Zero to hero, or perhaps something a little more realistic.
Last weekend I strapped some bags to my bike for the first time in almost 18 months, and embarked on the longest ride I’d done in that time, taking in the back lanes and hills from Bristol to Ludlow. Followed by the return journey home the next day.
It might not seem like a particularly spectacular athletic feat for someone who used to race bikes for a living, but it felt significant to me.
Some people are naturally very confident and fearless when it comes to these things, but most of the time it’s a learned behaviour that becomes routine when repeated successfully. The last time I rode these distances, or set off on a larger scale adventure or challenge, it was after months of preparation.
This time it’s after a year of rarely leaving my apartment aside from going to work, and where my outdoor exploits were few and far between. My comfort zone became smaller and smaller in that time, and the parameters within which I was happy to explore shrunk along with it. It’s easy to convince yourself something isn’t right for you, or that it isn’t the right time, because the truth is you can always be more prepared. But sometimes you just have to start, and maybe it will be better than you ever could have imagined.
I’ve had a few people ask about my training so far, and what plan I’ve been following, but the words ‘training’ and ‘plan’ aren’t the most accurate for what I’ve been doing over the past few months.
Given that I was starting from a baseline of zero hours riding, just getting out there and spending some time in the saddle was the best place to start. The only real aim I was working towards was adding half an hour to my longest ride each week, until I reached the 6 hour mark, and now it’s become about going on some longer adventures and multi-day exploits.
Once the endurance base is solid enough, it’s always surprising how far you can ride, and it becomes all about pacing, fuelling, and keeping your head happy.
I think we often see stories play out in a very similar way in social media. A rider disappears for a while, and then suddenly reappears as a successful athlete. The work it took to get there is lost in the narrative that they’re perhaps just effortlessly better than most, but in reality it’s rarely like that. It’s a slow progression over weeks and months that may or may not culminate in something exceptional in the eyes of others.
Regardless of outcome, I want my riding this year to have come from a place of fun and freedom. Enjoyment is the fuel, and the results will be what they will be.
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The Road to GBDuro with Molly Weaver