroughly lovely evening, reciting some of my '<i><a href="https://janewrites.co.uk/" target="_blank">One Woman's Verses vs Cancer</a></i>' rhymes, then facilitating a lively - and often poignant - discussion around some of the cancers which most affect women.<br />
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At the end of the evening, the committee asked if I would come back to speak in January 2016, following my Cycle Africa adventure. We set a date and the Rural were expecting me along with stories and snaps and Tanzanian tales...<br />
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Oooops!! I completely forgot to let them know - until about 2 weeks before the meeting - that I'd had to pull out of the challenge last October (ironically because of some work I was doing with Breast Cancer Care) and defer my place to this June.<br />
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With my tail between my legs, I promised to return and deliver a talk after Cycle Africa June 2016. But, in the meantime, I left the committee having to find a speaker to fill my slot at fairly short notice. Not my finest moment!<br />
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So, I was absolutely tickled pink to read recently in our local rag that during the January meeting of the Rural there had been a competition set to write a limerick with the first line being:<br />
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<i>"There was a cyclist called Jane'!</i><br />
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I've since discovered that the intention was I would judge the entries - poems all based on my cycling exploits - after my talk about Tanzania. Tsk!! I feel terrible that I wasn't there to do that - and to personally thank every one of the women who took the time to write a wee poem about little old me!<br />
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So, this is my public apology - and my heartfelt thanks - to the fantastic ladies from Gargunnock WRI. I loved the limericks, and I'd have struggled to pick a winner! It's maybe just as well that someone else was there to do it for you...!<br />
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I'm delighted that I've been invited back again to speak about my Cycle Africa June 2016 experience. This time ladies, I promise - come lions or punctures or broken chains - I'll be there....<br />
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<i>A few of the winning entries:</i><br />
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<i>There was a cyclist called Jane</i><br />
<i>Who when jogging was always in pain</i><br />
<i>So she took to her bike</i><br />
<i>And everything felt right</i><br />
<i>And was never seen jogging again!</i><br />
(I love this one as it totally sums up my actual experience of feeling so sad at having to give up running due to some health issues, then discovering a passion for cycling - brilliant!)<br />
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<i>There was a cyclist called Jane</i><br />
<i>Who hit a pot-hole in Kirk Lane</i><br />
<i>And, boy, does she cuss it</i><br />
<i>Cos the seat pierced her gusset</i><br />
<i>So she'll never sit comfortably again!</i><br />
(Haha - those bloody pot-holes!!)<br />
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<i>There was a cyclist called Jane</i><br />
<i>Caught speeding along in the rain</i><br />
<i>Her water was tested</i><br />
<i>And she got arrested</i><br />
<i>Cos her bottle was full of champagne!</i><br />
(Hahaha, this is great - they know me so well in my village...)Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-60972852280057903952016-04-17T17:41:00.000+01:002016-04-17T17:41:24.120+01:00cycle and ice<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-38441722898669673032016-04-16T19:44:00.002+01:002016-04-17T15:33:11.056+01:00Why Cycle Africa? Reason 2: FriendsI would never have signed up for the Cycle Africa challenge if I didn't know anyone else who was going. Basically, I would never have signed up if I wasn't doing it with friends.<br />
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I don't consider myself as a shy person, but the thought of travelling to a foreign country - never mind facing a tough few days of cycling, wild camping and digging toilet trenches - with a bunch of folk I'd never met before was enough for me to almost delete the 'Sign up for Cycle Africa, Group 3, October 2015!' email that dropped into my inbox after completing Ride the Night 2014.<br />
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However, some of the women I'd become firm friends with through the WvC Facebook groups, and through London's very first women-only night ride, had already applied for the challenge. And they were very persuasive!<br />
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After some, em, gentle prodding (from the likes of Joanne Jackson, the wonderful woman who shared her breast cancer experience <a href="https://janewrites.co.uk/" target="_blank">in my little book</a>), I read the gumph in the email attachment. I saw the words 'safari', 'cycling', 'Africa', 'raising awareness and funds' (as discussed in <a href="http://storiesfromthecyclingsaddle.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/why-cycle-africa-reason-1-safari.html" target="_blank">Reason number one post</a>..) - and sent off the application form.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The inimitable Joanne Jackson</td></tr>
