Time to get back into the groove!

Well hello people, yes it’s been quite a while since my last blog & to be honest I've been in better places.

I've now decided it’s time to get on with the future rather than dwelling on the past, after the sad passing of our friend & team mate Nick (which hit us all very hard) I decided to get back into the groove as did we all, so we all carried on & did the MMH (Mad March Hare) sportive.

Now this for some of us was something new as we had never done before & for the others should have been a walk in the park that. We had our arm bands for the ready in remembrance of our fallen rider & were determined that this was going to be a good event.

We had all been looking at the weather closely over the coming days leading up to the event, as it was looking to be fairly bleak. I awoke in the early hours & it was already cold & wet & to be honest a dismal looking day. I picked Mark up from his house & made our way to the event start where we met up & got ready to start together.

We were all at the starting grid together for the off at a lovely 3deg C. We initially decided to ride as a group for this event as previously discussed, but this was to change for a number of reasons! We gave our numbers in & off we went & within first few miles I realised I hadn’t started my garmin, thinking to myself what a prat (well something along those lines & I’m sure Nick would of put a different eloquent spin on it as he always did). The Temperature had now started to plummet further & according to some ride data was around 1deg C, plus the rain had not relented at all.

Now a little way in & Steve started to pull ahead thinking that we were still on his rear wheel, but as the Temperature dropped he had to pull away to stay warm. We were all feeling the cold & around the half way mark we had all but pretty much split up. Mark & I were the only two who had stayed together & for what was to happen next was the best thing that could have happened for me. We were chatting as we road to take our minds off the appalling weather conditions & just as we started to climb the main climb it started to snow, but not only that my chain gave way & snapped in two (Now I remember saying to the guys at the start…. I’ll be ok as long as I don’t break my chain, should have kept my mouth shut!) Mark turned around & asked if I was ok & luckily for me he had a spare link. It took both of us around 30mins to fix it in the cold conditions; Alan passed us & there was little point in stopping to help not in this weather anyway. We were freezing & without Mark stopping behind a dread to think what would have happened to me. Anyway we carried on & made the climb without stopping, passing many people walking with more expensive bikes than ours in which we did giggle about between us. The weather was now very bad as we stopped at the feed station, there was absolutely no feeling left in our hands at all & it was now -1deg C. Mark & I stayed together for the remainder of the ride in which some of us did manage to take a wrong turn along the way adding to some extra miles & extra hills where upon I broke my chain for a second time. I also had massive cramp in both legs causing me to stop for a few minutes until it had passed, at least it was it was very near the end & Mark once again came to the help & pushed me the last mile or so back to the finish.

I think I may have had slight hypothermia setting in! my hands & body were shaking uncontrollably & my vision had become hazy around the edges, but I remember thinking to myself that we had done it & looked at my armband & thought Nick this was for you buddy. This was by far the worst weather conditions we could of ever asked for, but mentally (yes I hear you all say! You are mental) we never cracked & we all finished. Out of 500 riders only 250 turned up & around 177 finished. I’m sure someone else will post the finishing places as I haven’t got them to hand.

Over the next few days I took it easy to recover the 80 odd miles in severe cold conditions. My training had paid of I was feeling better but on the 19^th March I decided rather than have a rest day as the sun was shining I would go out for a recovery ride. That day was to be the day I should of stayed off the bike as I was 1.5miles into the ride (new wheels fitted & my summer white shoes on) when going around a roundabout a car driver struck me & knocked me off. I was happily going on the ride thinking these wheels are ace, when suddenly I thought f@#k he hasn’t stopped & pulled up slightly which prevented him from hitting me straight in the legs & hit the side of his car until I fell onto my side in the middle of the road. It hurt like hell but after we exchanged pleasantries I went home only to find the bike wasn’t as in good condition as I thought. I was taken to A&E where I had some x-rays & thankfully they were clear, but my ribs hurt like hell & still do a little. Luckily I’m still here to tell the tail as it could have been worse & there is nothing worse than hearing someone say sorry I didn’t see you as the sun was in my eyes…!!!

Well the bike is now back in a descent condition so that I can continue riding, I did manage a few rides on my older bike which is geared differently which caused quite a bit of pain so I have now been off the bike for around a week now.

Thinking that I’m a little down I decided to make myself feel a little happier to get myself back on track, so I collected my bike from Epic Cycles plus ordered myself a new bike. I have ordered myself a Cannondale CAAD10 in white (to which has already been stated will match my shoes) which is being delivered this coming week. I put this down to an early birthday present to myself.

So to finish up & stop boring the hell out of all the readers, I’m getting better & training is to resume shortly so I’ll be back in the groove in no time at all.

One last note, I would like to thank my fellow riders for their support but most of all I like to say a huge thank you to my finance Emma for putting up with me while I was so grumpy from being off the bike & in pain. Emma has put up with a lot & is my rock in life who has pushed me when I didn't feel like training, but most of all supported me while I was in pain & for that I love her loads.