Posts Tagged "#pedal2paris"

Total Panic!

Posted by in Castle Coop News, Cycling from London to Paris for WLS & the Royal British Legion | 4 comments

Total Panic!

Total Panic!

 

 

 

 

Today I found this picture on the Royal British Legion’s Facebook page:

 

pedal2paris1

 

then I found this:

Hi All, just thought I’d introduce myself. I’m one of the Paramedics who will be riding with you to Paris. See you soon. Wiggy

and then this:

pedal2paris 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All these riders from the Pedal2Paris 2013 ride, seem to be on stretcher tables although the girl in the foreground looks quite jolly which is something…

I am not very brave. I don’t mean to be ungrateful or rude, but I don’t want to see a Paramedic soon, even though Wiggy sounds absolutely charming.  Do you think I am over-reacting?

In just 2 weeks, I’ll find out if I’m a feckless grasshopper instead of a worthy ant…

Oh no!

Yours thinking I should find a paper bag to start hyperventilating into,

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And now I see that another new picture horror has just been posted onto the Royal British Legion’s Pedal 2 Paris Facebook page:

Pedal 2 Paris stretches

 

I think this is called ‘showing off ‘, don’t you? The cyclist is smiling for goodness’ sake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s Time to Put the Pressure On!

Posted by in Castle Coop News, Cycling from London to Paris for WLS & the Royal British Legion | 6 comments

It’s Time to Put the Pressure On!

It’s Time to Put the Pressure On!

 

I’m having some qualms about cycling to Paris. Look what’s been posted on the Royal British Legion’s Facebook page:

Less than three weeks to the starting pistol, how’s the training going?

Are you working on your average speed, long distances, uphill slogging (we’ve heard the approach to Dover is tough) – or are you putting your feet up and preserving your energy?

pedal2Paris week 3

That word ‘slogging’ sounds dubious; don’t you think the RBL gurus are trying to tell me something? I sense the bit about putting my feet up and preserving my energy is code for LOL.

The comments that other Pedal2Paris riders are leaving on the RBL Facebook page are also giving me pause for thought. Several mention 100 mile + training rides which ‘help to get saddle time’.

 Oh no…. And now the Agent has kitted me out so beautifully, I can’t even blame my tools.

panic attack1

Yours feeling quite sick about that approach to Dover,

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Paris is only 4 weeks away!

Posted by in Castle Coop News, Cycling from London to Paris for WLS & the Royal British Legion | 12 comments

Paris is only 4 weeks away!

 

Paris is only 4 weeks away!

The final countdown for the Poppy Bike ride has begun.

 

 

The Royal British Legion has just published this message on its facebook page:

 

There's less than one month to go before Pedal 2 Paris and we hope you're all looking forward to it. </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<p>Before you get together for the first time on 4 September, we'd like you to introduce yourselves – who you are, where you're based and why you've decided to ride for the Legion…
I’m not sure whether to be excited or alarmed.  
Do you think this reminder is intended to be encouraging or unnerving?

After months and months of thinking about the ‘Pedal to Paris ride’, suddenly, it’s almost upon me.  I don’t know whether I will have trained enough or not. I do hope I will have done so but …I have qualms.

 

What should my priorities be for my last-minute ‘Pedal to Paris’ preparations?

Given that I’ve only a month left for last-minute tweaks to my training schedule, I googled the web last weekend to find out what the well-prepared cyclist prioritizes. What would you make of these bits of advice?
  •  …cyclists training for long-distance rides should push themselves to the limits to prepare. You should reach your VO2 max, or maximum oxygen consumption capabilities, during training to evaluate your ability to successfully complete a long bike ride. (Ms. Linda Ray)

Oh no! I can’t say that I’ve exactly pushed myself ‘to the limits’ during my carefree whizzes through the country lanes around Castle Coop – I’ve never even heard of ‘VO2 max’ before and I still walk rather than ride my bike up some of the hills.

  • One thing that some cyclists do are longer bike rides. These might be multi day trips or one really long ride of a hundred miles or more. ( Ms. Ava Connor)

100 miles or more? HA HA LOL . Like that’s going to happen….

  • Long distance cycling is more mental than physical…. it’s the mind and the desire to persevere that forces a cyclist onwards. Having a positive attitude keeps a person going forward and over the next hill. (Articlesbase)
…more mental than physical – what???? I’ve less than a month to go and now they tell me that all this time I should have been training my brain to pedal to Paris….

 

Now that sounds much more do-able…. An officially sanctioned shopping trip – yay, I can manage that!

A Trip to London:

No sooner had I read  that I should get my gear together for the Pedal to Paris ride (as a priority) than I found myself nipping onto a train to go to a bicycle shop in the City, near Liverpool Street.

 

south west trains

I thought a day shopping in London would be fun and it was! I love the people in their amazing clothes, the shop window displays, the buses, the bustle and all the colour & noise. It’s such an exciting city to be in!

Guess which shopper is me!

London shoppers 2

Nirvana!

Yours having come home completely laden with exciting bags full of things to pedal to Paris with,

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