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I then became one of Jo's Platoon of Persuaders, convincing some of our fellow WvC friends that Cycle Africa would be an experience they couldn't <i>possibly</i> miss out on, especially as we'd all be doing it together...<br />
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Soon, our numbers grew and we became a special group that supported each other from Day One. We shared fundraising ideas, training traumas, our fears, hopes, worries, achievements and expectations. I could not <i>wait </i>to board the plane with this fantastic, fun and flippin wonderful bunch of friends!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ride the Night 2015</td></tr>
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In July last year - three months before we were due to leave for Tanzania - I pulled out of Cycle Africa.<br />
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An opportunity arose to work for Breast Cancer Care (ironically, one of the WvC partnership charities), but it meant I had a choice to make between the cycle and the job.<br />
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I swithered - for the sole reason that I wanted to share my experience of cycling in Africa with the group of women who'd become such a big part of my life - but I eventually decided that the job (which was all about raising awareness and promoting early detection of breast cancer) was an opportunity not to be missed. And Action for Charity said I could defer the cycle and join the next group to go to Tanzania in June 2016.<br />
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I shed a few tears over the course of the next few months and had so many mixed emotions. I felt sad, then I felt guilty for feeling sad (I was still getting to go on a trip-of-a-lifetime! There are people in the world starving for goodness sake!!), I felt excited for my pals while I continued to follow their progress, I felt a wee bit jealous when I saw all the glorious photos of them together at the airport then during their adventure, then I felt a big bit guilty for feeling a wee bit jealous, I felt proud - so very proud - when I heard about all of the challenges they'd faced and how brilliantly they'd risen to all of those challenges, and then - only then - did I start to feel excited again about my own impending trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking on Tanzania</td></tr>
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Fast forward and it's now less than eight weeks till I board the plane. There hasn't been much of an opportunity for me to forge close friendships with my fellow Group 4 cyclists in the same way that I did with the Group 3 bunch. However, it turns out that there will be a few familiar faces flying out with me (including the wonderful Diana who designed the Cycle Africa kit - as modelled above!) and, from the little contact that we've all had, the rest of the group do seem like a friendly lot!<br />
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Next weekend some of us will meet during a training weekend in the Cotswolds, which will be a great opportunity to get to know some of my travel companions and, I'm sure, make new friends.<br />
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They'll not be the friends that I started this journey with, but they <i>are</i> the ones that I'll be finishing it with. Every single one of those friends - whether we met in 2014 or 2016 - will have had some part to play in my Cycle Africa adventure.<br />
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And, I predict, in some new adventures to come...<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-68989471740925681912016-04-10T20:39:00.000+01:002016-04-10T21:07:01.330+01:00Why I don't like cycling on busy - or main - roadsI don't like cycling on main - or busy - roads. We live in a lovely wee rural village however, unless we put the bikes on the roof of our car and head off somewhere else, we have no option but to ride on some fairly busy main roads. None of which have cycle lanes.<br />
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We're allowed to do that. There isn't a law against us cycling on the roads. But lots of people are irritated by the fact that bikes are allowed to share the roads with cars. And that's absolutely fine.<br />
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It's absolutely fine not to like stuff, or to feel irritated by things.<br />
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I myself hold my hand up to sometimes feeling irritated when I see a cyclist up ahead when I'm behind the wheel of my car...I also sometimes feel irritated when I see a tractor up ahead, or (I'm not proud to admit) occasionally even a learner driver. Tsk, I have to slow down and wait (im)patiently for a safe opportunity to pass and add a whole probably nothing on to my overall journey time! What a pain!<br />
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But, just because I feel irritated doesn't mean I do stuff that might kill the person on the bike, or in the tractor or behind the wheel of the learner car.<br />
