Ride UK 24 host a whole range of challenge events whereby you are given 24 hours to complete the event.

My friend Helen had signed up for the Newcastle to London bike event.  Did you see the title of this post and think it was me?! Are you mad it’s 308 miles! In one go! Having to complete it within 24 hours!

I did, however, offer to ride a stage or two with her as support as she had signed up for this on her own.  She’s a bit mental you see.

My brother in law lives in Leeds and so we travelled up on the Friday and decided we would head to the second stage starting in Darlington and I would jump in there.

Technically not breaking any rules as its open roads, I’m using all my own food and drink and my husband is in the support car with everything we could need.  Literally everything – bike pump, inner tubes, tyres, spare everything and the list goes on.

All events I have done have a rest stop, or multiple, but they are completely optional.  As this is a 24 hour challenge it is mandatory to stop at every rest stop and the lead pace group always leaves first.  As you enter your number is scanned so they keep a track of everyone on the ride and no one is left behind.  Kit bags move from rest stop to rest stop.  Food and drink was in abundance.  The team who staffed were amazing.  These events are not cheap to enter and you can see exactly where every penny goes.  Kudos to this company both my husband and I were so impressed.

Darlington to York was less than 1,000 feet of climbing over 47 miles so pretty flat.  Helen had met a girl called Heather on the event Facebook page and rode some of the first stage with her so she joined us for the second stage.  It was quick.  We averaged approx 19 mph apparently.  I’ve never average 19 mph! I was pretty pleased though knew it was unlikely I would be able to maintain that pace for a second stage and didn’t want to hold up Helen on her event – I was supposed to be there as support!

We hit the third stage and again was pretty flat.  The group we headed out with got split pretty quickly coming out of York (which is beautiful by the way and I will definitely be going back for a visit!).  There were traffic lights, of which we hit reds at most, traffic congested as you would expect in a busy town and roundabouts.  Soon Helen and I were on our own.  It was fine and we took it in turns on the front.

The weather forecast for this ride was pretty horrendous with a promise of rain, a thunderstorm and the Daily Mail even reported a tornado?! The rain did start and we pulled over to put on waterproofs though it was so hot we felt like boil in the bag something or other, so after ten minutes when the rain had stopped we did and took them off again! Then we had a thunderstorm though again for only ten minutes. And then came the wind! The wind this year seems relentless and it’s rare to have a ride where you are not battling against it.  We caught up with two other guys and between us we took it in turns on the front gaining another member of our team and then another again.

We had completed just under 95 miles in less than five and a half hours so an average of 17.5mph.  I was so happy with that!

Time to switch and so I came off the bike and the husband got on his to be support for Helen.

I’ve mentioned before about my husband and his kebab leg.  Well after completing his Olympic distance triathlon and smashing his three hour time he wanted and completing the Prudential Ride London 100 mile cycle ride he was hoping to do a long stint if not complete the ride with Helen.

T’was not to be! After the first stage for him of just under 50 miles he could not feel his left leg and his sock and show had dug in so badly from the swelling he couldn’t feel his left leg it was numb.  I had made him promise that if his leg was bad he wouldn’t continue and so that was it for him!

Helen had her own entourage at the event and so her friend Abbie, who she had cycled to Paris with in 24 hours, hopped on a spare bike and took a turn.  I have never cycled at night and the thought petrified me plus I’d cooled down from my two stages so probably wouldn’t have been much help! After Abbie then another friend, Alain, jumped on for the final two stages.

The two support cars, one was us, drove from rest stop to rest stop to see them.  At the penultimate rest stop I will admit I was slightly worried about Helen and Heather.  It was now 3am and both just wanted to be done.  It was pitch black outside.  Helen referred to Heathers helmet as her hat ha ha and both forced down food to keep them fuelled for the final two stages.  The feeling at this rest stop was sombre to say the least.  Lots of people in various mental states of their own, not much laughing and joking, lots of stretching and more staring into space.  The 24 hour pace maker came in and the mood changed.  Everyone was there with the sole purpose of completing this ride within 24 hours.  This poor guy sat on his own and Heather referred to him as the grim reaper ha ha (nothing personal of course).

