Mountain Bikes and Garlic

I did once own a mountain bike. I'm not sure why I had it as I never rode it off-road, just potted around country lanes, wondering why it was such hard work.  The nearest I've got to serious downhill mountain bike stuff was when I worked as a chalet girl in Chatel, France, we didn't have any snow for the first few weeks and one of the team thought it would be a great idea to take mountain bikes up in the cable car and then ride them back down.  I opted for sitting in the sun at the top of the mountain writing postcards, I was the only one injury-free at the end of the day!
But since moving back to the country I decided to join the local cycling club, not realising initially that mountain bikes were the bikes of choice (I turned up on my thin-tyred hybrid and was sent on my way!).
Luckily I have been loaned a rather gorgeous bike so now take part in the ride around The Chilterns each week - and what a great way to explore, albeit I am focused on the ground more than the surroundings as, watching out for tree stumps, mud, holes and the like is pretty crucial.
But what I didi spot as we were storming through a woodland this week, was a carpet of beautiful wild garlic.  Asking if everyone could stop whilst I pick a bunch of garlic was not really an option - trying to keep sixteen cyclists together all evening is already a big enough task, so today I retraced our route, this time on foot and with a big bag!


One of the tastiest things to make with wild garlic is this delicious pesto - rich, pungent and very moreish!



Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Pesto

100g wild garlic (flowers and leaves)
100g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
30g parmesan, grated
juice of 1/2 lemon
100ml-200ml extra virgin olive oil

- Place the garlic and hazelnuts in a food processor and process until completed broken down.
- Add the parmesan and lemon juice and blitz again.
- With the machine running slowly pour in the oil, adding more if you like a looser consistency.
- Spoon into a jar, cover with a little oil and store in the fridge.

Cyclist's Palsy and Rempeyek!

Well, after a week of no cycling, my left hand is no better at doing up zips, or typing this blog than it was before, but at least now I know why - don't you just love the power of the internet!  A cycling friend called Ed informed me that I am suffering with cyclist's palsy (also know as handlebar palsy), a common condition in road cyclists covering long distances.  It is described as a nerve injury that causes persistent weakness and clumsiness of the hand and thumb, and may cause difficulty with fine finger movements such as operating a computer keyboard or playing the piano (so now I know why I can't play the piano!!).
Unfortunately there is no cure, but the nerve should regenerate itself and the function of the muscles will be restored within 3 months - a little longer than I had hoped!
One thing it does point out to me though is that my new bike was possibly not set up properly for me, as I had cycled Lands End to John O'Groats on my old bike with no hand problems at all - a lesson to be learnt here I feel.

Luckily I can still cook with a dodgy hand (don't ask me to ice a cake though!), so I have been experimenting with recipes of foods we had whilst cycling through Thailand and Malaysia.  When you are cycling between 80-110 miles a day your body just craves sugar for energy, so most of the day is spent taking in jellies, sweets and sweet drinks.  I also used Cliff Shot Bloks, that are like a gel but in a jelly - easier to eat while on the move, and actually quite tasty.  So by the time you get to late afternoon the thought of any more sweet foods is just too much, what you really fancy then is something savoury, and having sweated heavily all day, something salty.
Whilst cycling through Vietnam in December, I would visit local shops and buy random foods that I didn't recognise and insist on all my fellow cyclists trying them - sometimes they were delicious, sometimes they were disgusting, but it was great fun to try so many unusual ingredients.  On this trip, fellow cyclist Ray decided he would do the same to me, and in the first place we stopped near a lake he bought Rempeyek - biscuits made with anchovies and peanuts - this was early in the morning and none of us really fancied the look of them, and then we tried them - they were delicious and from that moment we were hooked, we had them every day!  Helmi, our local driver told us they were a local biscuit, so I asked him for a recipe.  This is as near as I can get with the ingredients not being quite the same over here and the translation difficult!

Rempeyek

Makes around 12

100 g rice flour
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
500 ml coconut milk
10-12 anchovies
75 g peanuts
300-400 ml groundnut oil

• Place the rice flour into a bowl and mix in the spices and fennel seeds.
• Pour in the coconut milk and beat to give a runny batter, the consistency of single cream.
• Roughly chop half the anchovies and cut the remaining half into thin strips.  Stir the chopped anchovies into the batter.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot.  Spoon desert spoonfuls of the batter into the pan, spreading it into a circle, to make it as thin as possible.  Place an strip of anchovy and a few peanuts in the centre of each one.
• Cook for 5-6 minutes, until just starting to turn golden at the edges.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a rack to drain and crisp up, then place on kitchen paper to take off any excess oil.