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Sadly, there are a few folk who are a bit more than irritated and they deliberately try to edge cyclists off the roads. They <i>really</i> don't like cyclists. They hate that cyclists are on the road and want to push them off! I was in the back of a taxi one evening and the taxi driver told me that he deliberately drives too close to cyclists because he 'fucking hates cyclists'. So, I know that these people do exist.<br />
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But most people aren't like that. Thankfully. I'm sure that even most people who 'fucking hate cyclists' don't try to knock them off their bikes.<br />
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There are some people whose irritation turns to frustration and they'll lose sense of when's a safe opportunity to pass a bike. They might wait, then get fed up waiting and squeeze between the bike and an oncoming car. That's scary when you're the one on the bike.<br />
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And there are lots of people whose irritation doesn't turn to frustration. They wait patiently for a safe moment to pass and genuinely think they're leaving enough space when they overtake and would be horrified if they knew that they'd actually nearly knocked a cyclist off their bike and possibly nearly killed them.<br />
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I was probably one of those folk before I started cycling. I had no concept of what was a safe distance to leave between my car and a bike when I was overtaking*. My bad.<br />
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Of course, there are lots of drivers who always leave a big gap between their car and the bike they're passing. Thank you all! I love you!<br />
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This morning a driver nearly knocked me off my bike. It was really scary. I didn't fall off but I wobbled, a lot. The thing is that the driver, I like to think, probably wasn't deliberately trying to knock me off my bike while he was speeding past me on a big wide road with plenty of space to move out. He probably just didn't realise that he was so close. Or, he maybe did realise that he was close but thought that the teeny space between us was a safe enough distance to leave.<br />
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I really hope he wasn't someone who hates cyclists so much that he deliberately tries to knock them off their bikes. I hope he wasn't that taxi driver on his day off.<br />
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I'll never know. But I do know that it was a pretty close call and I do know that if he'd been a smidgen closer I would've been off my bike. I might have been writing here tonight about some pretty nasty injuries I'd sustained.<br />
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Or I might not have been here to write a post at all.<br />
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And that's why I don't really like cycling on busy - or main - roads.<br />
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*<i> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203" target="_blank">According to the Highway Code</a> you should '<b>give vulnerable road users at least as much space as you would a car'</b></i><br />
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<i><b><br /></b></i>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-84936292308725812872016-04-08T13:19:00.000+01:002016-04-08T13:19:08.315+01:00Why Cycle Africa? Reason 1: SafariIt's nine weeks today till I fly out to Tanzania to take part in the <a href="http://storiesfromthecyclingsaddle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/story-34-from-arran-to-africa.html" target="_blank">Women V Cancer Cycle Africa challenge.</a> Help ma boab!!! To take my mind off thoughts such as: 'I've not done enough training...Help!' and 'Will I collapse in a heap in the heat..?' and 'Will my bum be hardy enough...?', I thought I'd focus instead on some of the reasons why I decided to attempt this challenge in the first place, one blog post at a time:<br />
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<b>Reason 1: Safari!</b><br />
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I'm sure I'm not the only person who's signed up for a challenge with a bit of an ulterior motive behind it, but I do feel a wee bit guilty about this one! I mean, of <i>course</i> I want to raise money for three superb cancer charities, raise awareness about signs and symptoms and push myself with a long bike ride in the process - but it was the word 'SAFARI' that really attracted me to this challenge.<br />
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I've wanted to go to Africa to see the big wild animals for as long as I can remember.<br />
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When I was little I'd ask my mum and dad if we could go on safari, but it was just a wee bit out of their price range, so a trip to <a href="http://www.blairdrummond.com/" target="_blank">Blair Drummond Safari Park</a> and a cone in Callander had to do.<br />
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When I got older, going on safari was still really out of my price range, and my dear other half's heart was never really in it anyway, or my children's:<br />
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'You don't fancy going in a big aeroplane to see lions and elephants and monkeys and giraffes doing their thing out in the wild...??' '<br />
