The Leading for Life Challenge

Zi-Su and I started our training plan last night.  We are aiming for a 20 mile ride every Tuesday and 60 mile rides on the weekend.

We chose a route that left from our house on St Clements, up through Headington and Barton, left at the ‘T’ towards Islip, through Islip, left towards Kidlington and then left back into Summertown.  Google Maps tells us that it was 14 miles so we were a bit under our target.

The route was hilly but the weather was beautiful as was the scenery.  When we were leaving Islip, we came across a railroad crossing that required us to raise the gates ourselves.  We found this to be quite a humorous moment and took to taking photos of this strange occurence, much to the chagrin of the people who lived in the house next to the gates.

The verdict on our fitness is that we need to do some training before the beginning of July.  My bum was sore when I got back on my bike today (despite my padded cycling shorts).  And last night, I had eaten my fill of macaroni and cheese before going so the first 30 minutes was hard work on my stomach.  As I do this long distance cycling, I’m finding the food and hydration aspect to be what’s most interesting.  A few weekends ago, I did a long 60 mile cycle — we clipped along at a good pace but I didn’t drink near enough water and my legs cramped at about mile 45.  When you’re cycling, drinking water becomes a discipline that goes far beyond whether or not you’re thirsty and becomes much more about fueling your body.  And actually, water doesn’t even do the job adequately.  Instead, I’ve got to make this concoction with a powder that replenishes my electrolytes and salts/sugars.

Our next long trip is Sunday where the forecast is heavy rain.  But the cycling has to go ahead as it very well could rain when we’re cycling to Paris.  We are looking for a good pub to have lunch in — one that will let in two potentially wet and spandex-clad cyclists…