Cycling Challenge Update - January 2024

In September 2024 I’m cycling 300 miles / 500 KM from London to Paris to raise money for Sands – the stillborn and neonatal death charity. I’m an overweight and out-of-shape asthmatic who can already boast his first hip replacement, so physical challenges don’t come easy to me. My fundraising page is here and you can read more about the work of the charity here. I’ve had an incredible response to the challenge already, and I’ve been truly touched and humbled by all the support. Thank you to everyone who’s already put their faith in me!

Losing Ground, but Gaining Weight

The holidays were gloriously full of family time, food, and festivities. Then comes the New Year, heralding a weakened immune system, wet weather, and work. A house full of colds has turned into a house full of covid, and a broken thumb (sustained during an embarrassing school run incident) is still proving burdensome.

A wise soul once said that it’s better to be at the bottom of the right ladder than halfway up the wrong one. When beating myself up for lack of cycling progress, I’m attempting to remind myself that my ladder is still leaning on the right wall – I’ve just slipped down a few rungs. Life happens.

Work to The Rescue

It also happens to be goal-setting season at work, so I’m taking stock. My big picture goals are still intact: cycling Land’s End to John O’Groats within 5 years, Brad Waldron ’s training on roofshots and moonshots still echoing loud. My cycling goal for this year is also still intact: 500 KM in three days in September. So far, so good. So why no progress?

As usual, James Clear helps me to structure my thoughts, this time with his “rudders and oars” analogy: goals are the rudder that set the boat's direction but it’s the oars that move it through the water. The oars are a system, and without them, no progress is made.

What I’ve learned, therefore, is that I need a system to get me back to making progress. Basically, a way of getting back into training:

1. Recovery from covid.
2. Recovery from broken digit.
3. Recommission my road bike.
4. Re-start training.

The Plan

It may be a little 2021, but the first step is getting over this covid. Fellow asthmatic Chris Froome’s autobiography teaches me that in recovery from respiratory illness, even he had to be patient. ?

When I’m ready, I also need to get myself back outside and on the road. Indoor training was great for the convenience, but I just don’t enjoy it. They say that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes, so I’m researching wet weather gear for the bike so there’s no excuse for me not getting out there.

I’ve had a reminder that success isn’t a straight line, and maybe I’ve romanticised the journey towards me achieving this goal a little. Mike Tyson once quipped that “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” If anyone has any helpful hints on how to pick myself up off the canvas, I’d be delighted to hear them!