These are best eaten freshly made!

Bangkok to Singapore by bike

Well we made it - 1161 miles from Bangkok to Singapore, and no injuries apart from a dead left hand (which I am told will gradually be restored if I stay off the bike for a while), so even typing this is proving tricky!

 I thought the toughest bit of the challenge would be having to dismantle my bike to get it packed into the bike bag that looked far too small - if only I had known what lay ahead of me.

First obstacle over, the bike was squeezed in, padded shorts packed and off I went.  I safely arrived in Bangkok after two long flights, but unfortunately my bike did not - the airline had managed to break it beyond repair (place a fragile sticker on anything being put in the hold and it appears to be carte blanch for them to crush it).  So, with only a few hours to spare, my afternoon in Bangkok was spent racing around the bike shops of the city trying to find a bike that would fit me in a country where the average height is around 4'3"!  

So off we set in an overland truck to the start of our adventure - cycling out of Bangkok was not an option, so we started a few miles on the outskirts.  Within a few hours it was very obvious that the organisers of the trip (Kukri Events) had no idea how to support a cycling team - for starters not one of them had ever cycled - not a great start!  So not only did they not know how to handle our bikes (chucking them in the back of an overland truck seemed fine to them - I was not so impressed with my brand new bike being wrecked so early on, and others who had bikes that were clearly worth a few thousand were even less impressed), they were also intending to feed us along the way.  We were in Thailand which, in my mind, is one of the best countries to eat in the world.  So what are we fed at lunch time?  Boiled pasta, grated carrot, chopped tomato and cucumber and luncheon meat!!  Seriously!  It turns out that the driver of the truck is doing the cooking, and his idea of a great meal is KFC!  And if the food is not sold in Tesco Lotus, then it isn't possible for us to have it, as that is where they did all their shopping (we cycled through hundreds of acres of pineapples but when we requested them for breakfast where told we couldn't have them because there were none in the supermarket!

The final straw was a few days later when we had to sleep in a brothel - yes, I kid you not!

So, after one week, four of us left the group and went it alone - so the next challenge was to find our way from the top of Malaysia to Singapore (thank goodness for Google Maps!).  We hired a local mini bus and a couple of drivers to support us and carry our bags, and low and behold one of them was training to be a chef - how lucky were we?  Instantly the trip changed and became really exciting as we learnt about the food and culture along the way.  Malaysian food is a real mix between Malay, Chinese and Indian, so depending on where you eat will also depend on how spicy the food is.  Rice and noodles obviously dominate most menus, but there are some great foods to be had, like these crabs that were cooked in a little shack on the side of the road where we had stopped for breakfast - we did consider hanging on until lunch, but had 108 miles to do that day so were under pressure to keep moving!

Although the locals do not appear to eat many deserts, it's not because they don't have a sweet tooth as their coffee and tea is made with condensed milk - a thick layer of it at the bottom of each cup, which gives it a very sweet and creamy taste.

It is easy to eat quiet healthily in both Thailand and Malaysia, they don't eat dairy or bread and everything is cooked from fresh - they don't have convenience foods like we do.  So I did manage to loose weight, but would have lost a lot more if we hadn't have found Magnum ice-creams in a few garages along the way!

Two foods really stood out for me - a lemon grass salad that included deep fried shells of prawns and cashew nuts, and Rempeyek biscuits that are made with peanuts and anchovies.  I will be testing both recipes over the next week, so watch this space!

The Final Week....

