Tour De Hope - My Journey Part One

Eazi Business • June 1, 2020

I am a firm believer in never asking anyone to do something that you are not prepared to do yourself, and I encourage others to set themselves the very highest challenge when fundraising so they will get the support and buy-in from friends and family.

After being at Hope for three years I have watched two of our biennial cycle rides, a firm favorite in Hope’s event calendar, I have to say that being a non-cyclist, I thought they were all crazy cycling hundreds of miles a day - the chaffing and the saddle soreness amongst other injuries and ailments! After seeing them all tackle and achieve the 2,500 Furlongs back in 2019 I said to our office manager, “Hey Barb, I think I will do it next time!” She has held me to it and this is where my journey begins.

I wanted to blog/vlog my journey for myself, because when I say this is a challenge. When I have the tough days and feel like giving up I want to read back through and see how far I have come. I want to share my journey with others I hope to inspire and get them to think; “If she can do it, so can I!”. I hear so many people say, “I can’t do that, it’s too far. I haven’t time to train”. Sometimes you just have to crack on with it and embrace the journey.

I have to say I don’t have a great relationship with cycling. The history would tell my future self not to do it. I can remember I must have been about five years old when my Dad said on a lovely spring day that today I was going to learn how to ride a bike! I was happy on my trike albeit my knees were bruised from hitting the handle bars. Out from the garage came my sister’s old bike, dusty and rusty to say the least but it had been well loved by both sisters, 10 and 12 years older than me. After a few weekends I got my balance and I rode it. I didn’t really like it and never ventured from our drive on it. I must have been around eight or nine, when you start to want your independence and when in school holidays, I went to the childminders where all the other kids had bikes and went to the shop to buy sweets. I wanted to go too, so I nagged my Mum for a new bike. She took me to the bike shop and bought me my first brand new bike, a Raleigh Bluebell, with a little basket. I decorated it with streamers and “spokey-dokies” and the free reflectors that you got in the Frosties cereal packets in the 80’s. I had a great summer going to the shop with my friends, until late August when I went on a ride round the block with my friends and some older boys ridiculed my bike and chased me on it. Not being a competent or confident rider, they caught up with me and pushed me off my bike, picked it up and threw it in the road. After they went I got my bike and pushed it home, feeling so sad that they had done that to my bike after my Mum had spent a lot of money on it. But I was certain I wasn’t going to ride that bike again…... And I didn’t.

I didn’t miss my bike. I only rode it to keep in with my peers. Then in my last year at primary school we had the cycling proficiency tests. Everyone was so excited. I put my name down to do it and I went home and again nagged my Mum for a pink Raleigh Prima (that is what all the cool kids had). My Mum reluctantly got me one on the proviso that I would actually ride it. “Of course, Mum. When I pass, I can go on roads and everything!” My poor parents bought in to my enthusiasm. I got the bike and it felt huge. The wheels were massive and it had GEARS!!? No way was I using gears, so I practised riding a straight and even line up and down the cul- de- sac where I lived. I didn’t ride my bike into school. I pushed it. I wasn’t competent or confident to ride it and I liked getting the adoring looks that this cool bike drew from my friends. The test then came ……. I failed, I hit every cone and fell off numerous times. Then the worst part happened. I braked too sharply and went head-first over my handlebars. The playground was filled with laughter at my plight and I had to go home and tell my Mum I'd failed and wasted her money. That Raleigh Prima went in the garage gathering dust next to my Raleigh Bluebell.

So, having not ridden a bike in 30 years, today’s the day I see if I still have balance, I am not very well coordinated and I drive an automatic car as I could never master gears. So today, Friday 8th May 2020, I am taking my husband’s mountain bike to the sports field to see if I can ride, before I go and buy a road bike more suited to this challenge. So what is the challenge? Details are yet to be confirmed but we are looking to do up to 100 miles a day over four days cycling around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Organised by and raising vital funds for Hope Against Cancer, to fund world-class cutting-edge cancer research here in Leicestershire.

I have now returned home – with no injuries and with the help of Simon from “Fix My Bike”, my husband has purchased a road bike for me that I am going to collect tomorrow. Let the journey begin!

Saturday 9th May – Bike collected! They adjusted the seat in the shop and said that I was to go for a little ride so they could see if it’s right, I instantly felt sick! I got on the bike and I rode it but soon realised my hands were in the wrong position to brake and I was screaming, “Ian help! How do I stop?”. I eventually stopped by slowly reducing speed by using my feet. When I returned home I went to an empty car park to get more of a feel for the bike. I began turning and trying to use my brakes, but it all feels alien to me. Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day and as my Mum always said, practice makes perfect.

May 25, 2020 – So, it is just over two weeks since I learnt to ride my bike. My next challenge was to tackle roads. It has to be said I feel much safer when I am encased in a metal car! I have built up to a staggering seven miles. I am struggling with gears, hills and that saddle. I am gripping my brakes so tight that my hands feel very bruised. Whilst I have to remind myself that I have come an awful long way, I am so daunted at just how far I have to go!

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