Groundhog Day

You know that Bill Murray film, Groundhog Day? That is my life now. I don’t wake up to Sonny and Cher on the radio, but every morning I get up and put on my cycling kit. Some days it’s only a short ride to and from work. On others, I get to do an evening ride as well. On my proper day off, I just miss the work bit out and cycle – all day.

I am fast becoming Billy No Mates. When someone asks ‘Fancy a ride on Sunday, Debs?’, they soon lose interest when I say, ‘Yes, nine hours okay?’ If they suggest the red run, my response is ‘How many times?’ They edge away quickly! The solution is that they do shifts - some in the morning, some in the afternoon. It just takes planning.

It has become quite addictive. The idea of just riding for a couple of hours seems like a waste of a day. I mean, what would I do? To be honest, I don’t think I will want to stop. Hopefully I will be able to find a happy medium.

I did a practice 12-hour in Dalby to see if all this riding was paying off. I have a 10-mile route starting from Dixon’s Hollow, following a little of the red, some fire breaks, a big climb (the old black route Cottage Climb), and sections of the old red back to Dixon’s. In February, when I did an eight-hour test run, I took about 1 hr 5 mins to 1 hr 9 mins per lap. For my 12 hour test, I knocked approximately 10 mins off my lap time and kept my heart rate lower too. In total I did 11 laps in 12 hours. I felt very good both physically and mentally when I finished. No real aches and pains.

I had really good support. Carl helped for five hours, handing me food etc. as I lapped. Then Jackie and Matt, who will be my 24hr support, took over. It went really smoothly. For the first four laps I had Mike Watson and Tom Stockill to ride with me, then five laps on my own, and finally Brendan rode the last two with me. The company was great and really got me through the last two laps but especially the second to last. Mark was very pleased and I was one happy girl.

It’s less than two weeks to the main event. I haven’t done enough training to improve my power. I have had the coaching advice from Mark but I’ve not done exactly as I was told. If the course requires good steady riding and stays fairly dry I should do okay. If it rains heavily and has sections of climbs that require lots of power then I may make it a real mess of it. Ultimately it is down to me. I’m not nervous yet. I hope I do a respectable number of laps. At the moment there are 19 women entered, so I will finish in the top 20!

There will be some seriously fast, sponsored women racing. If I make the top 10, I will be reasonably happy. The top five is my aim. But how achievable that is, I have no idea. It’s my first event so I have no experience to go on. With the times and laps I have done in my 12 hour test, and the hours on the bike I have put in, I should finish. But just how well I will do keeping going for 24 hours riding with hundreds of riders each lap is unknown. 

I’m starting to get nervous now!

Comments are closed.