I did it! Sunday morning spins pay off as I get to grips with sportive
THERE are times when a challenge seems too great to even contemplate. In January the challenge of a 100km cycle sportive in June was laid down to eight ‘cyclists’, who are ‘influencers’ in our county. It turned out it was too great for the others as I was the last man standing (or sitting, even) on Sunday – for four hours, no less, taking in the beauty of the south Wexford countryside and coast on what turned out to be a 105km cycle.
When the email landed in January inviting me to join the Bike Positive group, I didn’t hesitate to sign up. I had just got a shiny new road bike through the Cycle to Work scheme and was in need of a spur to get my posterior in gear after a winter wearing out the couch, and cinema seats, on said backside.
On the launch night way back in January I was greeted by the organiser and buddied up with a hardy, seasoned cyclist. Some well-known public figures were in attendance, doing the meet and greet banter, talking about how they looked forward to getting out on the road for various reasons.
The idea behind the Bike Positive 0-100 was to promote cycling and the physical and mental benefits of exercise at the start of the new year. In the process, us band of brothers and sisters plucked from every corner of the county were all going to get fit and encourage others to get fit and either try cycling or a fitness class.
The first cycle I undertook was like venturing beyond the Wall in Game Of Thrones. One kilometre in, half the troop had stopped, frozen to the spot, under a bridge just outside Wexford town. They turned around and, purple legged with cold, to a man, sprinted home. A gun metal grey sky unburdened itself over the ensuing hour as we danced on our pedals to stave off the piercing cold, battling sleet, rain and wind as far as Enniscorthy, a distance of 15 miles. One of the group, the joker in the bunch, remarked at the time that he wished his bike had been stolen, having left the womb-like comfort of the petrol station cafe. Apparently shortly after it was – because he hasn’t been seen on a bike in months!
After that cycle, the hardened cyclists among us said it was the worst they had ever endured.
Undaunted I turned up a fortnight later at 9.30 a.m. to give it another shot, while my Bike Positive buddies – many of whom live much closer to the starting point – were no doubt reclined reading the Sunday paper.
Over the spring and into the early summer, my Sunday mornings were, by and large, spent on a bike, cycling the highways and byways of the county and, when I decided to venture off on my own, into south Kilkenny. I did not get out every Sunday, but managed a before-work cycle once or twice and, with an eye to the sky, ventured out on a Saturday when I was unable to make the Sunday meet-up.
Last Sunday I was one of 300 cyclists who made it to Hook Lighthouse and back from outside Wexford. I can positively report it was a day that will live long in the memory.