The final rest stop everyone coming in was done and just wanted it to be over though it was light again and made such a difference.  This was a quick pit stop and back on the road.  They had just over four hours to complete the final 41 miles.  They headed off and we got back in the cars, drove home spare bikes and kit and made our way to the finish.  Waiting for people on events is nerve wracking, every time someone comes in you cheer (it can be quite emotional) and keep checking the tracking app to see where your friends are.  The last stage was hilly and came in through Chigwell and then into Smithfields market in London.

They finished at 23 hours and 20 minutes so well under the 24 hours and it was smiles all round.  What an achievement! They could get off their bikes (or remove their bikes from their person as it would feel after that long in the saddle), not have to worry about applying any more chamois cream (would be like an old leather handbag by now anyhow), save the Garmin rides to store the ride data and take their well earned medal and glass of bubbly.

Although I was tired from my stint and more from being up all night I had an absolute blast and would happily be support for a ride like that for someone (may even think about taking part – depending on how hilly the course is) it was so much fun and a huge team effort.

Job well done – well done Helen!!

And i lost 1 lb too this week ha ha!

On Sunday I was, yet again, up at the crack of dawn for another event.  I was unsure how I would be following the longest run I had done the day before though I had seen a number of amazing people when I got back from Hyde Park who were in our local park (the one that I run in) completing a 24 hour race called Spitfire Scramble.  That’s right 24 hours!  You could do it in a team or individually and we had popped over to show some support to some people we knew that were taking part (local triathlon club team from Havering Tri came 10th overall – massive well done!).  I figured if these guys were camping out and taking it in turns to run 10k laps for 24 hours I am sure I can manage a 51 mile bike ride after my 10 mile run.

So off to Colchester I headed with two lovely ladies Lucy from Paddle Pedal Pace and Helen for a new event ran by Wiggle very aptly, for where we live, called The Only Way.  (Everything in our area seems to have latched onto this and following The Only Way Is Essex TV show we have bike shops, animal groomers, beauty salons and tanning salons all with similar names!)

It was a tour of Essex and Suffolk in rolling countryside.  I should know by now that rolling countryside means hill after hill after hill after drag after incline after slope.  These are not my favourite sort of rides.  I like flat.  Flat and no hills.  Especially after running so much the day before.

There were three distances for this event short (51 miles), standard (74 miles) and epic (98 miles).  We were doing the short at 51 miles.

The three of us set off and it worked out great as we were able to ride closely together for pretty much all of it as we found we cycled at about the same level though in the second half I could feel every hill in my heavy legs but could redeem myself on the descent or the flat.

I try not to look at my Garmin as I go up a hill as I would rather not know the gradient though there were a few that snuck up on us today that kicked up to 14% and 15% – these were not my friends.

The event was run in conjunction with PowerBar so at the feed stop there was nutrition and refreshments – bars, energy drinks, water and all free.  We had all come prepared so didn’t need to stop for this but was great for those that wanted it.

It was £23 for the 51 mile route and you got a lot for your money!  Not only did you get all the PowerBar nutrition at the feed stops but you also had support vehicles dotted along the route should you need them (thankfully we didn’t).  When you finished you got a medal, finishers t-shirt, PowerBar and packet of the official snack of Mark Cavendish – pistachios!  I’m not making that up it was actually on the packet.

You are allocated times for Wiggle events based on when you finish and you can either get Gold, Silver or Bronze – obviously the quicker you are the better you get and we managed to get a Gold award for our ride so I was pretty chuffed especially with the elevation.

Another lovely event completed with two lovely ladies – and another medal for the collection!

