Yesterday was the Essex County 60 mile bike ride organised by Bike Events. It set off from the cycle centre not too far from me and so yet again my alarm was set for some ungodly hour on a Sunday morning so that I was ready to get on my bike and numb my lady parts once again in the name of fitness.
I set off with my friends Helen and Steve and along the route we found our other friends Tim, Min, Nate and Lisa B out for a morning ride that coincided with our route and so off we all set for part of it together. We hit a lot of the route that we do on our club ride and was nice to be on familiar roads. At one point we had some musical genius with Lisa singing, Nate acting as a human beat box and me making odd noises as I didn’t know the words – we have the voices of angels – deaf, mute angels.
We had stopped for a toilet break and whilst waiting we saw a fellow rider clip wheels with the rider in front and ending up on the floor in the middle of the road – so easily done! Tim and Nate were the first ones over to check the guy was ok followed by the rest of us, of course with Lisa B always on hand to help anyone on route. After she cleaned the bloody elbow up and gave the guy an energy gel for some sugar off she set to a nearby pub for a first aid kit. Romford CC is full of very helpful members!
At about 40 miles we went in separate directions with Helen, Steve and myself continuing to finish the ride and along the way we met up with yet another fellow Romford CC member, James.
I have said before I am not the biggest fan of hills and I knew that we would hit Theydon Bois at about 40 miles and so from the 40 mile mark on my garmin I was looking for this beast to creep up on me. It was actually at about 50 miles and it didn’t creep up on me I rounded a corner and knew instantly this was the b*stard. I counted 17 people walking this hill! Far too stubborn to stop I carried on until the top and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be (though don’t think I will purposely plan a route out there any time soon).
Following that we hit Loughton and I must say it was then stop start for the final 10 miles with traffic lights, roundabouts and a lot of traffic – not the best route for a bike ride. Towards the end our four ended up split in two with me riding with the lovely James and Steve and Helen together. At the finish we also found the lovely Laura from Romford CC with her friend Nicola who had completed the 35 mile route. Another ride done with no forecast for rain and yet most of the ride was accompanied by a lovely drizzle.
I do know I need to figure out how to put on my sunglasses whilst riding or just remember to put them on before I set off. After Lisa B had done her first aider routine I wondered what it was tapping my chin only to remember I had pulled my glasses down and then had to struggle to get them back on whilst cycling and trying not to fall off as I have the coordination of a drunken monkey. I got there in the end and gave Steve and Nate a laugh at least.
Yesterday was also the day that a fellow Romford CC member and friend was completing her first half Iron Man event. I am of course referring to the awesome Nikki Warnes and she smashed it. We were checking the tracker app every time we stopped on the ride to see her progress. Her and her mascot Iron Elmo finished in 7 hours and 18 minutes and so want to say a massive well done to her – never had any doubt she would be amazing! If you want to follow Nikki and her Iron Elmo she is on facebook here so show her some love as she has her full Iron Man in a few weeks time! https://www.facebook.com/IronElmo?fref=ts
Of course this morning was weigh in day and I am so desperately trying to get to the 50 pound loss mark. I have lost 48.5 pounds so far and it is getting slower and slower but with another 2-3 stone left to go until I reach the weight I want to be I am determined not to give up though I will happily admit that some Mondays I step on those scales and see no change and rather than listen to my own words of wisdom that muscle weighs more than fat I do instead want to hurl the scales out of the window. Measuring is good though and I do still do that every month or two and from about this time last year I have lost 16 inches in total across my waist, hips and boobies! So anyway I was extremely pleased this morning to see I lost 1.5 pounds taking me to the 50 pound loss mark!! (insert smug face)
Now I am running out of the door to start my run with hill repeats – if you don’t hear from me again the hill beat me!
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