It may have been unwise to go on holiday right before a big
event like that, mainly because I know from running you need to carb up and eat/hydrate sensibly in the week before a big race. Well that didn’t happen, and even
the few days I was back from my holiday my diet (and hydration) was to-pot.
The night before RPL I stayed at my friend's who lived closer to
the start line. I had a day of flapping
and trying to remember what I needed for a long cycle, and by the time I got on
the train, I was wasn’t feeling too relaxed; in fact I was pouring with sweat (it
was very muggy) and as I stood with my bike I started to feel really sick and
blacked out, that was a bit scary. After that, I found a seat, drank some water
and started to feel better, but it worried me that I had to cycle 100 miles the
next day. Luckily the evening proved
much more relaxed, my friend put on a lovely bbq for us, it was so nice and relaxed I
completely forgot about the bike ride for a few hours. I even managed a really
good night’s sleep (the best I’ve ever had before a big event).
The next morning was an early start. My start time was
08.44, but my friend’s was 8.30, so we decided to leave in time to get to her’s
even just in case she wasn't allowed to drop back to my wave.
My first panic was as we got out the house, and I had to get
on the bike, I freaked out inside, as I hadn’t cycled for three weeks and I
didn’t even know if I could cycle. It took me one or two attempts to get on that sky-high saddle and I very nervously (and wobblerly) headed off. I was leading with the sat nav, and managed to take a few wrong turns as sat nav tried to get us to the canal. I
didn’t realise this was the route and I’m terrified of cycling along canals, it
was probably the scariest part of the whole day. Eventually, we came out at Victoria Park and followed some other RPL cyclists, who progressively increased in numbers.
On arrival at the Olympic Park it took us a while to find our wave
pen, but I was happy to get rid of my bag and relax a little. I went to use the loo (no queues, that was
novel) and I encountered my first big problem; I’ve never seen the point of
cycle bibs, and it turns out it's really difficult to use a portaloo whilst
wearing them, I had to take my top off to do so, not easy when your wearing a
hydration vest, a number bib, and have your sandwiches and snacks in the pocket
of your cycle jersey and are in the space of telephone box. I deserve a medal for that effort alone (and an extra one for
not losing my snacks down the loo). I
crossed my fingers and prayed that I would not need the toilet again for the rest of the day,
eek.
When we were stood in the start pen, the nerves really kicked in (and the need for a nervous pee, noooh). We edged forward. I began to panic a bit, the thought of
getting on to my bike and setting off in close proximity to so many other
cyclists was very unnerving.
As we got closer, to the start, the atmosphere was lifted, the guy on the mic was encouraging and the music was revving us up, the vibe was good.
And at exactly 08.44 we were off.
Very soon, thankfully, the group fizzled out. The closed roads were delightful. But, I immediately
began to struggle with just the ups and downs of the main roads we were on, goodness
knows how I was going to manage the BIG hills. I
spent the whole time from Olympic Park to Tower Bridge thinking about what decision to make at Hampton
Court. Then somewhere under Billingsgate
Market I had an epiphany; Now I take my running very seriously and I would NEVER
cross the start line of a marathon if I had not done the proper training, so
why am I considering a cycling marathon that I’ve not trained properly
for. Also to add to that, if I’m honest, I was full of
anxiety and my breathing was bad, and I was a little concerned about my little
incident on the train the day before.
So I had decided, and therefore dropped the speed a little,
and aimed to enjoy the first half. I
still managed speed like I’ve never done before. I think I passed the 10 miles at about 45
mins.
I recognised lots of the course, and that was really nice.
We came into Richmond park via a slightly different route than I normally go,
and I was trying to work out where I was, we approached a big hill, and I was
pretty convinced it wasn’t Sawyers, but it was a bit of a slog, I put my head
down and pedaled hard, and when I got to the top I realised it WAS Sawyers
hill, yay, hill one nailed. I wasn't impressed to see the first official photographer at the top, taking the most unflattering pics of the Sawyers Sloggers.
As we exited Richmond park I was very aware of the time
pressure to get to Hampton court. Therefore it didn’t help to get stopped for 5
minutes just outside the park to allow cars to go through, strange, but it was
the first of many such stops.
As we came through past Norbiton, I saw Jim and gave him
Woop Woop. It’s nice to see familiar faces on such a long event.
We came through Kingston and across the bridge, I think
everyone was clock watching. As I approached the first Hub I was excited to see the first big diversion
signs, and I started to reconsider my option. Should I go on? But I really needed a
break (I've never cycled that long without a break) and really needed the loo. As I
came in, I was very quickly told by the marshalls, “100 riders you have 5 minutes to cross the
bridge if you want to continue on the 100 route”. Ahhh what to do? But I needed that break
and the loo... the loo would take at least 8 minutes due to bib short saga. Eek, the pressure! So I remembered my epiphany, took stock and made the decision to stay and relax. I knew if I continued I would spend the next 72
miles panicking about cut off times, not stopping due to time pressures, and I would prefer to enjoy the day.
I was pleased that Becky had pressed ahead and when I
checked on the tracker she was at 35 miles.
