Ooooh – the novelty value has still not worn off each morning as I throw the covers back and admire my new shapely thighs. It may be wrong to admit this but it’s nice to pose in a mirror imagining that you’d now be able to wear skirts that almost show next week’s washing if you weren’t
a) soooooooooooooo past it
b) far too ‘Charlotte’ (in SATC) and
c) too embarrassed to root out that one skirt you keep from your teenage years that you’d like to try on in private (yes, I have one….or is it two???)

“But how long will they last?” says the voice in my head – to which I reply “It’d better last longer than it bloomin’ well took to get them!”. I figure that my ‘old thighs’ were a good 10 years in the making (I dedicated lots of wine, fast food and stressful working hours / lack of exercise to get them suitably bumpy!) ..so with that math I can go another 10 years on these ones before having to cycle 680 miles in 2 months to get them back again??! Here’s hoping….

…..or I could just steel Jill’s (our ride guide’s) legs of steel. (Was I the only one suitable impressed by those pins mid cycle…man those calves are ace!?)

What’s the alternative???………….I could get on the bike ASAP and keep trim. (LOL)…..

……..Ooooooooooh, if only I could. Does anyone else feel like they kinda put their life on hold a wee bit these last few months to a) fundraise like a daemon and b) train like a woman possessed? With that in mind I am in the midst of a house / garden and life re-cleanse…(that makes me sound all spiritual)…..it’s A.K.A a ‘flipping’ good clean and tidy’ – the kind of tidy where you can put on the big light and not be afraid of tumble weed floating past your guest’s feet.

Oooh – I get the feeling I’ve just admitted too much……back to the nude cycle this weekend. Anyone fancy joining Rachel in a bikini?

Marie
x

Posted: June 5th, 2008 under marie's training, the ride.
Comments: none

Here are the impressive ride stats from group 1 (via Helen’s bike tripometer)

Saturday 24th May - day 1

• Distance 62.94 miles
• Ride time 6 hours 28 mins and 32 secs
• Average Speed 9.7 pk
• Mx 24.4 (we have no idea what Mx is….amswers on a postcard please)

Sunday 25th May - day 2

• Distance 68.87 miles
• Average speed 9.0 mph (remember we had a very very strong headwind)
• Mx 63.2

Monday 26th May - day 3

• Distance 68.08 miles
• Average speed 10.5 mph
• Mx 68.2

Tuesday 27th May - day 4

• Distance 58.24 miles
• Average speed 10.7 mph
• Mx 18.6

Hmmmmm - not bad, not bad at all

That brings my total road distance cycled since 5th April 2008 to a grand 681 miles :) :) That’s in less than 2 months peeps and DOES NOT include any work on the exercise bike!

As Helen’s says - Chuffed as chips

Marie

x

Posted: June 2nd, 2008 under marie's training, the ride.
Comments: 5

Is arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a word?

I am surprisingly calm at the moment - as is Helen. The bags are packed, the champers open and the sweeties evenly distributed. If we ain’t ready by now we never will be! We have 2 small (yes small Craz!) but surprisingly weighty rucksacks ready for the off, several bike handbags crammed to bursting point and more refined sugar products than you can shake a stick at. Though I did buy bananas today for that extra health kick mid ride……although Helen did point out that bananas can rarely be transported a few miles to work - let alone 125 miles to Amsterdam, how long do we think they’ll last? I’m wondering if they’ll even make it to the start line

I just want to say a big thanks to all the well wishers from today. I have been receiving texts, emails and telephone calls all day from people wishing all the best - it is REALLY appreciated guys, thanks ever so much.

I guess this is it…over and out?

With love from Marie

xxxxxxx

Posted: May 23rd, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: none

……..Would my tank be ¾’s empty after 250 miles? Can you believe this was the type of questions flying around my head on the drive from wee bonnie Scotland to Yorkshire last night. I tell you – spending this much time alone with your own thoughts can never be a good thing when I start thinking of rubbish like this. On the same drive I also got very excited about that fact that it is pretty much 250 miles from my house to my sister’s….I realised this about 180 miles into the journey and spent the rest of the drive convinced that this is not mere coincidence, but some sort of sign ahead for our 250 mile bike ride.