Yesterday was the Prudential Ride London bike event.  This event is 100 miles starting from the Olympic Park in Stratford heading out to Surrey through the Surrey Hills and back again to London to finish on The Mall.  What is different about this event is that it is closed roads, which makes such a difference – no having to stop and unclip from the pedals for traffic lights, zebra crossings, junctions its just go go go.

To get a place for this event you have to put in to a ballot and so it is dependant on that if you get in – and everyone wants a place!  You can of course go for a charity place. It was the third year this year and I must admit feels like it is becoming a bit like the London Marathon and whilst that is also an amazing event charity places do require such huge amounts of money which in itself can be a daunting commitment without any of the training for the actual event itself.

I was lucky and got a place and between the members of my club getting either a ballot place or opting for a charity place there were so many of us taking part not forgetting the all important friends and partners and family members that are waiting for us all at the finish line or in either St James’s park or Green park with food and drink after the event.

The event starts at 6am and you are allocated in advance a wave colour, letter and number and a time to set off though this ranges up to 9am so it is the luck of the draw if you are near someone else’s time so you can ride with them.  You can pull over as you go through and wait for people though again depends on the time difference.  I was lucky as there were six of us who regularly cycle together and our start times ranged from 6am to 6:09am so we agreed in advance we would ride as a group.

The benefit of having an early start time is that there is less people on the road already though does mean your alarm is set for some ungodly hour which is still in the middle of the night in my opinion!  Saturday I set my alarm for 5am with the logic that by 8pm I would get in bed and be able to sleep so that I had a decent sleep before my alarm was to go off at 3.45am!  And it worked!  By 7:30am I had made my own energy bars, two batches of cupcakes, done the washing and was in the local park with the husband and the pooch!  Our friend Rob came down from Stafford and stayed with us and through the day different friends popped in (Tim, Rich, Nikki, Jhon, Sophie and Hugh).  By the time 6pm came around we had dinner with Rob, Sophie and Hugh and after eating our body weights in pasta we were the most unsociable bunch ready for bed, which we all did.

Hugh drove us with the bikes to the start line bless him which was amazing as the trains do not run that early!  We checked in our bags and headed to our start pens.  It was busier than last year as I think so many people pulled out because of the awful weather and it took some time to get to our pens which seemed to be chaos and full of all different numbers and colours and so they had to create an overflow pen which Minnie and I got directed into meaning the rest of our bunch (Brett, Tim, Sophie and Lisa) had gone through and were patiently waiting wondering where we were.  The holding pen meant we were delayed by half an hour!  But we were ready for the off!

As we went through we saw the rest of our group and our ride began.

The first 50 miles or so are through London and flat and so before you know it you are halfway through the ride to be greeted by the first of the 3 main hills, Newlands Corner.  On the hills there is a lot of congestion and you can often only go as fast as the person in front of you as there is simply no room to go round.  The rule (or rather courtesy) is that the slower riders stick to the left and faster riders to the right so you will often here ‘on your right’ being shouted so you are aware someone is about to pass.  Don’t get me wrong if a hill beats you then you have two choices unclip and stop or keep trying and probably fall over!  There were a few just stopping anywhere and so quick manoeuvring is required but the first hill was done and we decided to stop in a hub for a loo break.

I must mention the eggs here.  One of our group had bought some hard boiled eggs with her and at the hub asked if anyone wanted an egg.  Lisa B has a heart of gold, mad as a bunch of frogs but we love her.  We didn’t much love the eggs, or the smell of the eggs.  We also wondered where she had been keeping them for 50 odd miles?!