So I lazed a bit and felt like I was in a posh restaurant,
as volunteers walked around with jugs of water filling up water bottles. I got
chatting to a lady raising money for Alzheimer’s. She was gutted as she had just missed the cut-off. Her friend who was a couple of waves ahead had got through.
I felt really bad for her, our late start times really put the extra pressure
on us.
The Hub soon filled up with 46 milers, and very soon I heard “46 milers the sweep bus is just 15 minutes away” I’d only been there 20 mins,
so much for a relaxing break. So back on
the bike I got. And headed off.
I’d prepared mentally for the 100 route but I was a bit
clueless about where the 46 mile route went, and I didn’t really have a clue
where I was.
We reached the point where the 100 milers joined us, fresh
from the hills. I noticed a few black wave bibs, and was amazed at the speed
they must have been doing. As the two races merged you could really feel it,
the 100 milers were on a fast mission, and were far more aggressive than the
46rs, there were definitely a few twats out there, which was a bit unnerving
We came into Kingston from the back end, that I wasn’t
familiar with so I didn’t even realise where I was when I got to there. I
also realised that I was getting pretty tired. Luckily there was plenty of
stopping as marshalls stopped us to let cars and pedestrians though. Every
time this happened the cyclist bunched up and my anxiety rose as I knew I’d
have to cycling in close proximity again with all the twats, I preferred it
when things thinned out (but then we’d
be stopped again).
Held in Kingston.
After Kingston I made it smoothly up Coombe hill and then I
knew I had to face Wimbledon Hill, I’d only done Wimbledon Hill once before and
I really didn’t like it. And this second time around I didn’t like again. Whilst I appreciated the cheering crowd I felt
more pressure with them there. So I hopped off and walked it. At the top I
hopped back on and felt relieved that it was pretty flat from there on in, I
also started seeing the much-needed count down signs. At Wimbledon Village it was lovely to see
Carl my other on route supporter, cheering me on. The
downside of cycling, you can’t really stop and have a chat like you can with
running so I waved and sped on.
It was all downhill from there, joy of joys. I also pretty much knew where I
was, but it was slightly annoying because it meant I knew how far I had to go. Going
through Putney was strange as I knew how close to home I was, and that my favourite cycling cafe was in arms distance. As I reached Battersea bridge I felt the same
way, just seconds from work and a short ride to my house, but I had to press on. And on I pressed, but began to feel very fatigued at this point and just
wanted to get to the Mall. At about 5k
to go, I stopped, I could feel myself waining and I’d barely eaten or rested,
so I stopped and had a couple of the flapjacks, just a few of the mountain of snacks I hadn't touched.
So another reason I wanted to do the 46 was because I loved the
idea of coming down the Mall raising my arm in victory as I crossed the finish
line, I was worried if I got swept up going for the 100 and ended up with a
DNF. So I was super excited to do the 46 to be approaching the glory of the Mall.
Sadly I’m not going to lie it was this that I was hugely disappointed with; it was a
massive anti-climax. Being used to running races, the finish line is always a
party, a victory, here there was no
atmosphere, in fact I wasn’t even sure I’d had finished, as we passed under the
blue arch, there was nothing to say "You’ve finished!" No music, no DJ
congratulating you, in fact, I couldn’t even see any photographers, and none of the
riders seemed to be whoop wooing in victory. I saw some signs at after the blue arch which counted
down from 300m, and I was thinking maybe that wasn’t the finish line maybe its
further up, but as all the other riders were getting off their bikes, I had to,
so I was picturing a finish line photo of me walking my bike looking very
confused.
Have I finished?
(I saw later on TV that the count down was there for the elite race, how very silly and misleading).
I had to assume I had finished, and continued along the very long
funnel, past the queen's house to collect my medal. Although I’d not done the 100, I chose to get the
100 medal, I felt I earned it for my cycling journey since February although some may disagree, this was always going to be the icing on the cake of crazy venture from noncyclist to PRL finisher.
There was no goodie bag or anything else, so I picked up my
bag and found my friends for a celebratory beer.
Overall if I’m honest, I felt very underwhelmed by the whole
event. Probably the best/ most atmospheric bit was the start line. I found that all the stopping wasn't great and
numerous times the marshalls were confusing by shouting “go left” but pointing
right. And the finish line was
incredibly disappointing. But I really
did appreciate the closed roads.
Would I do it again? Yes, definitely the 46 (although I may
have possibly put in the ballot for the 100, whoops). And I’m also confident that I can do the 100 if I’d trained more and practiced more big hills.
I may just possibly go on a 100-day mile ride just to prove
to myself that I can do it J
But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m so proud
of how far I’ve come with my cycling journey.
From non cyclist/anti cyclist who
was too scared to go near a bike (let alone cycle on a London road), to someone
that has put in 500 training miles since
April, as well as a 70miler and potter down to the south coast; to someone that loves cycling, cycle commutes
to work, and wears branded lycra. I thought by the end of today I would be
putting my bike on eBay, but no instead I’m looking forward to lots more
weekend cycles out of town discovering more cutesie cycle cafes and a few
European cycle holiday in 2020.
But for now….
Back to Running Celeste J