I began to contemplate the mile and how far it is…..I tell you, it’s longer than you think. Now I know that’s a very a) woman and b) blonde thing to say…..but I’m not blonde anymore in fact I am slightly grey so I am allowed to start thinking rubbish. I was chatting this through with a colleague the other week – a colleague who is also undertaking a massive charity challenge shortly - and we debated that a mile can sometimes astonish you at how far it is and how long it can take you to traverse it. We concluded that it does depend on many factors, namely how distracted you are – miles fly by if you are singing along to take that – and how much energy reserves you have….the more tired you are the longer the miles are (ok,ok,ok – the longer they feel). Now I know I’m not going to astonish anyone with these revelations, but as long as I am debating this while I cycle, the miles will fly by ☺

Obviously the long drive down gave me ample time to panic over whether I’d packed this or that, and wonder several times whether I’d left the hob / oven / fan on. I then started to ponder about how numb my bottom was after 150 miles ……if it’s this numb on a comfy heated seat, what will it be like on a tiny little saddle? I decided this was not worth worrying about – it’s inevitable that my backside will be violated after 250 miles on a cheesewire saddle, and I assured myself that the reason it was feeling some pain tonight MUST be because of the 450 miles I’d done on the bike the previous month.

But then I begun to wonder about something more appropriate – I have a bag full of spare inner tubes for my bike and realised that I have no idea what to do with them. No idea what so ever. Now I know they are supposed to go in the wheels, but I am not sure how this actually happens. I did have an opportunity to learn a few weekends ago when Ali and Craig replaced the tube on Ali’s bike, but instead I opted for tea and girlie chat with Amy, occasionally shouting words of encouragement to the boys and pointing out useful things like ‘ooooh, you’ve got dirt on you!’ Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

I’m off to ponder that thought……

Marie
xxx

Posted: May 23rd, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: none

I have not only reached, but exceeded my £2,000 sponsorship target, and what’s more, I promptly burst into tears. I am such a wuss

I am so thrilled at achieving this. Ooooh – if anyone is out there reading this with me tonight join me in a little hip wiggling and celebration, singing “cycling champions, cycling champions!”

And yet, I STILL have not had pasta – I really should go eat something tonight, but I am too busy skipping round the house and drinking champagne (supplied promptly by the mother in law)

Yey!!!!

Do we think I’ll sleep tonight….I do not! Especially as I have STILL not packed my bag yet. Eeek – so many must do’s and so little time.

Thanks again everyone! I’ll do you proud, I promise.

With love,

Marie
xxxxxxxx

Posted: May 21st, 2008 under Uncategorized, marie's training.
Comments: none

A donation from old school friends (thank you Anne-Marie and Sarah) has opened the flood gates of happy tears and there is no stopping them. I am just £5 from achieving my target and the worst thing is I am home alone tonight with no one to celebrate with. I’ll be crying into my pasta alone whilst clutching the phone to family and friends.

I cannot say thank you enough everyone, I really mean that.

Just £5 to go!
xxxxx

Posted: May 21st, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: 1

I am very aware that I should be eating pasta and packing for the ride right now but I am shaking like a leaf with excitement…….this is because I realised that as of 5pm this evening I was just £65 away from reaching my personal sponsorship target of £2,000! AAARrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhh!

As a result I spent the entire train ride home dreaming up new means of sponsorship and have spent the last hour glued to my PC sending out all manner of emails, texts and facebook / bebo messages to ask for a final push for sponsorship in my hours of need. And it’s working!!!! I am now down to a final £35 before I reach the elusive £2,000 target and collapse in a gibbering heap on the floor. I have such a huge cheesy grin on my face at the thought of achieving this – especially as Helen has some great sponsorship news of her own too. But I’ll let her divulge that one.

Can I do it………oh pleeeeease, pleeeeeeease, pleeeeease let me do it!!!!

Maybe the faster I cycle on the exercise bike the faster the donations will roll in….does that logic work? It’s worth a try, heck anything is worth a try so late in the game….I’ll report back later.

