Yes I can hear you shouting "..but there is a ME in TEAM" . Well you are right and this 'me' is very proud to say that I am part of a fantastic team. More of whom later....
We are now really getting close to our departure date and the days in the calendar are rapidly running out in terms of ordering equipment, bike mechanics and servicing that still need to be done. There is much to do and think about.
There is a mixture of excitement and trepidation if I am honest. Mostly the former though.
So what's happened since the end of LEJoG? In terms of cycling not a huge amount.
I got back with fear and worry that I might have developed a tendonitis in my peroneal tendon of my right ankle. I went into preservation and rehab mode. We cycled back from Euston but only as far as Victoria so that I could take the train to Balham and then ride 1 mile home. I didn't want to ride anymore than I had to until I knew what might be happening. It was still sore riding across town and when we got to Victoria Gary realised he had left his glasses on the sleeper train. It's amazing he managed 2 weeks without losing anything but broke his record at the last opportunity.
Not wanting to ride anymore than I had too and with a dentist appointment to attend I took the train and rode home across Tooting Common. It felt odd to be back on familiar roads. Gary headed back to Euston and retrieved his glasses just before the train left the station.
After 2 weeks of eating and snacking on simple sugars, using a manual toothbrush (as opposed to my usual electic one) my teeth and gums had taken a hammering. The hygienist needed some rapid explanation before she scraped her jaw from the floor with the horrors she found lurking. I was partially reprieved as long as I promised to use Corsdyl for 2 weeks, once I explained what I had been up to. It did make me wonder if my energy food strategy was the right one. I ditched the impossible to eat, cardboard bars and jam like gels in favour of real food.
During the two weeks my new best friends had been fruit pastilles, crumbly fudge, rice krispie marshmallow cakes and Tunnocks wafers. It's no surprise really is it?
So I think I need to add dental gum to my bag for in between snacks and remember to pack the Corsdyl.
I spent the weekend with my family then returned to London for a rendevouz with the Bike Whisperer on Monday evening.
Sherrit is the bike whisperer and works as a cycle fit guru from his house in Ealing. I spent 4 hours with him while he talked, measured, watched and adjusted. He made some minor adjustments mostly simple millimetres to the bike but by the end of the session the pedal stroke felt and sounded a whole lot smoother on the turbo trainer. So we shall see, will it be what I need to make sure my right ankle pain doesn't rear it's ugly head again? I hope so.
Tuesday was an appointment with Andrea Havill at Pure Sports Medicine in Raynes Park to try and work out whether I had got a tendonitis or other injury. After 4 days of rest and no exercise the pain had resolved and thankfully despite an hour of trying to bring it on we couldnt. Andrea is confident that there is therefore no serious tendonitis and thankfully more likely to have been some serious fatigue in the muscle and cramping. Hooraahhhhhh...... So the next day I cycled to work and it felt fine. Last weekend we did a gentle 40 miles and it felt good so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have it all under control. There are no guarantees its wont come back but Andrea has given me some advice about what to do and also I have her email and phone number for a telephone or email consultation should we need it. Thanks Andrea you are a star. I feel slightly nervous about it rearing up again but at least it seems less likely now.
Last weekend was the Surrey Cycle challenge or otherwise known as the Olympic test event. We watched it in a couple of places and there was a fabulous atmosphere. Oscar my nephew came down with his lovely friends Harry and Joe and we all had a nice day finished off in the pub for lunch along the river. Oh and Mark Cavendish won the race. Thats what I call a weekend.
This week I have given myself a week off and have been driving to work making use of the time to do some chores on the way home and rest a little. I am happy now after LEJ0G that I can do the distance and I can do it day in day out. So I want to rest and recover before we leave next week.
Today I picked my bike up from Adam at Birdie Bikes. He runs the shop both here in Hampton and at Chertsey and a better Local Bike Shop (LBS) you could not hope to find. They are brilliant and Adam has done a fine job with a service for me as time is too short for me to have the luxury of time to do it and also he is giving us a box of spare parts on sale or return in case of emergency. Fabulous.
Its currently 1 week to go and the whole team have been dotting the 'I's and crossing the 'T's to all of the preparations.
Monday was also a day when we almost all got together to chat about the final preparations (we missed you Oscar). We have flights, ferries and accommodation bookings to check and confirm; Kate has organised some fantastic signs which are going on the car next week courtesy of Signarama at a VERY reasonable cost; Jeff is polishing the route details; Niamh and Vanessa are sorting breakfast for the Grand Depart; Jill is making first aid kits for the cars and Dan is sorting phones and internet access. Paul is being chief banker and collecting kitty money for accommodation and food payments from us riders as well as countless other tasks.
We are very lucky to have two support cars for much of the ride. Elizabeth Beven will drive Pauls Land Rover as far as Biarritz for us where Niamh will take over and Kate Cleminson will be in her car as far as Sos in Spain where she will then sadly have to return to the UK. Its makes such a difference on long rides like this to have cars along the route with food and sustenance at regular intervals not to mention not having to carry panniers and kit on your bike. We are very lucky in that regard and we have a fantastic team of support crew. 'Team Healix' consists of:
Lara Suttie-Sims who has been our right hand man from the start of this project. She has been totally amazing and I have no idea how we would have got this far without her. We won't see Lara until Alcazar de San Juan now as she has other holiday commitments but as soon as she returns she will be headed to join us and we shall be delighted to see her. I am so glad she will be there for the finish.It would not have been right to finish without her (provided of course we get that far).
Then there is Niamh Coffey one of Healix's nurses and general all round totally organised and efficient people. Niamh did the moonwalk recently so knows what a physical challenge is about.
Vanessa Price and Daniel Grigg are support drivers who arent driving! They are however both great fun and will help keep morale high amongst the team. Dan is our techincal guru to help keep the blogs and tweets coming and has built the mapping website you can use to see our latest position with (see link at the top of the page). Vanessa is fabuous at organising food and cake fiestas at work. Definately a good skill to have in your support team.
Kate Cleminson is Jeff's wife and is our Healix HR guru. She is again a fantastically organised person whos talents are seemingly without end. It will a sad day in Sos when we lose Kate and we are hoping that some miracle will occur to allow her to make it to Gibraltar to see Jeff and the rest of us roll in with luck. If anyone out there wins the lottery this week please can you buy her a ticket to Gibralar? Thanks I appreciate it.
So you see apart from the bike riders we have a massive team of help from people all prepared to give their time and help for us to achieve our goal and without whose help we would really be struggling before we have even started so to them in advance and for all they have done so far with fund raising and getting us to the start line.
THANK YOU....
Oh and before I forget we made a fantastic profit on the summer ball now the costs are all in. We made £1914. and that means that our total has gone to 94%. Its quite incredible really, at the beginning of the year that seemed like an insurmountable sum. I can remember celebrating passing the 10% mark and now here we are so close to our target its going to be impossible to bear not achieveing it. So if you havent yet donated but can spare a few pounds please do so. We would so love to see that counter hit the 100% so please join our growing team and help us move it on the last 6% to achieve our goal. We promise we wont make you cycle anywhere.
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Location: Tooting,United Kingdom
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