Story
Woking Bike-A-Thon 7th May 2006 - The Result
I want to say thank to you all for your support, it was a pleasure to take part knowing I was raising money for a worthy cause. Below is an account of the Bike-A-Thon. If you are read this and missed donating or were away you can donate its easy to do this on this page.
It was quite a challenge in the real sense as I have not done “any” training at all in preparation this event and do not attend the gym.
Had a hearty breakfast to set myself up for the day but had an early start time of 10am with an arrival time of 0930 so pleased I didn’t have long to wait around. In fact 10am was the first set off time and it took 10 mins to get across the start line!
In total the event had 2800 participants and although not all of them were at the 10am start it was still quite busy on the roads once we got going. Being aware it was the long route of 29 miles I was taking and not the short 17 mile course I thought I would pace myself, didn’t work! Being of a competitive nature whilst it was not a race I set off on a keen pace. The rule of thumb for route cycle time was 3 hours to complete, I was aiming for 2 hours. After the first ½ hour it was pretty thin on the roads having past the casual cycles. I had already passed 2 stops at this point and other than getting my card stamped pressed on others were already stopping for refreshments.
After the first hour it was getting very tiring, combined with a very scenic but hilly part of the countryside I thought I would have to get off my bike, perish the thought. Nevertheless, after this pain barrier I managed to pick up the pace again and enjoyed the very long downhill ride I earned from riding up the steep hill! The checkpoints became less frequent and often found myself cycling by myself with people in front someway off. It was discouraging to be passed by the proper “road” bikes who seemed not to notice hills but all you can do is keep plugging at it.
Near the end of the course the backside was begging to show signs of fatigue and legs heavy but knew it was not far to go as joined up with the short route again which shares the last few miles to the finish. Arrived at the finish point with a few dozen cyclists who had already arrived. My family were sitting down enjoying an ice cream not expecting for me for a while, a very large 99 came my way and gratefully sat down for 5 mins to recover.
Although it was not a race I completed the time in just under 2 hours 5 mins, which I was very pleased about, although I paid for it, in the afternoon and following day.
Thank you all for those that have sponsored me on the Woking Bike-A-Thon. I have some other ideas coming through for later on this year for BLISS, the charity that supports care for premature babies. As I mentioned before I am doing some charitable work in recognition that it is 10 years since my son passed away so any money received is very gratefully received. I have setup a new page for the BLISS work which is http://www.justgiving.com/olivertrill