Middle aged woman on a bike
I don’t know what caused my latest flare up, but once it starts it's a spiralling cycle of feeling dreadful, then feeling better, then a sudden urge to stay close to the bathroom, and then the inevitable hopelessness in knowing that you have little control over what happens when you’re away from your home unless you starve yourself. This is what living with IBD looks like…..
Now that I had set myself on a course to complete the Great British Escapade I needed to get comfortable with off road riding. But with my Ribble CGR having a road set up, I needed to consider whether it was going to possible to make inexpensive changes to the bike to make it suitable, or if I would in fact be better off dusting off my old Specialized Rockhopper that had been languishing in the basement for years.
I knew I needed to make sure that I didn’t scrimp on my sleep on this trip, but despite being on the road for over 16 hours, and riding almost 200 miles the day before, I was wide awake when I arrived at my hotel room. I scattered my belongings around the room, thought about my day,
Whenever you want to attempt something pretty epic, it's generally a good idea to have some kind of plan. And like a good Cub Scout it helps to always be prepared.
How do you get your head around the idea of being able to cycle 1800 miles in 10 days?
It's quite simple - you dont!
You can't really. You can get your head around the idea of a long ride, and even several long rides. But one single ride from the bottom to the top of the country and back again? That's a lot to process. Especially when you don't have a great track record time wise.
Unless you've had your head in a bucket of sand, there's no escaping the current global situation. From a sporting perspective, most of this year's events have either been cancelled or postponed. There's still no guarantee that even the postponed events or those scheduled for later in the year will go ahead since we just don't know how any easing of restrictions will take effect, and whether groups that are part of the sporting experience will be permitted to gather. Whether you are a follower or a participant in your chosen sport, this is an uncertain time and that IS a certainty!
Now that's the gloomy news over, but I'm determined that this post today will be an upbeat and helpful one.