For those that know me well you will have guessed that Vietnam was not a relaxing beach holiday, in fact what I failed to mention is that we covered quite a lot of Vietnam, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi to be precise, with over 500 km of it done on bikes - definitely the best way to see a country.
But that was really just a warm-up as, in 7 days time I will be heading back out east, to cycle from Bangkok to Singapore - a few more miles this time - around 1200!
So on returning from Vietnam, my first thought was how could I train in such a short space of time for such a monumental bike ride?  Well, no doubt you will have heard of High Intensity Training (HIT) that is now becoming the norm - short bursts of flat-out training with rests in between, meaning that instead of spending hours on the bike, I can sit on the turbo trainer for less than one hour each day and hopefully get the same results.
  My aim on day one was to do 10 x 1 minute sprints - I managed 6!  On day three I managed to increase it to 8.  Today my bike has gone for a service and now needs a new wheel, so no bike for 3 days - training has all gone to pot!! 
The other thing I'm always aware of before travelling is to be sure my immune system is strong, to try to prevent foreign bacteria having an undesirable effect.  So as well as taking a probiotic and oregano oil (a potent germ killer)  for the past two weeks, I am feeding myself with all the healthy foods I enjoyed in Vietnam.  Can't wait for the Thai food to come!



Prawn and Vegetable Rice Noodles

This is really a 'make it up as you go along recipe', as any amounts of these great ingredients works.

Stir fry vegetable oil, sesame oil, chopped ginger, lemon grass, red chilli, spring onions and garlic for a couple of minutes before adding stock. Bring to a simmer and add chopped pak choi, beansprouts, cooked rice noodles and prawns.  Simmer for 5-6 minutes.

As with a lot of foods this tastes even better the following day!

Enjoy x

PS  This beautiful bowl was bought from Reaching Out in Hoi An, an enterprise that was established in 2000 showcasing high quality handicrafts made by disabled craftspeople in Vietnam

Childhood Memories

Last Sunday was spent competing in the Norwich 100, a cycle ride around the gorgeous coast of Norfolk, and through the flat (you must be kidding) and stunning country lanes, from Norwich and back again.
A group of us do this every year and this year was just beautiful, with the most perfect weather (probably a bit hot for some, but I loved it!).  And what I also loved were the memories it brought back to me.
I am a Norfolk girl (or Norfolk Swede-basher as we were once known!), and my being brought up on the Norfolk Broads meant that on high days and holidays we took to the coast.  The nearest places for us were Waxham or Happisburgh, and if we wanted to have a good picnic lunch we ventured to Cromer for the wonderful crabs there, fresh off the boats.
When we cycled across India earlier this year, it was the smells that I was conscious of, and on Sunday it was the same, but this time there were memories to be  triggered with each smell; Cromer with its fish and chips, amusement arcades and crabs, Walcott ice-cream vans parked along the seafront with everyone sitting eating ice-cream on the sea wall, with the smell of salt water.  One new smell was the rape that now grows everywhere - the smell of cabbage (rape is part of the brassica family) - that just brought back memories of school dinners!
Having spent the day eating really bad things just to keep up my energy levels, I really craved some healthy food on my return to London, and this simple recipe really fits the bill.

Smoked Mackerel Pate with Broccoli and Asparagus Salad

Serves 4

250 g smoked mackerel, skin removed
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
2-3 tsp creamed horseradish
juice of 1 lemon
seasoning
3 spring onions, finely chopped
300 g broccoli, cut into florets
300 g asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed
200 g green beans, trimmed and halved
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds

• Flake the mackerel and place half in a food processor with the yoghurt, creamed horseradish, half the lemon juice and seasoning, and blitz until nearly smooth.
• Stir in the remaining flaked mackerel and spring onions and place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli, asparagus and green beans in boiling water for 4-5 minutes and then drain and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking and help them to retain their fresh green colour.
• Toss the cold vegetables with the remaining lemon juice, olive oil and sesame seeds and serve with the pate.

Memories of India

So hard to imagine that this time last week we were in searing temperatures, fighting our way through the crazy traffic of Southern India.
I had originally intended to keep a journal of the trip, but after two days of cycling for 6-7 hours, I lacked the energy to do anything except indulge in my favourite drink at the end of every day - a gorgeous cold (not always!), velvety, sweet lassi - perfect for refuelling the body with a little protein and carbs.  Easy enough to make by blending natural yoghurt, ice, water, a little sugar, and for me the addition of roughly ground cardamom just adds the perfect flavour.  Mint or mango are also delicious additions.

