On the weekend a fellow rider and “childhood cancer” competitor had a bad accident and he is unable to complete his challenge. I have decided to try and ride his remaining 150kms as well as finish mine. That means 12kms per day - so for all the rainy days here I need to do longer rides to get it all in by 31st October. I ventures out today to click over my 12kms before work and came across some fellow riders and friends on the road so tapped into their ride and clocked over 17.5kms - a couple extra up my sleeve 😊. I pray for a full recovery from our mate JK.
What a great motivator this cause has been for me. Holding me accountable to keeping up my riding. Clocked up 94kms this week as we have had fine weather and a long weekend (living in the wettest part of Australia makes it difficult at times to get out and ride). Now I have a buffer in case we get a run of rainy days - so still on track for reaching my goal. Have had 5 different rides this week, with different people and different directions to keep it interesting. I am so happy that my fitness and strength is improving, but mostly my growing desire for exercise, my mental health and consciously making improved food choices.
Did my first October ride today. Was feeling a bit washed out and harder to get my legs going, however I have formed 3 lots of accountability groups - 2 riding groups and 1 weekly motivational group. Riding for a great cause but also to get my life on track to be more healthy and fit. I am enjoying how my body feels after my rides and this is a first for me - have always been “allergic” to exercise. Once again thank you to my supporters - I am doing it for the kids, I am doing it for me - and I am doing it for you because you believed that I could!
I joined this challenge a week ago and already reached my initial goal of $500. I am deeply grateful for those who are backing me, given the tough times people are experiencing financially. I am overwhelmed with the support that I got, now to get on the bike in two days and not disappoint those who have faith in me to come up with the goods.
I first got on a road bike a couple of years ago and felt very insecure on it. Riding with other cars, falling off onto a concrete path etc. it went back on the stand and collected dust. Spurred on by my husbands love of cycling and him taking on cycling challenges (and me gaining 15kgs as a spectator) I joined two other friends in a quest to start a riding group for those just wanting to get confidence on a bike. After a couple of weeks it became very apparent that the other two were well above my riding pace and fitness - and once again I had massive anxiety about myself and how useless I was with sport and fitness (a childhood trauma belonging to a family of athletes and the expectations around that - all those scarred memories come flooding back). There were many tears and reflection around this. I did a couple of rides by myself and my last ride I asked the group to leave me behind and I just rode for me without the guilt of hindering other peoples progress. We all met for coffee at the end and this was one of best rides ever. I joined this challenge to keep me accountable to continue to get on the bike and not make excuses. I also have two grown children who fortunately did not suffer cancer, but any mum feels compassion for those who have to deal with this ugly disease and no parent should lose a child if there is a cure to be found.