Having never been much of a cyclist, I bought my first commuting bike last summer in a fit of desperation against using the London transport system and paying Ken’s congestion charge. There are only so many times a man can get stuck, vomited on, arrested (for terrorism - not charged), and pick pocketed before he realises that there must be an easier way of getting about town.
In the few remaining days of summer, I realised just quite how incredibly liberating having a bike can be...I was instantly hooked. My biggest issue of getting from A to B in London had never been the cost nor the time, not even the quadruple changes via C,D and E. But the total reliance of an antiquated system that was seemingly always late, cancelled or smelling of pee. With my bike I was always moving, never late and breathing only mildly toxic air.
However the jump from cycling commuter to aspiring pro-tour rider was, even to me, mildly incredulous. An initial first meeting with the Tour de Force team in late November sparked a serious interest to try my hand at a few stages. This then snowballed after my first training ride of 40 miles (the most I had ever ridden in my life) to 6 stages....a month later, I was signed up to do the whole thing.
Yes I enjoyed the freedom, and the exercise, and the gradual understanding of a sport, that only months previously, I knew nothing about. But most of all, it was that there was something within the human psyche of pushing yourself just that little bit further, a little bit harder, and a little bit faster, that cycling so brilliantly satisfied. Pain seemed to go hand-in-hand with pleasure. The more pain I endured the more pleased I was with myself at the end of the day.
But still .... the complete Tour de France circuit! What on earth was I thinking? I still had cycled no more than 80 miles in one session and I was already having issues with my right knee. Surely time and situation were on my side? I was fairly fit, self-employed and had the adage of ‘no wife, no children, no problem’. But as my training increased, this total naivety quickly turned into a fearful realisation of what I had taken on.
Saturday, 12 June 2010
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