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'No mum, why would we want to do that when we live a mile from Blair Drummond and can see lions and elephants and monkeys and giraffes doing their thing from our car then have a shot on the bumpy slide and then have a cone in Callander..??'<br />
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This goes some way to explaining why none of my kids were ever really bothered about having a pet...<br />
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So, when I was cajoled into having a look at the 'Cycle Africa' challenge by some of my WvC pals who'd already signed up, I didn't really pay much attention to the part that said, '...350km in challenging conditions over sometimes difficult terrain...' or the part that said, '...you have to raise a minimum of £3000...' or '...you'll need all sorts of jags that are sore and cost a few bob...' or '...you'll wild camp...!!' and so on and so forth.<br />
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But, I did see 'Africa', 'raising awareness', 'cycling', and, of course, '<b>SAFARI</b>!'<br />
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It was a done deal.<br />
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I am, of course, paying for the one day safari *myself and I'm really hoping that seeing some of those big animals out in the wild will live up to the dream I've had ever since I was a wee girl - and, of course, be just a wee bit more exciting than a day trip to Blairdrummond...<br />
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<i>*Just to reassure everyone who donated their hard earned coffers - all of the cash you donated went straight to the charities and none of it's paying for any of my costs, such as travel, bike hire etc :)</i><br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-59790712461030023172016-04-04T16:23:00.000+01:002016-04-04T16:25:03.500+01:00Two muddy days in a rowAt last, I made it out on my bike for two days in a row for the first time this year. Hooray! Even though they weren't the longest of rides, I found them both quite tough. <br />
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Saturday's cycle was a really short one (8 miles round trip to the next village from ours for a pint) and Sunday's was just a wee bit longer (22 miles round trip from Callander to Mhor 84 for a coffee and scone) but they both involved a fair bit of rain and mud. And pedalling though the mud - especially when it's uphill and especially when you're on a hybrid with not-so-serious-grip - makes for a fair old work-out! The pint/coffee/scone were essential for keeping the energy levels up...<br />
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I might not have cycled very far, but I do feel like I managed a fair bit of training. And, I did have a fair bit of fun in the mud along the way...<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-88609550375640640722016-04-02T17:12:00.000+01:002016-04-02T17:12:31.105+01:00Ploughing through the mud for a pint<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-69830639141831369832016-02-07T16:10:00.000+00:002016-02-07T16:10:46.371+00:00Parkrun walkingI love the whole concept of <a href="http://www.parkrun.org.uk/" target="_blank">Parkrun</a>. If you're not familiar with the initiative, it started in 2004 by a guy called Paul Sinton-Hewitt when he set up a regular 5k Saturday morning timed run in Bushy Park, London. The run was open to anyone, it was free and organised by volunteers. The idea was such a good one that it soon spread, and one event became many all around the UK. Within a few years, Parkruns were being set up all over the world and now there are over two million registered global Parkrunners.<br />
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The events are still all set up and organised by volunteers, and still free. As long as you're registered on the Parkrun site and you've been given your own unique barcode, you can turn up at any Parkrun in the world on a Saturday morning and run. And, usually within an hour or so of your run, your 5k time is available either by text or by logging on to the Parkrun website.<br />
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There's a degree of friendly competitiveness between some of the runners, but these events are for anyone, at all levels of fitness. Some people take under 16 minutes to finish, some take over 40. It really doesn't matter. It's all about your own goals, your own challenge - and simply being out in a park in all weathers on a Saturday morning with a bunch of like-minded folk. And, it's all about feeling like you're part of the global Parkrun family - whether it's your first or fifty first run. We've been to a fair few parks on a Saturday morning over the course of the past few years, all over the UK, and we've always found the people to be friendly, welcoming and encouraging - whether we're in Scotland in a park close to home, or a wee bit further afield.<br />
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I'm not a registered Parkrunner because I don't run. I usually tag along just to be out in the fresh air, have a wee wander, watch the running fraternity in my family and give the runners a wee cheer on. But, these past few weeks I've been getting a bit more involved and I've been briskly walking while the runners run. I've been logging my distance and time on Strava and trying to push myself on to be a little bit faster each week (no, I'm not serious about stats, honest...!). Yesterday morning in Perth I even found myself pushing on with a little jog towards the end of my walk (I'm not really supposed to run but sometimes it's just too tempting!!) - and it's the first time in all the years of going along to the Parkruns that I've actually felt like a bit of a Parkrunner.<br />