So my journal entries became bullet points, and these just sum-up what I experienced each day -
Smells - jasmine, garlic, tea, coconut, hot tar, exhaust fumes, cardamom.
Feelings - elation, exhaustion, thirst, humbleness, happiness, relief.
Reactions to us - laughter (lots - we were wearing lycra after all!), hand-slapping, intrigue, staring.
New experiences - cycling 100km+ in searing heat, dining in broken-down shacks, eating jack fruit, eating rice and curry off banana leaves with hands, sharing restaurant with a rat!


Interestingly I really thought I would start to go off curry after the first week, but it didn't happen.  And even more amazingly, I have craved it since returning home, so have already cooked myself a couple of curries, dhals, and this, my favourite Kerelan cabbage dish.

Kerelan Coconut Cabbage

Serves 4

2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 garlic clove, diced
10-12 curry leaves
1 red chilli, deseeded and diced
2 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and diced
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium cabbage, shredded
3 tbsp desiccated coconut
small handful coriander leave, roughly torn

Heat the coconut oil and cook the mustard seeds, garlic, curry leaves, chilli, ginger, spring onion and turmeric, until the mustard seeds begin to 'pop'.
Stir in the cabbage and coconut and toss to coat with the spices.  Add a couple of tablespoons of water and continue to steam-fry, tossing from time to time, for 5-6 minutes.
Stir in the coriander, season to taste and serve.

Not letting-go of summer

We may have had a few chilly days, but it stills feels pretty warm to me, and I'm loving it!
Yesterday a friend and I took part in the Cycling Weekly Sportive, over the gorgeous Surrey Hills - it was a fantastic route, with rain only at the beginning and hills all the way through!  But having booked for the 77 miler, we decided early on that the 'Fun' ride was more our style, so after 30 miles we headed off to one of the pubs we had passed earlier for a spot of lunch.
The Dolphin in Betchworth turned out to be a real find - their fish pie was the best I have had in a long time, and was served with great fresh vegetables.  We had intended to finish off with bread & butter pudding, but alas were both too full!
Obviously by the time I got home I was hungry again, and was still in summer mood, as by then the sun had well and truly come out.  And what I really fancied was a summery dish of peppers - basic good ingredients simply cooked - delicious.



Peperonata 

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 medium onions, peeled and sliced

4 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 1 cm slices

350g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

small handful basil leaves, torn

·      1.  Heat the oil in a medium pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 1 -2 minutes.

·      2.  Add the red peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes before stirring in the chopped tomatoes.

·      3.  Continue to cook for 20 minutes, until the peppers have softened.

·      4.  Stir in the basil and serve, sprinkled with lots of freshly milled black pepper.

A serious start to winter training

It's when I hear the expression 'the nights are drawing in' that I start to dread the coming months.  Knowing that it's going to get darker and colder each day and that despite this, I will still have to get out on the river or in the cold boathouse gym, and train.
With this in mind, I booked myself a flight to Turkey!  Back to my much loved house in Foca, to be able to stay warm for just a few days longer.
But I didn't intend putting off training, so asked a friend who lives close if he could lend me a bike (I had borrowed one in the past from him, but couldn't quite remember what it was like).
He is such a good friend that when I turned up at my house on Saturday evening and opened the door, there was my trusty steed waiting in the kitchen!  What I had failed to remembered is that it's a small framed mountain bike, with big thick tyres and a lovely basket on the front!!  Not quite what I will be using in the Cycling Weekly Surrey Hills sportive in a few weeks time, but hopefully it may make it feel a whole lot easier when I get on a real bike!
Foca also has only one road that runs through it, so there is no choice as far as my daily training goes - and no avoiding all the huge hills that a coastal road inevitably has.  Before leaving home I had roughly mapped out a route on the internet and thought I could cover a round trip of about 25 miles.  So far I haven't even made it to the first village 23km away!  The heat and hills are exhausting.  But the views at the top of each hill are absolute heaven - which is obviously why it's taking me so long to get anywhere, as I have to keep stopping to appreciate the amazing place I am in.  I'm sure I won't be doing that in the wet and soggy Surrey Hills.

