1st April 2014
The recent email from the Foundation suggesting it was time to recommence blogging, with less than ten weeks to go until the Rivers Ride, struck fear through me.
A couple of weeks ago, after a winter where I continued my training, I was feeling confident. However, a recent injury has made the start of this year’s training a much more daunting affair.
In fact, on a cycle ride in early February, I outperformed a friend and long time cycling partner for the first time ever. It felt alien to lead the pack and to be able to continue at pace as my friend slowed down. In fact, I felt I had a bit of an insight into what it must be like to cycle with me. I found myself surprised when he wanted to stop for a rest, thinking we’d only just had one.
Sadly, this feeling of superiority and confidence in my training didn’t last long – a squash injury soon put paid to that. As a result, I have managed very little cycling over the last month or so – at the gym or otherwise.
The worrying thing is that my innocent sounding ‘Baker’s cyst’ continues hang around my knee making its presence known.
However, this weekend’s temporary arrival of summer meant that I simply had to get out – injury or not. I’m happy to inform you that I have been out for a couple of rides and have enjoyed them both. I was alarmed to notice a visible drop-off in performance, but was pleased to quickly recover my passion for cycling and reassured that the knee injury didn’t prove much more than an irritation.
So I’m now hoping that embarrassing Strava segment times will make me focus on increasing my speed, and the thought of completing a 75 mile ride will quickly scare me into increasing the length of my rides back to something worth cladding myself in toilet-trip-hindering lycra in the first place.
I’ll let you know how I get on.