DENISE VAN OUTEN

The Wattbike-loving TV presenter casts off Chopper envy to ride in aid of a good cause and gate-crash a wedding on her bike

I longed for a big boy’s bike. My first bike was a girly pink thing with tassels on the handlebar. I used to spend all my school holidays out on it but I preferred the boys’ bikes like my brother had - the Choppers and BMX bikes. I was so envious of him. When it comes to training, I’m a bit of a sadist. I love a Wattbike, I use one to train at the gym for long charity rides and to keep in shape over the winter. I sit in front of the television, pedalling away. I’ll also do spin classes through the week – they’re exhausting but when you’re pushed for time they really get your fitness levels up. I love a big physical challenge. I’ve done one each year for the past seven years and cycling often features. This year’s was a trip to Kerala in India cycling for Brain Tumour Research in memory of my friend and personal trainer Nicki Waterman who died last year. I’ve ridden from Vietnam to Cambodia, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and trekked the Great Wall of China. Nicki made sure I was ready for each one. I’d been itching to get back to India. Cycling in India had been on the agenda for a while. I’d planned a route with the team at Charity Challenge two years ago. Nicki’s passing gave me a cause to ride for and to revisit a fascinating country. Everyone I rode with knew her too, which made it especially poignant. In 2012 I rode through Rajasthan in India – 485km in total. It was the most amazing, spiritual experience. It was hard going, especially the hills, but what a journey! I got to meet such amazing people and experience their culture and be part of their everyday lives… Indian roads are fascinating but English ones can be treacherous. Where I live in Kent the roads can be really dangerous for cyclists who don’t know them. They are lanes with little room for passing and cars that go too fast. I take mine and my daughter’s bikes and we head off to the cycle trails in Bedgebury Forest instead – they’re great fun. Cambodia blew me away. We were cycling through places that had never seen bikes before! We explored some incredible offthe-beaten-track villages and met a monk who’d never been away from the monastery - he was 101 years old and had this

wonderful aura. It almost killed me too. I went over this rickety bridge from Vietnam to Cambodia and almost plunged down into the Mekong River. I was pedalling like crazy because it felt like the bridge was collapsing behind me but I crashed into the back of another bike and ended up clinging on to the side of the bridge.

Cambodia blew me away. We were cycling through places that had never seen bikes before

Cycling in London seems safer. I’ve cycled for particular jobs in London and I did some training for charity rides cycling around the City when I lived there. I didn’t have any crashes, and cycling there made me feel free, like a kid again. A bike is better for everyone. Of the charity events I do I like the cycling ones best because they’re much lower impact on the body than running, so more of us can do them. This was the third one I’ve done with Lydia Bright from The Only Way is Essex – her first ride was in Rajasthan; I converted her to Lycra! I gate-crashed a wedding, literally. In Rajasthan a bride and groom were on this wonderfully decorated bus being driven to their ceremony. I was riding with Lydia, we were talking and I wasn’t looking where I was going. The next thing I knew I’d ploughed into the bus and had the whole wedding party stop and help me up! Time is all that stops me cycling more. I’m always running around as a working mum and busy all the time so it’s not easy to get on the bike when I want to. I’m lucky that I can use the gym but I prefer to ride with friends outdoors. It’s a sign of my age. Back in the day I’d have gone on Club 18-30 holidays, now we all go cycling. Denise rode the Nicki Waterman Kerala Challenge, #NWKC2017, for Brain Tumour Research