I did it! I finished! My time was 3 hours, 15 minutes and 28 seconds. I was the last one in and for the last 5k had an escort consisting of a motorcycle medic riding in front of me, and the St John's Ambulance following me (guess I didn't quite look like a pro on the bike! [grin]). For the last 1k, a cadet that was working the event jogged along beside me and kept me going.

 

I might have been last - but I FINISHED!

 

Believe it or not, I am taking part in a cycling event - a 40k (that's about 24 miles) cycling event.  Yes, me.

 

I've not been on a bike in 40 years - I need to learn to ride all over again, but I'm really looking forward to this.

 

I've been out on a bike once - last week. I felt pretty good - by the end of the 90 minutes I could pedal without Dan holding on to the seat (though I still need help getting on and off the bike). [grin]

 

UPDATE

 

Okay - I've been on the bike a lot more than just once by now. [grin] The event is only days away - it's this Sunday, 2nd October.  My pedalling adventure starts at 9.40am. I've gone from saying "I think I can" to "I WILL!"

 

I've ordered the gel cover for my bike seat (and padded cycling shorts for MY seat!) and I'm ready to start!

 

I'm doing this event for St Luk'es (Cheshire) Hospice - I work in the office here and and I see first hand, every day, how much the patients matter to the staff here.  You can find out more about St Luke's at http://www.stlukes-hospice.co.uk. It costs £6,200 a day to keep the doors open and the patients cared for. Less than a quarter of that comes from the NHS - the rest must be raised through events and through the generosity of people like you.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

 

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

UPDATE:

 

I've ridden more now! You can follow the progress of my training on my blog - it can be found at http://carolspage.wordpress.com.