A New Years resolution for 2022 was to ‘challenge myself’. So back in January, with this fresh in my mind, I signed up to to take part in RideLondon, a 100 mile (160km) cycling event through the closed roads of London and Essex.
Why cycle 100 miles?
During the pandemic I invested in a road bike and had begun to get into cycling. However, up until this point, my longest cycle had been around 50 miles, in roughly 5 hours. Cycling my first century would definitely qualify as a challenge. In direct distances, it’s roughly equivalent to pedaling from London to Birmingham (~100 miles) or from Brussels to Amsterdam (~108 miles). It would also be a test of speed, since on the RideLondon registration page, it wasn’t possible to select an estimated completion time greater than 8 hours 😬. I would have to cycle double my maximum distance at over 1.25x my current pace.
As additional motivation, I opted to cycle in aid of Diabetes UK.
Why DiabetesUK?
Diabetes can occur at any age and is a really challenging health condition, which has affected close friends and family. For those living with Type I or Type II diabetes, sugar levels can rapidly increase or decrease to dangerous levels at short notice, making the condition really difficult to manage. In addition to the regular blood monitoring, those with diabetes are also at risk to numerous, and often severe, health complications.
Diabetes UK is a brilliant charity which, among many things, funds important diabetes research. Although it’s been 100 years since the discovery of insulin, there is still a lot that’s unknown about how diabetes can be predicted, prevented and persuaded into remission. From the ages of 5-17, I participated in the ‘EarlyBird’ diabetes study. It was amazing to see the tangible impact of that study on understanding the childhood factors of Type II diabetes. It would be really great to continue supporting research like the ‘EarlyBird’ programme. There’s a lot of promise in immunotherapies for treating Type I diabetes and so maybe in years to come there will be a future where diabetes does no harm.
Figure 1: Being cheered on by Diabetes UK. Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/diabetesukcharity/albums/72177720299374865. All rights reserved by Diabetes UK.
More info:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes
https://earlybirddiabetes.org/index.php
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/research/immunotherapy
The RideLondon experience
The event took place on May 29th and saw ~25,000 cyclist take part.
The first half of the cycle went much faster than I anticipated. The novelty of cycling on motorways and having members of the public wave at you, spurred me on for the first 100km. However, kilometres 105-115 were the most painful I’ve experienced on a bike. The weather had deteriorated, I felt extremely uncomfortable in the saddle and the long-straight road of the A141 seemed to never end. Thankfully I managed to push through after plugging in a headphone and blasting some high-intensity music. At this point, I had cycled most of the way without stopping and so I became too stubborn to stop now. I started to recognise the route back into central London, giving me a new wave of energy. In the final 5km, as my brain started to anticipate the thought of stopping, all of my discomforts resurfaced and I had to dig deep all the way to the finish line on London Bridge.
Figure 2: The moment I crossed the line.
My official time was recorded as 5 hours, 55 minutes and 38 seconds, which massively surpassed my expectations! I had aimed to complete the route in around 6.5 hours, at an optimistic training pace of 25kmph. I also expected to take breaks and so suggested to friends to meet me at the finish line around 7 hours past my 9:00am start time (thankfully they were able to track me via the RideLondon app).
Reflections
At the risk of sounding immodest, I’m extremely proud of this achievement - to have had the courage to sign up in the first instance; to have committed to the training; and then to have exceeded my targets on the day. I’m particularly proud given the numerous difficulties and setbacks along the way, such as having COVID, disruptions from Storm Eunice, extensive work and travel commitments, a snapped bike chain and a stolen back wheel 😟.
I’m also proud of the fundraising achievement and am hugely grateful to friends and family who donated. In total I raised £960 for Diabetes UK.
Overall, the whole experience was incredibly rewarding and enjoyable. It gave me the opportunity to get fitter, explore new places around Cambridge and meet new people through the Cambridge cycling club. Following this experience, I would encourage anyone to take part in a sports event like RideLondon. They are a great way to push yourself in a safe and controlled environment where there is a friendly and non-competitive feel but where there is still some level of pressure/accountability motivating you to do your best. I would particularly recommend taking part in RideLondon. The event was well organised and there were refreshment stops, bike mechanics and medical staff throughout the route.
Next up, Alpe D’Huez?
Figure 3: Exploring the Cambridgeshire countryside.