LEJOG

Wow, what an adventure, I can't believe we've made it back in one piece!  967 miles of peddling, with only a couple of wrong turns and one puncture - how lucky were we.
But a bit of advice for those intending to attempt this madness - the prevailing winds from Cornwall to Scotland did not exist.....at all!  We pretty much had a head wind for 75% of the trip.  And to be honest, finishing in John O Groats is not that great - there is nothing there, not even a pub within free-wheeling distance.  So my advice would be start at the top and cycle down - that way you will also avoid all the obvious comments of 'why are you doing it uphill?' - very annoying!

As for food along the way - for the first couple of days we ate constantly.  I think our bodies went into shock with all the exercise and we craved everything.  Luckily that started to wear off after around 4-5 days and we settled into a more sensible eating plan - good breakfasts (with eggs for much needed protein), then snacking every hour before stopping for a good lunch.  And we did find some great places too.  One that has to be mentioned is The Wellington, an award winning pub in the village of Wellington in the beautiful Herefordshire countryside - well worth a diversion.
Our snacks consisted of Mule Bars, Trek Bars and other similar healthy bars, but we soon got pretty bored with those every hour, and on reaching Scotland switched to wonderfully sweet Scottish tablet and shortbread!
Once our support vehicle joined us in Oswestry things became much easier on the catering front and with the catering being done by our support man Dave, we could control much more what we ate (i.e. we could cut down on chips!).  We were hoping to try a few regional foods along the way, but did struggle to find them - we passed many oyster beds along the Scottish Lochs, but didn't spot a restaurant along the route where we could sample them.  Cullen Skink soup at the Kilmartin Hotel was creamy and delicious, but perhaps not the most sensible choice when having to cycle another 30 miles over steep hills into Oban directly after eating it!
My favourite part of the whole trip has to be the stunning Isle of Arran, which is lucky really, as the sea conditions were so bad we got stuck on it for longer than anticipated!
I would definitely recommend the trip to anybody who wants to really see our great country - there is no better way.

We're off!

Well the training really is over now.  I finished off with a couple of laps of Richmond Park with my panniers full of books for added weight!  To start with it felt like I was pulling a trailer behind me, but by the time I was on the homeward stretch, I forgot they were there. Let's hope it feels that way when we make our first ascent on the very steep hills of Cornwall!
We've had lots of great support on our JustGiving site, which really helps us want to achieve our goal, knowing that there are people out there keeping tracks on us.
I will try to add a few blogs along the way, so do keep checking in to see how we are getting on.  I will also send daily tweets @Enjoynibbling.

Easter Treats

One week to go before we make the crazy trip, cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats, climbing the highest peaks of Wales, England and Scotland along the way - will my legs (or bottom!) make it?
In preparation I have been eating a little more than normal, thinking that it will be impossible to eat enough to sustain the amount of exercise we are going to be doing on a daily basis - apart from anything else, there will just not be enough time!
Easter being the week before we set off has been perfect, no holding back on the chocolate and hot cross buns.  It also meant I had time to escape to Norfolk to train with Jon, who is joining us on the ride - he assured me he could find us some hills to train on - he has no idea that in comparison the 'hills' of Norfolk are just little pimples!
The only problem with making my own hot cross buns is that I make far too many and, despite giving lots away I still have more than I can eat.
Having made bread and butter pudding with Panettone for a Christmas twist, I figured hot cross buns would also work a treat - and I was right.

Hot Cross Pudding

Serves 6-8

4 hot cross buns, halved
25g unsalted buter, softened
100g dried apricots
8 egg yolks
175g caster sugar
400ml double cream
200ml milk
1 vanilla pod, split
sugar to sprinkle

1.  Butter the halves of hot cross buns and place them in a buttered oven-proof dish.  Sprinkle with the dried apricots.
2.  Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl.
3.  Pour the cream and milk into a small pan, add the split vanilla pod and bring to a simmer.
4.  Pour the cream mixture through a sieve into the eggs and sugar, and whisk well.
5.  Pour the custard over the hot cross buns and leave to soak for 20 minutes.  Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4.
6.  Cook for 20-30 minutes in a roasting tin half filled with water. Sprinkle with sugar when it comes out of the oven before serving.