Posted: May 21st, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: none

In these last few days before the ride I wanted to take the opportunity to say another thank you to all of our supporters. I’ve had some extremely nice words of support from well wishes, friends, family and sponsors this week. It’s so great to know that Helen and I have the support of friends, family and work colleagues.

I’d like to say a special thank you again to my husband Ali who has been immensely supportive of me over these last 6 months and has helped immensely with my training. From cycling the maddening 35 miles to Edinburgh with me, to applying ice packs to my knees, providing endless foot massages, and cooking more meals for me than I’ll ever be able to repay. Not to mention having all those hot bubble baths awaiting me at the end of each ride and for surprising me with my own little ride buddy on Saturday morning….(Stripers the tiger – perfectly handlebar bag sized to keep me safe on my travels).. Thank you babe, thank you!

And to my parents, parents-in-laws and their wives / husbands, you have all said the right things at exactly the right time to make sure I stay on track with my training. Thank you for your very very generous sponsorship donations and all your extra efforts in exhorting sponsorship money from work colleagues, sales directors, army colleagues and pals at the pub on a Friday night. It means so so so much to Helen and I to have your support and together you alone have helped us raise in the region of £760 which is just amazing. We really could not have raised as much as we did without your help. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thanks also to Helen and Stu for the beautiful good-luck bear (Mumbles) that was delivered this morning. He is simply beautiful.

A HUGE thanks to my wee sister Helen for her support and replies to my endless questioning, but most of all, for making me laugh out aloud several times a day with your texts, blogs, emails and telephone calls. You have made the ride preparation so much fun and I honestly don’t think I could have been so dedicated without your support …..and you sharing my pains Thank you sister….. and lets go girl!

And of course, thanks to Paulo who has no doubt done the same balancing act on Helen as Ali has done with me – you men keep us stable Imagine what we’d be like without you both  !!!!!

A big shout out is also required for Ambergreen (my corporate sponsor) and the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative (see panniers in the picture to the right)  for their very generous donations. Your support has been very gratefully received and I will try to do you all proud. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A big thanks to my boss Ailsa, who has been really supportive of me during my training. From providing cycling tips, to giving me the flexibility to nip off early to train, work from home to squeeze in early morning and lunchtime cycles, and in supporting my lunchtime runs for the past year. It has been a huge help to have your support during this time – without it I may have resigned myself to the couch in those earlier months when the prospect of cycling in the freezing, dark, winter nights was simply not an option.

A huge shout out to Mr Cycling God, Alan, who has probably been the most loyal follower of this blog. From useful tips, to encouraging words, Alan you’ve been GREAT and have made this such fun – thanks!

And of course thank you to everyone who has sponsored me, supported this blog and provided kind words of support. Give yourself a huge pat on the back from me / or give yourself a celebratory pint…….choose whatever is most appropriate (as I cannot imagine my grandma, for example, downing a pint  ).

THANK YOU!

xxxxx

Posted: May 20th, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: 1

I’m getting a wee bit nostalgic today – that is if you can be nostalgic about just 6 months of your life? I have been thinking a lot about how I got involved in the ride…I make myself giggle when I think about that…

…Can you believe that when I signed up to the charity bike ride I had no idea exactly WHAT I had signed up too?! What I mean by that is that I thought the ride was one flipping way!!!! I signed up with gusto at the thought of helping raise money for something dear to my heart, getting fit in the process and spending some time with my wee sis. I had it all planned out – sign up, get the exercise bike and plan for the boys to come to meet us in Amsterdam at the end of the ride for a long weekend. Heck, at one point I had even dragged my parents into the equation saying we’d meet them there too! That was until Helen set me straight…….it was to Amsterdam and BACK!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! Too late……..the cheque for the ride expenses was cashed and the exercise bike was assembled downstairs. Making a mental note never to sign up to events / things until I had read and understood them fully, I resigned myself to 6 months of cycling mayhem.