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So, the next step in my training plan might just be to register for a barcode and actually join in with the Parkrunners on a Saturday morning! We'll see. First, I'll need to check that the volunteers wouldn't mind hanging on a bit longer for their well deserved coffee and cake at the end of the event while they wait for a newbie Parkrun walker to cross the finish line...<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-86775804910040933422016-02-04T17:42:00.002+00:002016-02-04T17:42:15.451+00:00Spinning some not-so-serious statsWell, that's January been and gone and I didn't sit on my saddle outdoors once. However, I did manage to do some other bits and bobs of training that should hopefully boost my effort to be fit enough to meet the Cycle Africa challenge in June:<br />
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<li>Spinning: 14 classes (approx 11 hours of sweaty burling to the beat)</li>
<li>Other Classes: 2 Body Balance (hardly worth mentioning, but 2 hours is 2 hours!)</li>
<li>Walking: 6 Park Walks plus various other short walks (approx 22 miles of wanderings)</li>
<li>Morning Gym: 8 mornings (approx 2 hours - major fail - of creaking and cracking)</li>
<li>Turbo Trainer: em, 15 minutes... (going red in the face for listing this one, but 15 minutes is better than no minutes...!!)</li>
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So, it's not exactly elite athlete stuff, but then, I'm not an elite athlete.</div>
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And I'm not too worried that I've not been outside on my bike once yet this year (the last time was a gloriously muddy cycle on Christmas Day with Alex and Ross) - I'm paying no heed to those members of the cycling fraternity who hold the view that you're not <i>really</i> a cyclist unless you're out in all weathers at all times.<br />
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I guess my attitude is that if you sit on a saddle and pedal you're a cyclist - whether you do it sometimes or all the time, in nice weather or all weathers, to win races or to fetch the paper.<br />
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And, as you can see from my 'stats', my record-keeping pretty much matches my attitude to training: I seriously want to do it, but I don't want to take it too seriously.<br />
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Having said that, I've stuck my 'training calendar' up on the fridge and I'm gravitating towards the highlighter pens...watch this space for a much more colourful - and maybe even a <i>wee</i> bit more serious - February fitness file!<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-47197024324360555822016-01-25T13:36:00.000+00:002016-01-25T13:36:50.319+00:00Having a spin-tastic timeSo, I've become a bit of a Spin Freak over the past couple of weeks. Since the beginning of January I've been to 11 spin classes. I said in a previous post that I much prefer cycling outside, but I'm actually getting just as big a buzz from being indoors; spinning and sweating in the semi-dark beside 39 other folk burling their legs and swiping their brows in time to the loud and catchy beat beside me!<br />
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It's a different kind of not-so-serious time in the saddle, but it's great fun - and great cross-training - all the same.<br />
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Other training over the past couple of weeks has consisted of a couple of 'Park Walks', some Morning Gymnastics (as predicted previously, definitely not every morning!!) one very short session on the turbo trainer and a couple of body balance classes.<br />
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I'm pleased to be nearly at the end of January and still as keen to train - the new year burst of motivation is hanging on in there! And, with this mild weather we've been having of late, I might even venture outside on my bike very soon!<br />
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Though, it might be hard to find the time to fit that in while I'm having such a spin-tastic time...!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-74684672197476398692016-01-07T17:15:00.001+00:002016-01-07T18:55:12.461+00:00Morning Gymnastics in a cooler climateI've mentioned in previous posts a place called Club La Santa. It's a holiday come sports resort in Lanzarote and our family fell in love with both the resort and the island when we first went there in 2006. I can't relate to the 'Lanza-grotty' reputation that this beautiful little island seems to hold for some. La Santa sits on the north coast and its surrounding volcanic landscape, crashing waves, sandy beaches, rocky outcrops, hills, sunsets, sunrises, little villages, local people, sea-food and, of course, the plethora of sports in the resort itself are just some of the many reasons why we love it.<br />
