Although Wednesday's weather forecast was ok, we actually had several heavy rain showers and even some thunder. I worked in the morning and had Pilates in the afternoon. I'm not a fan of thunder so decided against riding. However, the sun came out and I did wonder whether I should have reconsidered and gone out on my bike.
Again the forecast for today was ok, but it definitely wasn't flaming June! I dog-sat for the gorgeous Micah today so decided to get out on my bike when Micah was collected.
As soon as I left the house the drizzle started! My neighbour asked if I was going to turn around and go home and usually I might have done!
However, I needed to get my final miles completed. I am having a baking day tomorrow as I am providing refreshments for Barry's New Forest Cycling Club colleagues on Saturday to help them through a 100 mile ride that takes in D-Day sites in the New Forest.
So off I went, soon stopping to put on my waterproof jacket as the rain got heavier.
I followed a similar route to Monday, heading out of Brockenhurst towards Sway, Boldre, Pilley and Norleywood. I stopped at Norleywood to wipe the rain off my glasses so I could see again as there was driving rain at this point and my peaked cap didn't protect my glasses form this rain!
I must admit that I did have to dig deep here to keep pedalling. With the driving rain, it felt more like a winter ride. My backside wasn’t very comfortable and my mouth was hurting with the cold! I felt like a grumpy old woman!
Even the beautiful landscape seemed to match my mood and didn't inspire me today.
Then I though of children that are going through tough times and why I am doing this ride and this was the motivation to keep the pedals turning.
I remembered reading that £6 to can cover the cost of a Childline phone call from a child, so thinking of all your generous donations was also very motivating to me.
I gave the beach loop a miss today, so headed to East End, East Boldre and to Hatchet Pond where it was of course was windy. So it was head down and do battle with the wind.
I did see Barry who was warming up for The New Forest Cycling Club Chain Gang and then Phil H who gave me a cheery wave and hello.
Some ponies crossed the road in front of me as I approached Brockenhurst. A Mum and foal walked through the watersplash in Brockenhurst, stopping for a drink. This helped to put a smile on my face.
As I approached home, I was hoping I'd done enough miles to get me to my 175 target (maths not being my strong point!) Usually, I'd go on a do a bit more cycling to be on the safe side.
I downloaded my data into Strava and then to "Race Nation" which adds it to the leaderboard the Heavy Metal Truants. This said that I'd cycled 283km
So I asked my friend Google what this equates to in miles and it said it was 175.848 miles!
So I am now virtually at Donington for the Download Festival, reaching it in 11 days, taking 17 hours 9 minutes and 36 seconds! The person above me on the leaderboard who cycled .8km more did it in 8 hours 47 minutes!
But it isn't a race, I entered it to challenge myself and to raise money for four great children’s charities.
I will update on my sponsorship total after the weekend.
Thank you for your support, encouragement, sponsorship and for reading this.
Julie x
https://sportsgiving.co.uk/sponsorship/entry/622518
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