Its that time of the year again...
Hi all! Well after what seemingly was / is a large break from blogging, but there is now "the blog that never was" and some of you will know what that means. Here is the next entry in my oh so random collection of thoughts.
Its that time of the year again where winter isn't sure when its coming or going, but I would like to think that it is now going as the temperatures are picking up slowly, snow and ice are also vanishing (well, ok, vanished from where I bobble about in).
Kaprun
Keegan and I are now only 9 days away from heading back to Kaprun. Seems weird that Kaprun has been a thing on the radar for 352 days so far.
9 days away from views like this that have been my computer background for the lions share of the year...
Keegan has done incredibly well saving his pocket money for the trip. OK in reality he's been banned from spending it so I do wonder how he will be with the money he has accrued over the course of the year.
The Prudential RideLondon - 100
As you'll probably be aware, back in August 2018 I reapplied to the ballot to get into the 2019 Prudential RideLondon 100. 70,000 people applied and there are "only" 25,000 slots available. Yesterday (Wednesday 6th February 2019) was the date when we'd find out if we had been accepted into the ride or not.
Chatting to friends on Whatsapp, each one had been refused bar one. So 1 out of 4 had been provisionally accepted. I knew there was a high chance the magazine was waiting for me at home. This is how they let you know whether you've been accepted or not.
You'll either get this one:
Or this one:
They come in a sealed blue plastic bag type envelope so you cannot see what is inside unless you open it.
I made sure I left work at precisely 4pm to get home. The journey home was uneventful aside from my increasing impatience at what was waiting for me. Then the thoughts started making me realise it really was not guaranteed to be able to get in, especially for 2 years in a row. How would I react? Would I be demotivated?
I got a message from my friend Tori when I was about 2 miles from home asking if I was at home. She was sounding just as anxious as I was to find out. Get home, no faffing about there. Sure enough there it was, waiting for me in my anti-confetti device. I checked to see if I could see inside for some sort of indication:
no two ways about it, I had to cut into the envelope and find out. OMG I had only got back in! (Yes the second pic "Or this one" is mine :-).
I was so happy! Absolute result! I then realised I had been a bit complacent in my thinking. Not that I expected to get back in, I knew it could go either way. The ballot is meant to be completely random. A 50/50 mix of male and female participants. But the bottom line is with 25,000 ballot spots available and 70,000 applicants, thats a 35.71% chance of success and I'd now managed it twice in a row. One of the guys from Woking Cycle Club posted that he'd never been successful and he'd applied for the last three years. That made it even more of an eye opener for me.
So with this news where do I go from here? Well it goes without saying that as soon as the payment gateway comes online tomorrow (Friday 8th February) I will be making the payment to guarantee my place.
But its really driven home that entry into the RideLondon event is far from guaranteed through the ballot (unless you're amazing at fundraising in which case you can probably get a charity spot). I know that I will now be taking place. Many won't be that did want to be there. So what would you do? I know what I'll do. For the 100 mile route I will be giving it everything I've got. My target is 5.5 hours or less which is 37 minutes and 27 seconds faster than 2018. It won't be easy for me thats for sure, but I need to try. My fitness gains through the last year speak for themselves. I am lighter than I was, cycling faster overall than I was too. I won't let up, I can't let up on this routine I have. Yes there will still be balance (that was mentioned in the blog entry "that never was") but the self imposed drinking ban is now back in effect until mid-August. OK, it will be temporarily lifted while Keegan and I are in Kaprun as I like a couple of beers in the evening. Why mid-August though when the prudential ride is at the start of August? Well right now, my last organised sportive is "The Magnificat" on August 17th, 125 miles in length. I've never attempted that distance before so it'll be quite the challenge to do that and attempt a gold time (avg 15.5mph or more).
Its that time of the year again where winter isn't sure when its coming or going, but I would like to think that it is now going as the temperatures are picking up slowly, snow and ice are also vanishing (well, ok, vanished from where I bobble about in).
Kaprun
Keegan and I are now only 9 days away from heading back to Kaprun. Seems weird that Kaprun has been a thing on the radar for 352 days so far.
9 days away from views like this that have been my computer background for the lions share of the year...
Keegan has done incredibly well saving his pocket money for the trip. OK in reality he's been banned from spending it so I do wonder how he will be with the money he has accrued over the course of the year.
The Prudential RideLondon - 100
As you'll probably be aware, back in August 2018 I reapplied to the ballot to get into the 2019 Prudential RideLondon 100. 70,000 people applied and there are "only" 25,000 slots available. Yesterday (Wednesday 6th February 2019) was the date when we'd find out if we had been accepted into the ride or not.
Chatting to friends on Whatsapp, each one had been refused bar one. So 1 out of 4 had been provisionally accepted. I knew there was a high chance the magazine was waiting for me at home. This is how they let you know whether you've been accepted or not.
You'll either get this one:
Or this one:
They come in a sealed blue plastic bag type envelope so you cannot see what is inside unless you open it.
I made sure I left work at precisely 4pm to get home. The journey home was uneventful aside from my increasing impatience at what was waiting for me. Then the thoughts started making me realise it really was not guaranteed to be able to get in, especially for 2 years in a row. How would I react? Would I be demotivated?
I got a message from my friend Tori when I was about 2 miles from home asking if I was at home. She was sounding just as anxious as I was to find out. Get home, no faffing about there. Sure enough there it was, waiting for me in my anti-confetti device. I checked to see if I could see inside for some sort of indication:
no two ways about it, I had to cut into the envelope and find out. OMG I had only got back in! (Yes the second pic "Or this one" is mine :-).
I was so happy! Absolute result! I then realised I had been a bit complacent in my thinking. Not that I expected to get back in, I knew it could go either way. The ballot is meant to be completely random. A 50/50 mix of male and female participants. But the bottom line is with 25,000 ballot spots available and 70,000 applicants, thats a 35.71% chance of success and I'd now managed it twice in a row. One of the guys from Woking Cycle Club posted that he'd never been successful and he'd applied for the last three years. That made it even more of an eye opener for me.
So with this news where do I go from here? Well it goes without saying that as soon as the payment gateway comes online tomorrow (Friday 8th February) I will be making the payment to guarantee my place.
But its really driven home that entry into the RideLondon event is far from guaranteed through the ballot (unless you're amazing at fundraising in which case you can probably get a charity spot). I know that I will now be taking place. Many won't be that did want to be there. So what would you do? I know what I'll do. For the 100 mile route I will be giving it everything I've got. My target is 5.5 hours or less which is 37 minutes and 27 seconds faster than 2018. It won't be easy for me thats for sure, but I need to try. My fitness gains through the last year speak for themselves. I am lighter than I was, cycling faster overall than I was too. I won't let up, I can't let up on this routine I have. Yes there will still be balance (that was mentioned in the blog entry "that never was") but the self imposed drinking ban is now back in effect until mid-August. OK, it will be temporarily lifted while Keegan and I are in Kaprun as I like a couple of beers in the evening. Why mid-August though when the prudential ride is at the start of August? Well right now, my last organised sportive is "The Magnificat" on August 17th, 125 miles in length. I've never attempted that distance before so it'll be quite the challenge to do that and attempt a gold time (avg 15.5mph or more).
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