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One of the staples of La Santa Sport is 'Morning Gymnastics'. The name's a wee bit misleading as it's really just a dynamic stretch routine, and you definitely don't have to be an inspiring Olga Korbut to take part! Every day, guests at La Santa gather by the pool at 8am and follow the same 15 minute routine set to the exact same music that they've been using for the past 30 odd years! </div>
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Now, some may think it a bit sad, but sometimes I do Morning Gym at home. I only had to download the music (from an old video of the routine I found on Youtube) as I know the moves off by heart. Over the years, I've gone through phases of doing it in our living room religiously every morning to not doing it at all.</div>
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But, now that I'm training for Tanzania, I intend doing Morning Gym every morning. OK, that won't happen. Now that I'm training for Tanzania I intend doing Morning Gym as often as possible. It's a great way to stretch everything out and a great way to start the day. Especially when another member of the Milne clan joins in, as sometimes happens!</div>
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Some days, like today, it might be the only training that I do. But something's better than nothing - even if that means playing to the same tune every single morning...</div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-42358998858096775152016-01-04T17:12:00.000+00:002016-01-06T22:04:17.668+00:00Kicking off by balancing and spinningAlong with all the hunners of other folk who start off the new year with great intentions, I took out a 'special deal' on a short-term membership with our local sports centre. I'm still on holiday from work so, to make sure I get my money's worth before the novelty wears off, I went along to two classes this morning.<br />
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The last time I was at a 'Body Balance' class was only a few weeks ago - under the heat of the sun, with the waves crashing in the background - in our beloved Club La Santa sports resort in Lanzarote. Today's class was just a tad different - under the glare of the strip lights with the air conditioning buzzing in the background - but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. I'm not supposed to do any high impact exercise, so I have to settle for the more placid stretchy sort of class. However, I did still work up a good sweat this morning - even though no burpees, turnsteps or jumping-jacks were involved!<br />
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Immediately after having my body balanced, Alex joined me for a 'Velocity Light' spin class. Now, I've only every been to one spin class before and I didn't really like it. I couldn't hear the instructor, I couldn't get to grips with the gear lever and I couldn't keep up with the rest of the class! But, I shouldn't have let one unfortunate experience colour my opinion and I'm glad that I gave spin another go today! I loved the class - a good teacher, loud music but a louder microphone, and a much better grasp of how to get the most out of the spin bike. For me, it doesn't come close to cycling outside, but I'm very much a fair weather cyclist and classes like this should add a wee bit of variety to the monotony of sitting on my turbo trainer at home watching the telly!<br />
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So, there we go, the training's kick-started. I guess I should really think about doing the same with a nutrition plan...but there are still a fair few Christmas sweeties in the cupboard to be demolished...yup, one step at a time me-thinks. Don't want to be taking things too seriously after all...Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-16951668467836001592016-01-03T23:30:00.000+00:002016-01-04T00:32:01.192+00:00Looking back and aheadI used to post fairly regularly, but it's only once in a while now that the notion takes me. So, this might turn out to be my first and last blog post for a while!<br />
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Since I last wrote, I've started working part-time with Breast Cancer Care which (ironically) meant I had to pull out of the Women V Cancer Cycle Africa challenge in October. Consequently, I kind of lost my cycling mojo a wee bit and haven't clocked up very many miles. However, the few miles that I have clocked up were bagged in some really lovely places and I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them.<br />
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Action for Charity, who organise the Women V Cancer challenges, let me defer my place and I'm now very much looking forward to cycling in Tanzania in June - with the glorious added benefit of learning from the experiences of all of my friends who were there when I should've been there last October! The consensus seems to be that the ride was very much tougher than expected. So, I'm aiming to be as fit as possible before I travel to Africa. I'd like to be well prepared for the heat, the distance, the off-road tracks, the lack of sleep, the big hills and anything else that Tanzania decides to throw at me!<br />
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I think I'll try to keep a record of my training exploits here during the course of the next 6 months. Like all best laid plans I might not stick to it and, even if I do, it might not make the most interesting read! I'm not going to get too hung up on the prettiness of the prose! It's more about simply sharing my experiences and thoughts as I go along. My bletherings might be of interest to nobody, but it might give me more of an incentive to keep my training up! That's what I'm hoping.<br />
