A week of ups and downs

I've had my new bike for a week now and it's been a week of ups and downs, but ultimately pretty positive. We had a bit of a disastrous attempt at a ride last Sunday when we tried to follow a map towards Uffculme. Sadly we spent the morning taking a couple of wrong turns, going round in a circle and finding ourselves back between Woodbury and Woodbury Salterton when we were aiming for Aylesbeare! We were both feeling tired and rather wind beaten, so we headed to the park in Woodbury to have our lunch and then came back home again. My arms and shoulders were hurting and I was really struggling with the brakes, having a couple of hairy moments when I really couldn't slow the bike down at all, as well as a few entertaining moments where I'd just overshot where I was aiming to stop! I tried to tell myself I'd done ok given that I had a new bike and was getting used to it, but I actually felt rather disappointed and defeated. Later in the evening we decided to try and drive the route instead so we'd know where we needed to go next time. Even in the car we got a bit lost a few times and by the time we'd done half of the route, we were feeling so tired and hungry we found the nearest main road we could and headed back home! The route seemed to go on forever even in the car, so I think we were being a bit ambitious on this occasion...

We took a day off on Monday to enjoy the bank holiday. I felt we should be cycling again, but also felt in need of a rest. Sometimes it seems really hard to get the balance right. On Tuesday we had plans for later in the evening, so we decided we'd just do a short ride but with a big hill. We headed along the river, up to Topsham Road, then up Pynes Hill and up around the back of the Estate. I coped surprisingly well with the climbing on my new bike, apart from a moment when I changed gears in the wrong direction! Amazingly I managed to stay on the bike, keep cycling and recover the situation, but it really slowed me down. After all the climbing, we inevitably had a big downhill to come. Normally I would look forward to such a reward, but with my not very effective brakes and the down all being in one very steep hill, I had a horrible descent and was rigid with fear by the time I got to the bottom. I had tried stopping so I could get off my bike and walk down the hill, but I couldn't actually apply the brakes enough to stop. It was clear I needed to do something about this and soon!

So - into the Bike Shed I went on Wednesday lunchtime and they fitted some shims for me. These bring the brakes a bit nearer and make them easier to reach. However, after riding my bike home, it was already clear this wasn't enough. So in again I went after work on Thursday and this time they loosened off the brakes for me. I'm pleased to say this has made the bike more managable and I'm now much more confident going down a hill. I still have to work hard if I want to stop, but at least I know I can stop when I need to!

With the bike back in my good books again, we decided we should try and get a couple of decent rides in over the weekend. This was slightly ambitious given that we'd stayed up late to watch the election results on Thursday and then went to a birthday party on Friday night. We didn't really get moving before lunchtime on Saturday and we both still felt really tired, so we decided we'd take the familiar route out to Bickleigh and then try a longer ride on Sunday. It felt like we'd been really fast on our route, but sadly neither my watch nor the GPS reading seemed to agree! We had been cycling into the wind a lot of the way though, so that's my excuse! Luckily we avoided a downpour, despite extremely threatening clouds and a few drops of rain that seemed to indicate we were about to get soaked. As usual, we had a lovely stop at Bickleigh, this time staying inside in the warm, before heading back home again.

Today we went to join the CTC ride for the first time since my accident. I was rather apprehensive about joining the group as I wasn't sure if we'd be able to keep up with everyone. I'd had a restless night too and had woken up at one point due to a pain in my left wrist. Fortunately, the thought of doing the ride was worse than the reality! It was only a small group as there was also a 'Bluebell Ride' today, so 5 of us set off from Broadclyst. For the first part of the ride I felt quite comfortable and really pleased to be out riding with the group again. I was struggling a bit to keep up as I was nervous along the gravelly twisty lanes, but on the whole thought I was doing ok. However, climbing the hill into Talaton nearly finished me off and if the rest of the group weren't stopped at the top of the hill waiting for me, I would have got off and walked. Feeling red in the face and completely exhausted, I hoped Escot was just round the corner. To be fair, it pretty much was, but there was another small section of hill to climb first and once more, I really thought I was going to have to get off and walk, but somehow managed to push on through and make it over the brow of the hill. From there it was all downhill to Escot and a very welcome cup of tea and delicious slice of chocolate cake.

Over tea Mike gave us some tips on our training plan and on pedalling technique, which were very gratefully received. I feel like we're at a stage now where we can take this information on board which is great. When we first joined the group we didn't really have a clue about cycling and we were a bit overwhelmed by everyone's advice on what sort of bikes we needed and what we should be doing. Now with a bit of experience under our belts and much more suitable bikes, everything makes a bit more sense and the whole world of cycling doesn't seem quite so alien! I still haven't got over the fact that I found myself in a bike shop after test riding a bike saying 'it was ok, but it just feels a bit slow...!' I never would have said that when I first started cycling! Pippa also kindly offered to send us details of a route to Uffculme which gives directions, so hopefully that will help next time we find ourselves helplessly meandering through the lanes in East Devon!

From Escot, we took the easy option and Bob kindly led us on a nice leisurely ride to Tipton St. John whilst Mike, Pippa and Robin headed off to do more miles on a hillier route. We seemed to be at Tipton in no time and enjoyed our packed lunches at a picnic table in the park. Bob told us tales of his End to End ride, during which he impressively covered the Isles of Scilly and the Orkneys. At one point we were joined by a friendly alsation. Not long after this his owner came along and started chatting to us about the park. It's owned by the community who rallied round and bought it from the council to ensure it's future. It was a lovely spot and as requested, we left some coins in the collection box as we left.

I was somewhat dreading the cycle back from Tipton as I didn't really know how hard the route back would be and I'd not cycled this far since getting back on the bike. The fact that a road on our route into Aylesbeare was called 'Aylesbeare Hill' did give us an incling that it must be hilly enough to warrant naming it so! This was a bit of a long slog, but after that, the rest of the ride was down hill or pretty flat and rolling, so it was a pleasure to find ourselves at the airport so soon. At Clyst Honiton we said goodbye to Bob who was heading back to his car in Broadclyst and we called in at my mum's to request a cuppa. We found her doing some planting in the garden, but luckily she was happy to come in, wash her hands and make us a lovely cuppa. She also gave us a nice big cheque towards our sponsorship money, which was wonderful - thanks mum!

Dragging myself out of the comfy sofa, we cycled back through Clyst St Mary and home. Although I was feeling tired on the last stretch, I was also delighted that we'd managed such a good day of riding. I'm not entirely sure what route we cycled, but having a guess at it on bike hike, we seem to have covered around 36miles, so that's not bad going. I was quite pleased that we'd covered 62 miles in total this weekend, but then it's hard to stop that nagging voice in my head which says: 'but you've got to do 87miles on the first day of London to Paris...'