Time to up the training

With only 6 weeks until we embark on Endto3PeaksEnd, I was very aware last week that I need to be training longer and harder.  And with Row Zambezi following on just 12 weeks after that, my fitness needs to be pretty good all round.  So this morning saw me peddling my heart out towards Windsor, doing a 45 mile round trip, aiming at an average 14 miles per hour.  As most days we are hoping to do an average of around 80 miles, it was good to test whether I thought we would be able to get 50 under our belts before lunch!  Food is obviously always uppermost in my mind, and planning anything has to take this into account.
Luckily Tim, who I do my cycle training with, is like-minded, so we tend to cycle towards a great cafe (about 25 miles away from home) then, after a cuppa and cake, cycle home a different route.  Last week we did the famous Box Hill climb - I was very amused to see all the 'bikers' (as in, those with motor bikes) stay at the bottom of the hill, yet those with only peddle power cycle to the top for their refreshment stop!
This week our pit-stop was Fairoaks Airport, a real find in the middle of no-where, but obviously known to a number of cyclists.  We decided the cakes were not up to the standard of Box Hill, but the fried breakfast looked amazing (or maybe it was just that we had just cycled 25 miles and were starving!).
Next week I will be training hard in Seville, Spain, so there will be no cakes at all (not sure I will last the week without sneaking into the centre between training sessions to buy something naughty!).
As the weekend has been so gorgeous weather-wise, I made a summery lunch of Panzanella, and for the first time this year, ate in the garden.

I had this in Italy last year when I was visiting the Italian boy - but his mother made it with soft bread and it was all quite soggy.  I prefer to have a little 'bite' to mine, so use wholemeal or granary bread instead.

Panzanella 

 

Serves 4

300g tomatoes

125g wholemeal or granary bread

16 olives, stoned

3 tsp capers

½ red onion, finely sliced

300g red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1.     Place the tomatoes in a sieve over a bowl, using the back of a spoon, squash them well to release all the juice into the bowl.

2.     Roughly break up the bread and put into the tomato juice and leave to stand for 15 minutes before transferring to a serving dish.

3.     Scatter the remaining ingredients over the bread, drizzling over the red wine vinegar and olive oil at the end to serve.

Country v City

Last weekend I travelled back to my home county, Norfolk, to race in the head of the river Yare with my great mixed doubles' partner Anthony.  Anthony and I tried to break the record for the Boston Marathon two years ago and, after 3 hours and 57 minutes we missed it by around one and a half minutes - very painful and very frustrating!  But since then if there is a chance to race together we do, as we seem to work well as a partnership.  The other great thing about racing on the Yare is the gorgeous flat water - last weekend a few of the boys were complaining that it was a bit windy - take a look on the left - that was it!!!  Compared to the Tideway where I train, this was nothing.
The following day I spent with friends, mountain biking through Thetford Forest - another wonderful place that is totally unspoilt and not known to a huge number of people, so doesn't tend to get too crowded - but you do need to know your way around, as it is huge.  Travelling back to London is always hard after such a great weekend away playing outside - I think I am a country girl at heart!

But then back to work on Monday I experienced Exmouth Market and its' wonderful food stalls - if you need a healthy, delicious lunch this is certainly the place to go, and if you don't want healthy they have got that too - salt beef sandwiches, traditional vegetarian Indian thalis and samosas, a seed salad bar, risotto stall, gourmet burritos, and Moorish food from Moro - the choice is amazing.  So suddenly the country didn't seem quite so exciting after all!

Peddle power and Thames Clean-up

So, the World Masters is over for another year, and now it's on to the next event - a triathlon.  But not your normal run-of-the-mill triathlon - I am a slow 'breast-stroke, head in the air' swimmer, so swimming in open water with hundreds of other swimmers splashing and wacking me over the head is not an option!  Luckily for me the Marlow Rowers Revenge was started a few years ago, giving us rowers a chance to compete in a fun event that we may just have a chance of winning.

But for the non-rowers amongst you, don't worry, the rowing bit is done on dry land - on rowing machines (otherwise known as ergs).  4000metre row, 23.40km bike ride (in the Chiltern Hills) and 7.15km run.
So this weekend saw me puffing up and over the Surrey Hills, sporting my SPDs for the very first time - and yes, it was scary - I was in a state of panic at the sight of any junction, car, or even horse that may turn in front of me!  But I made it....twenty miles and no cuts or bruises, just one flat tyre (which was easily fixed by my co-rider Tim - sometimes being a girl is just perfect!).
I'm also back training on the Thames, but over the last couple of days have a feeling that I may have picked up something from the river water, so am feeling a little 'tender'.  It happens a lot and most people are unaware of what is pumped into our lovely river.  Fortunately there are a number of organisations that try to help in cleaning up the river and it's banks.  If you fancy joining in do take a look at Thames21 who organise clean ups - every little bit helps.