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Having a quick look back at last year, I didn't cycle all that often, but when I did I was usually somewhere lovely and usually having a blast. Alex and I decided to make the very most of our 50th birthday year - no big parties but, plenty of lovely get-togethers and adventures with family and friends, a couple of special holidays, some great weekends away and some fantastic rides in fantastic places.<br />
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Last year threw us some not-so-great stuff too, but there usually does tend to be some brutal to go with the brilliant. That's just life, and I guess it's what makes <i>celebrating life</i> all the more essential! And, that's something that I do take pretty seriously!<br />
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We started our #HavingFunAtFifty last February (I know, I know...succumbing to the hashtag...) when Alex turned 50 and we intend dragging it out for as long as we possibly can! <br />
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I thought I'd jot down my favourite 2015 rides (some short, some tough, some at home, some abroad - but all a whole lot of fun):<br />
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<u>March</u><br />
Grand Canyon South Rim - 9.4 and 12.3 miles<br />
Ventura Pacific Coast - 15.2 miles<br />
Monteray - 11.4 miles<br />
Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito - 18 miles<br />
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<u>April</u><br />
Kippen - 7.6 miles<br />
Bridge of Allan - 25 miles<br />
Kippen - 7.6 miles<br />
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<u>May</u><br />
Glasgow/Bowling canal path - 27.3 miles<br />
Tay Forest/Aberfeldy - 32 miles<br />
Kinbuck - 7.6 miles<br />
Women V Cancer Ride the Night, London - 62.2 miles<br />
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<u>June</u><br />
Birnam/Dunkeld trails - 13.1 miles<br />
Kippen - 8.6 miles<br />
Strathyre/Killin - 32.8 miles<br />
North Third - 14 miles<br />
Round Arran - 59.5 miles<br />
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<u>July</u><br />
Barra - 8.8 and 24 miles<br />
Marlow - 28.2 miles<br />
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<u>August</u><br />
Loch Katrine - 26 miles<br />
Bridge of Allan - 23.5 miles<br />
Coll - 16 miles<br />
Tiree - 14 & 23 miles<br />
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<u>December</u><br />
Lanzarote - 21.4, 27.1, 13.7 & 21.6 miles<br />
Christmas Day at home - 8 miles<br />
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Some of my ultra running friends probably ran more miles in a month than I cycled in a year! I definitely need to up the mileage! But, in doing so, I'll be making sure that the pleasure's not taken out of my cycling as I don't ever want it to become a chore.<br />
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So, the training kick-starts tomorrow. Come on 2016, let's be having you!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6401198722301425433.post-91870396064027156642015-06-13T20:04:00.000+01:002015-06-14T08:16:55.132+01:00More of the unusualI'm a fair weather cyclist, usually. I don't venture out on my bike when it's raining or windy, usually. But this has been a week for me doing unusual things (cycling on my own, then cycling with someone who wasn't Alex) so I continued the trend today by venturing out with Alex for a 13 mile cycle in the rain.<br />
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As is often the case when we're heading out for a cycle on an unknown route, I wasn't sure whether to take the road bike or hybrid, but after a few rides on the hybrid recently I was itching for a wee shot back on my road bike. Decision made, we drove into Stirling and set off from Whins of Milton out New Line Road, past North Third reservoir and up the hill a bit (two years on and I'm still not great with my route descriptions!) This would be a very scenic route in the sunshine...as it was, it was a bit dreary...<br />
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...but we did manage to keep smiling all the same...<br />
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Most of the time we were fine on the road bikes, but I think the next time I would use my old hybrid. The gravel on the wet roads was a bit dodgy on the downhills, and the bumps and holes were a bit uncomfy all the way (apart from the few stretches of new tarmac - bliss!) However, nothing spoiled the fun and, apart from Alex really feeling the cold on the way back, we had another great ride.<br />
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I'm really pleased with my training this week; a fair few miles and trying a few things that are a bit unusual for me. Hopefully all standing me in good stead for Africa where, I'm sure, I'm going to be experiencing plenty of things that are just a tad unusual...<br />
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Click here for the <a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1027276963" target="_blank">map my ride profile</a> of today's cycle.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04866728990345415730noreply@blogger.com0