Chon Lee - Cycle Challenge

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I really needed it!

A summary of my day…

The sheer relief I felt when my knees were still moving relatively freely after the first 4 hour session (those weeks doing knee strengthening exercises paid off) gave me the confidence that I could actually go on and complete the distance.

However that was soon eroded by the amount of pain certain body parts were experiencing. Switching saddles didn’t make a huge difference and the ride became a mental battle; with my resolve to finish the “race” weakening in the face of the increasing pain and tiredness.

Approaching 160 miles, that just seemed like such an ideal, tempting juncture (⅔ of the way there and double my longest ride) at which to call it a day and put an end to the suffering.

Fortunately my wife was on hand to spur on squeeze in just an extra lap (earning another £47 for the charity). That one extra lap, became another; and slowly but surely (had to ignore the kids urging me to chase down the countless cyclists overtaking me at that stage) I pressed on towards the goal. When I eventually reached the target of 240 miles, I was utterly spent. Boy, am I glad that it’s over!

Have a renewed level of respect for all those who completed this AW1D challenge during lockdown in order to raise money for the NHS, especially Mark Beaumont for starting this all and his record breaking cycle round the world cycle in 80 days which involved 70+ consecutive days doing this sort of distance.

I could hardly manage ascending and descending the stairs more than a few times today.

Morning Ride

backup recording on my wahoo just in case of technical issues with RGT

AW1D - I did it! ✌

Please feel free to donate... https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/520 donations are being matched by the Artemis Charitable Foundation so anything you donate will be doubly put to good use! 👍

A bit of math…

if I average 15 miles an hour, I’ll compete the distance of 240 miles in 16 hours ( as you can see, putting my maths degree to good use!)

Starting at 6am I should be done by 10pm

I imagine I could go quicker but having attempted this distance before (failing miserably and hurting my knee in the process), think it would be for the best to try and pace myself appropriately this time round; and hopefully complete the distance without incurring any injuries.

Anyway 16 hours at 15 mph…

Breaking it down; that’s 4 blocks of 60 miles in 4 hours

Easier to focus on each 4 hour block rather than the daunting target of 240 miles.

Noticed a bit of a wobble with the cranks. Spent the best part of this evening trying to fix it, up cleaning the chain, cassette. Not sure if it's much better than when i started *sigh*

Only a week to go now 'til I take on this cycle challenge next Thursday.

Having developed various aches and pains from commuting and putting in extra March miles for another charity; it's gradually starting to dawn on me what I have actually signed myself up for...

Need to somehow balance training with rest for this final week leading up the day of the event.