Springing Into Action

I have struggled to find the motivation to train much on our indoor cycle lately. It is a great training tool and can be used in any weather. There is a fantastic team of people with Parkinson’s who regularly cycle ‘together’ on Zwift, so there is conversation and much laughter available too. I obviously have a huge challenge ahead of me for which I need to train and get, despite all of this, I still struggle to find the motivation to really embrace indoor training. With no breeze from which to keep cool, I find it less comfortable, with no scenery, less interesting and for me, time seems to pass slowly training indoors. Training indoors does not challenge my balance. Nor does it help me to retain skills related to judging the speed and distance of other road users, or to retain the skills necessary to navigate confidently using my Garmin. Just some of the things that Parkinson’s adds to the challenge of cycling. For me, there really is nothing quite like riding a bike in the great outdoors.

So this week, when the sun shone, I was once again not in the least bit tempted to get on the indoor trainer but I was desperately keen to get outdoors on my new bike. As ever – the destination was a coffee shop, this time in Beckford, some 15 miles away. A slice of Biscoffee cake helped boost my energy levels but that wasn’t quite sufficient to get me back on my bike. It took a crispy bacon bap and a seat inside to feel rested, warm and ready to set off again.

The weather was beautiful, with pockets of unseasonably warm sunshine offering a reprieve from the slightly chillier spring sunshine that was fairly constant throughout the day.

It was a wonderful cycle. I enjoyed my new bike but I’m inclined to think I may feel less fond of it when it has another 20kg of kit attached to it. I will road test the bike fully kitted out in the next few weeks but for now that is another 33 miles of training with 1,115 feet of climb. I was on the move for 2hrs 40 minutes and was out in total for four hours. My average speed was 12.3 mph, so I’m never going to break any records. There is MUCH, MUCH harder ahead of me but for today, it was a reassuringly enjoyable and manageable start to outdoor training.