Once you are in the Surrey Hills it is rolling hills most of the way and I knew we had the beast coming up – Leith Hill.  Last year because we had the tail end of Hurricane Bertha some of the roads were flooded and they deemed them too dangerous so the course was cut short and I didn’t get to do either Leith Hill or Box Hill – at the time I was half relieved I didn’t have to do them but at the same time felt like I hadn’t really completed the whole thing and so this year I would do the full ride but Leith Hill petrified me.  It is one of those hills that just keeps going and then it turns and then kicks up again and then turns and kicks up again and then turns and kicks up again.  It’s a bit like Old Church B*tch hill I train on but longer and steeper and worse.  I really didn’t want to have to stop on this hill and walk – I am way too stubborn!  I am not sure what was worse my husband joking halfway up that we were done or as you see the next kick seeing all the cyclists out of their seats barely moving climbing up.  My stomach was filled with dread and I think I had already come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to get off my bike.  But I didn’t!!!!  I only went and cycled up the beast they call Leith Hill!! All of us did!!  I breathed a sigh of relief knowing the worst was over and could relax for the remainder of the ride.

The only good thing about hill climbing is that you get a descent afterwards and the descent from Leith Hill was amazing!  It was pretty much all downhill until we reached Box Hill which is a zig zag hill.  As we hit the first zig my husband pointed out the huge hill next to us to tell me we were going to the top, I told him to f*ck off, I did not need to know that.  It was a steady incline that just zigged and zagged four times I think and we were done though first we passed one crazy lone man on a corner literally screaming ‘Woooooh you can do it go on woooooh’ and I must say the people who come out to see this ride and cheer the riders on make the atmosphere amazing it really gets you going.  My husband in particular likes to shout to tell them to cheer and we laugh as we pass through towns with this ripple of cheering.

As you can see from our kit we stand out – remember when Sophie and I did a ride and one guy said he couldn’t work out if the kit was hideous or genius – well it worked and for the whole route we were being cheered on – go Romford!!  It was amazing!  Of course they were all there for us, just us, Romford CC ha ha.

Before we knew it we were on the final ten miles and heading back through London to the finish.  Two of our other team members, Jamie and Jason, had stopped to wait for us so we could finish together and so as we hit the Mall we formed a line which consisted of Jamie, Jason, Brett, Tim, Sophie, Minnie, Lisa B and me and we went down The Mall in that line and crossed the finish in that line.  It was epic! I am praying someone got a photo of it!! It was so emotional to finish together after having rode together.  We had cycled as a six, sang, joked, chatted, laughed and it was probably my most favourite ride to date I loved it!

We all clocked our Garmin’s hit the 100 mile mark and stopped and saved our ride data.  Cycled to the end of The Mall to get our medals, goody bags and collect our kit bags we had left in the morning.  I must say this event is so well organised it is so easy for checking and collecting the bags, the hubs always have so much food and drink (though it can take the best part of half an hour getting in and out), there are St John’s ambulance along the way and Mavic support motorbikes and cars.

At the end we have a super team of supporters including wives, husbands, partners, friends and family.  In Green park they letter the trees so it’s easy to arrange a meeting point (R for us for Romford CC) and we then spend hours eating and drinking and talking about the ride.

I took loads of pics so this post will have more photos than usual.  My sister came up with my nieces and here is me with my gorgeous niece Ellie:

Here is the Queen herself the lovely Sophie:

My son Jack:

Our singing, crazy, eggy Lisa B:

A family shot with the husband, son and his girlfriend Elisha:

And last but by no means least my husband who stayed with me on every hill and was amazing!

So this year I got my second Prudential Ride London medal and for the full thing!  Super chuffed!!

We did run out of plastic glasses for the celebrations afterwards though you get a water bottle in your goody bag so they were used for wine instead (we are that classy)!

I also want to mention my friend Becky – she bought a bike about 3 months ago but only started cycling 2 months ago and got a place with her work for this ride.  I thought she was mental – 100 miles is a long way on a bike.  She did it!  Just goes to show what you can do with determination!  Amazing!

I saw this in a porta loo – I know I am slightly going to lose some of the meaning seeing as this was written on the inside of a toilet cubicle but still you get the gist!

What made it even better was that I weighed myself today and lost another 1.5 lbs so the plaque is updated too – what an amazing weekend!