Exactly two weeks later, as I write this, and overall impressions start to become clear at last, although I still have no real sense of the scale of the achievement. I do wonder, though, where on earth all that energy came from?!
What was the hardest aspect of the challenge?
The relentless daily rhythm of the ride now seems to have been the hardest aspect. 9-10 hours in the saddle, 12 hours door-to-door, meant very long days on the road. I remained totally focused on the task the whole time, I had to. Claire lived patiently and devotedly beside me, not with me. ( I justified, in my own mind, my apparent selfish attitude when I recently read that a Pro Rider has to think exclusively of himself if he is to perform well and those around him have to live their lives around him!!) Fortunately, for both of us, things are now slowly falling back into their original place! Alas though, that does mean no more massages or hot bath waiting when I get back from work!
Do I want to get back on my bike?
(Stupid question!) Last week I began to turn the pedals again, feeling the need after nearly 10 days off the road. I was actually quite relieved to feel restless legs again – no, I haven’t O. D.’d on cycling! Actually, there hasn’t been a backlash of any kind going on in my body. Although I could count my ribs in the mirror with ease towards the end of the ride, it seems that what little weight I might have lost I managed to put back on after 2 days of fine eating and relaxing at Annecy. I weighed in at my usual 64 kgs once I we were back home. Bum : either it is dead forever, or it has held on to it’s patches of ‘croco-skin’. I can sit down on any seat, no problem!
So how do I feel about it all?
- I feel happy and relieved that I did not let all you sponsors down.
- I feel that, although 4,600km seems a very big circle and 82 vertical kms seems a long way UP, the real battle was done and won in the first 7 days. It was on the 8th day that I began to realise that my body was going to be able to handle this and that I had in fact done sufficient training for this thing.
- Mostly though, I feel that to have raised £6,600 ( approx. ,once all donations are in) for M.A.G. has made it really worthwhile. And for that I thank each and every one of you VERY much.
Different ways this money can be used include :-
• To clear almost 4,500 sq metres of land
• To buy 3 fully functioning metal detectors
• To field one fully equipped, 15-man Mine Action Team for 1 month
What would I change if I had/was to do it again?
Regarding the ride itself, not much since the challenge has to stay difficult yet feasible- and I don’t think it would be sensible to make it any harder!. However , Claire managed to hold down a role that should definitely be done by two, if not three, people. Her achievement was easily as great as mine, but without the same sense of achievement and for that I will never be able to thank her enough…on the other hand she comes to the ‘50’ barrier in two years, so she might have come up with a solution to that problem by then!!
Will I write about this ‘Belle Aventure’ in more detail?
Gunner Giles and I have put together a 2,000-word article that will appear in Cycling Plus magazine mid-October. Order it now at your local newsagent to avoid disappointment! This will provide a pleasant ‘official’ souvenir for us. But once the bike dust has finally settled here at home, Claire and I will get out the maps and route sheets on the long winter evenings and record our banter as we recall each day. I am sure that even three or four months later our impressions will still be crystal clear. From these recollections and the journal, I do like the idea of taking time to try and write about those 29 days in July 2007.
Thank you all one last time for being there in spirit with me and for your generous donations to M.A.G.
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