I have been looking back over my 6 month preparation today – thinking back to those cold dark January nights when I’d do 15 minutes on the exercise bike on the lightest setting and feel like I had conquered the world. I then progressed to 15 minutes a few times a week, then upped this to 20 minutes, then to half an hour. When I reached 30 minutes a few times a week I’d obey the following pattern to build up stamina;

I’d start on a lighter setting, after 10 minutes I turn the setting up high so there was more resistance, I’d cycle this way for 10 minutes before turning the setting back do again for a final 10 minutes. I’d follow every indoor cycle with a run or two round the block (Yes, even in the freezing, pitch black, winter nights) and then finish with some stretches in my nice warm kitchen (not sure why kitchen – especially as it is one of the smallest rooms in the house!!) Looking back, I am not sure why I never applied this discipline to outdoor cycling…..to that I have no logical answer…hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I’d then progress to hourly bouts of exercise on the indoor bike at least 3 weeknights, before doing one longer session (1.5-2 hours) at the weekends…normally whilst watching Sunday night tv A.K.A. Strictly Ice Dancing (I cannot believe I admitted that) or Top Gear. In addition, viewing opportunities like the ‘American Superbowl’ or watching entire series of ‘Sex and the City’ on my days off gave me ample time to distract myself whilst cycling 40 miles on the exercise bike (hence, there’s a very good reason why the bike has centre stage in the living room- it doesn’t look pretty but it does mean you can while away the hours watching tv whilst you train).

I’d also (work and weather permitting) run a couple of miles in my lunchtime at work. It must be said that I was much more disciplined at this last year than this year - we had a very wet winter and work is relentless.

This pattern of cycling and training continued from January to April 5th – when I got my shiny new mountain bike. My first 20 miles in the ‘real world’ (A.K.A outside the living room and with no TV) was a painful experience. I could not believe how much additional resistance you get on a mountain bike and how hard even a wee breeze can make cycling. I was also not prepared for the bumps and bangs you get on a very unkempt canal path – all this meant that cycling suddenly beame more than popping on my shorts, selecting a dvd and doing 2 hours cycling indoors – no, mark my words, real world cycling is much harder and much more tougher on the system, and man does it hurt places you’ve never hurt before. For this reason it was on April 5^th that I kissed my exercise bike goodbye for the time being and said hello to my mountain bike. I was determined that in little under 2 months I had to get myself a) road worthy and b) able to cycle with a wee head wind….(and possible Yorkshire gale force winds).

The training pattern on the road bike started with gusto and kind of continued in that way. The first day I did 19 miles on my old bike and then 3 on the new bike that afternoon…that’s all my backside could manage. From that moment on 20 miles became my minimum cycling distance and anything less seemed like a cop out. That rule has continued throughout my road cycling training, and progressed to a point where, opposed to doing 20 miles a day a few times a week, I’d start to do a couple of 20 mile rides a day – a few times a week. Stamina from the indoor cycling helped greatly and in the space of a month I went from zero to hero, and so did my thighs! My furthest distance in a day has been just over 55 miles…..and I have done 423 road miles in 4.5 weeks.

But has it been enough???? That is the million $ question that has kept me from sleeping these last 2 nights…answers on a postcard please

I’ll let you know this time next week.

Wish me luck.

Posted: May 20th, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: none

The lessons learned from this ride and associated training are numerous - none more so than the fact that an occasional (ah hem) relaxing drink /refreshment on the evening of a long cycle as a wee reward can reduce moi to a one person P.A.R.T.Y
This is why I keep myself indoors at the moment and out of the public eye That and the fact that, due to the many many miles I have done, I am walking like I have been riding a horse for weeks. It doesn’t look great - no outfit will conceal a swagger like this one!

There’s lots of talk of fun and drinks on the ride itself - correction - at the end of each day’s riding. I can see merit in this but I would be a very bad cyclist with a hangover and I really don’t wish to put all this training to waste for the sake of a few drinkies - so I will apologise in advance for being a bit of a bore when it comes to downing the Amstel at the end of the day. A swift one for me and I’ll be asleep on my sister’s knee - you wait and see:)
That doesn’t mean though, that you should all scrimp on the champers at the end of the ride – no, no. noooooooooo. Don’t be mislead, I can throw caution to the wind and push the boat out when required and it WILL be required  after 250 miles

Posted: May 19th, 2008 under marie's training.
Comments: 2