Let the training... begun?

In the time between getting knocked off my bike in November and getting the insurance company to pay up I did very little riding other than the daily commute of about 6 and a half miles. In a way I guess it was good to have an excuse not to go out in the freezing weather but by the end of it I was getting a bit stir crazy and more than a bit bike obsessed - as I'm sure my girlfriend Kerri will testify to! Although I'm sure she wasn't too annoyed that we had to visit a bike shop in Halifax en route to a romantic night away in Harrogate....

I was itching to get back out on my bike and spending most of my weekends avoiding the long list of jobs that needed doing around the house. So it came as a great relief to both of us when the parts for my new bike arrived one by one in the post and I could build up my new Genesis Equilibrium (more on which later), enabling me to get back out on the road at the weekends for some longer rides.

Three weekends in and it's surprising how quickly you get back into things. (I suppose you could say it's like riding a bike but I would never stoop that low...) I've been building up the mileage and this weekend I went out twice with the Wheelers getting in 147 miles. I was expecting to find it a real struggle at first but I suppose last years riding has set my legs in good stead and I've enjoyed every mile of it.

Today was a great day for riding a bike; dry, no sign of ice and very little wind. There were countless groups of riders out in the lanes of Cheshire making the most of it and/or getting in some last minute training before the impending race season. Hopefully the last of the freezing weather is behind us and we're in for a nice mild couple of months before a long hot summer kicks in*. Roll on next weekend!


* I accept no responsibility if this doesn't actually happen and the summer is another washout.

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Why RoadPeace?

I would be lying if I said my main motivation for cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats is an altruistic desire to make the world a better place. It's not like I'm putting myself through something unpleasant in order to warrant sponsorship - at least I'm hoping I won't find it too unpleasant! My motivation is the enjoyment and challenge of completing the ride but, having decided to do the ride, I wanted to make use of it to raise a bit of money and awareness for a good cause.

Whilst I was considering various charities one of my Wheelers clubmates mentioned the Team Townend Pushbike Challenge, a ride run in memory of his nephews Christian and Niggy Townend who were killed when out cycling. The event raises money for RoadPeace, a charity for road crash victims. Reading up about the charity left me in no doubt that this was a cause I wanted to support.

Every day most of us use the roads, whether it's driving, catching a bus, cycling or simply walking to the shops and, sadly, every day people lose their lives on them. This is brought home to me when hearing about people like Christian & Niggy or Lewis Balyckyi, a young Preston cyclist also killed last year when out on a training ride.

Many more are seriously injured, such as my brother who was left in intensive care by a driver who lost control of her car. I myself was lucky to escape injury when another driver drove her car into the side of me. So supporting road crash victims, campaigning for justice for victims and campaigning for reduced road danger are causes that are close to my heart.

When it comes to giving money to charity I understand that for many people it is a very personal thing. Everyone is free to give as much or as little to whichever charity they choose and it is often hard to decide who deserves your money the most. But I would be really grateful if you could take a moment or two to have a look at the RoadPeace website and if you are thinking of giving to charity then please consider sponsoring my ride for RoadPeace.

Thanks,
Alan


Fundraiser profile page - BT MyDonate:
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog

Why LEJoG?

Well, where to start? I suppose the first question is Why? I get asked why a lot.

Why do you cycle to work? Why do you go cycling at the weekend when you cycle to work everyday? Why do you have a ginger beard when your hair is brown? To which the obvious answers are: Because it's the best way of getting to work, Because I enjoy cycling and It isn't, it's ruddy brown*.

I suppose the more relevant question to this blog is "Why are you cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats?" and again, the main reason is because I enjoy cycling. I can't quite remember when I decided I was going to cycle LEJoG but I know there must have been a point when me being a normal, everyday cyclist changed to me wanting to cycle 900 miles in a week. I'm just not sure how it happened.

It began last October when I was having a think about my cycling goals for 2012. It had been over a year since I decided to do the Tour of Britain Stoke Tour Ride in September 2010 and got back into road cycling. I had been cycling regularly with my local cycling club, the Manchester Wheelers, for about 10 months and knew I wanted to take my cycling further.

The obvious route for me to take was racing; the only problem was I'd never raced and my results in the Wheelers time trials didn't suggest I had much raw speed to build from. I regularly got passed by riders starting one, two and sometimes three minutes behind me. On one glorious occasion I actually got overtaken by some other cyclists out on an evening training ride!

Still, a solid winter of training would mean that, come Spring, I would stand a chance of racing and not embarrassing myself. There were two reasons why this didn't happen: 1 - I got knocked off my newly built winter training bike in November and 2 - I lost the motivation to slog myself through a high intensity training regime for something that I might not have a particular talent, or indeed liking, for.

Over the next two months, in the time I wasn't spending trying to get money out of the insurance company for a new road bike, I decided that LEJoG was to be my goal for 2012. The 130 miles I had done for the 2011 version of the Stoke Tour Ride had given me a thirst for long distance cycling, I just needed a reason to get out there and do the miles. And what better reason than training for a ride going from one end of the country to the other? That is assuming Scotland is still part of Britain when I come to doing the ride in May of course!

All of which hopefully answers the Why LEJoG question. Next time: Why RoadPeace?

*Ok, it's ginger.

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