No.7 Setting goals and having fun!

Can't believe it's been a month since my last blog. That sounds a little like a confessional but I don't want forgiveness, I have nothing to repent. It comes down to having too much fun which I'm sure no one would begrudge me :-)
Me and Graeme are working towards our next mini!?! challenge. We shall be cycling to Oxford in July covering 77 miles all in one go!!!! I'm excited and worried all at once. At the moment it's a fine balance between pushing myself to get more miles under my belt whilst not doing any damage or dealing with too much pain. Currently a lot of my dreams are focused around completing my first century and the Oxford challenge will be bringing me a step closer.
Last weekend brought an opportunity to spend time enjoying being on my bike for no other reason but fun. My lovely friend Claire (who suffered by joining me on my first bike challenge last year) wanted to complete a mini cycling trip and very quickly a spa hotel in Chipping Campden had been chosen as the destination.

Yes really all our luggage is on those bikes!

Maybe it was having no responsibilities (with no little ones to consider) or maybe it was the knowledge of a hydrotherapy pool waiting, but our ride was so so so enjoyable. Fish finger sandwiches and a half a cider for lunch obviously helped too. I would say our style of riding was on a par with that Friends episode The one where Phoebe runs. Find it on you tube if you're too old or too young to have seen it. It's a great reminder to do things in life that make you feel good and never worry about what you look like - important when lycra is involved!

Cider and Fish Finger heaven

Everything was pretty idyllic on our way there, beautiful weather, amazing scenery, lots of giggles and an abundance of fresh air. Nearly 27 miles in we saw the sign for Chipping Campden 3 miles - bigger smiles all round :-)))) They were short lived though as 1/2 mile later we saw this sign!

*!@$*!

We had just passed a packed out beer garden. No doubt, if we'd listened carefully enough, we'd have heard the sniggers of locals knowing we hadn't got a clue what we were about to encounter. On seeing the gradient my initial tongue in cheek thought was "this is going to be fun!" When you're on a hill there is no stopping, you'd never start again, you simply have to keep going. There were a lot of choice words leaving our mouths up that hill and for me a wish that I'd taken more painkillers at lunch. We literally propelled ourselves with profanities! 

A mile later we were at the top and neither of us could believe we had made it. We cycled the last mile and a half in slight shock. Thank goodness for great hotel staff and complete relaxation given at Cotswold House Hotel. They were fantastic. The bikes were given preferential treatment under lock and key in the conference room and we even had our bottles filled with squash and ice for our return journey on yet another scorching day :-)

Room with a view :-)

We took a slightly different route on the way home taking in a few more miles. Zooming down THE hill was a definite highlight. Nearly being taken out by a huge truck in a small village wasn't so exciting and lets just say riding on the A46 was ........... interesting! 

It was definitely an experience doing two consecutive rides covering 68 miles :-))) My legs resembled steel (in weight not strength) about 20 miles into the 2nd day. Guess there is still a lot of training to be done ;-) Impressive stuff, very pleased and proud of both of us! Wonder how many 16% (and over) hills there'll be on our JoGLE next year? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. 

Right got to go, need to start the hill search on the Birmingham to Oxford route. Fingers crossed the route planner will be lenient!!!