Getting back into the saddle...

This weekend was the big overnight cycle ride and despite really wanting to do it, for once I listened to my body and realised that just over two weeks from surgery is probably not the best time to cycle for nine to ten hours with no sleep.  I am constantly telling athletes that they should not train if they are not at the peak of health, and this was a prime example of that!
Luckily there are always other options that are less stressful to the healing process - a quick burst of dragon-boat racing last Sunday (each race only lasted 1 minute, so not too much strain on the body, and with a fairly novice crew I knew my stamina would not be put under too much pressure!).  It was a great event, organised by Dragon Boat Events, with 48 crews taking part and although it was for charity clearly we were all out to win it!
My other form of gentle cross-training has been to head out to the Chilterns and hike up and down the hills, which I find is not only great for the legs but also for the mind - escaping London is a great way to de-stress.  Luckily it's not a busy place for walkers, despite it being so close to London, not many people realise what a great area it is, with rolling hills, great little country pubs and hundreds of miles of well-marked footpaths.

My New Toy!

Early mornings at this time of the year are just the best - there is nothing to beat being on the river, paddling under all the bridges whist on top of them the traffic is building up and people are getting frustrated at being delayed.  And meanwhile I'm just gently floating on by....
But now another challenge has been set and I've had to treat myself to a new toy to enable me to take part (well, that's my excuse!  On July 24th a crowd of us are taking part in the Dunwich Dynamo!  Described as "A turn-up-and-go, challenging, slightly-scary, free-entry, overnight- on-tarmac, just under 120 mile bicycle ride to the lovely lonely Suffolk sea at Dunwich".  As usual the friends that are not taking part have told us we are crazy......... and they are possibly right (I will confirm this, if and when I ever return)!
But in preparation I realised my trusty, and rusty, old mountain bike was not going to be fit enough for the job and a road bike was what was needed - I had always wanted one, and now here was my perfect excuse.
So, I picked the brains of my mate Charlie who is experienced in these things and he came up with the perfect bike for me, which I duly then ordered from Evans.  On Friday the call came through that the bike had arrived and was awaiting my inspection.  So off I went to try out my new wheels.  Interesting taking a bike for a test ride when you have no idea what it should feel like.  Even more interesting when you get about a mile away from the shop and realise you have no idea how to change gear!  So there I was in Syon Park flagging down any cyclist who I thought looked like he might know a thing to two about bikes (as it turned out I realised this was  pretty good way of pulling a fit bloke - must mention it to Liz!).  So I was off, at speed, and happy with my choice.  Only other decision was whether to have SPDs fitted - they're the clippy things that stop you getting your feet out quickly, just before you fall over.   Thought I should go for it big time and really look the part, so told them to fit those too and I would pick it up on Monday.
Not quite so confident today - called them early this morning to suggest maybe normal peddles whilst I get used to the bike (I shall probably be falling off enough without the clippy things).  While I was waiting for my bike a young guy was being given instructions on his new purchase - a £2500 full suspension mountain bike.  While this was going on a little old man was waiting to be served, watching in bewilderment.  Finally it was his turn to be served and he asked to see their range of bicycle clips for his trousers!  Isn't life so full of extremes.
On leaving the shop I decided I would head straight for Richmond Park (where all the serious cyclists do their time-trials) and have myself some fun.  What I actually did was scare myself quite considerably - hills that seem perfectly fine in a car suddenly seemed like a skiing black run, with no snow-ploughing allowed!  And although I knew how to change gear I didn't really understand when!
So, having scared myself one final time on the last hill going down to the river to head home, I bump into my neighbour Tim, a keen cyclist with Twickenham Cycling Club.  He is so impressed with the new bike he insists we take it around Richmond Park for a spin - telling him I've just done that does not put him off.  So finally I get to ride it with an instructor at my side, and at last I feel like I might be on the way to knowing how to ride a bike!  Which is lucky really, with only about 7 weeks training to go!