London To Windsor 5th September

After months and months of preparation and fund raising the day finally came around on Sunday. I have to admit to waking up feeling a little bit nervy. Would I manage to complete the ride, what if I got a puncture or 5, surely I won't be the slowest. That was just a selection of the thoughts going through my head as I rode my first mile of the day from home to the station.

Having caught the first train from Wokingham to Richmond I was kind of relived to see about 15 other people all loading their bikes onto the train as well. The closer to Richmond we got, the more bikes that seemed to be filling the train until we reached Staines and the train was practically full of people with bikes.

The start of the ride was only a few hundred yards from Richmond station and having arrived just after 9, I joined the rather large queue waiting to go through the start gates. It took till 9.40 for me to actually get underway but the sense of relive that seemed to hit me as I rode under the start banner seemed to wipe away my earlier doubts.

This was my first event of this type and having decided to do it on my own rather than in a group it meant that from 9.40 till I crossed that finish line I would be on my own, listening to my Ipod and following in the tracks of numerous riders before me. It was a new experience but once I'd negotiated my way around the one way system in Richmond I set into a rythmn that would carry me through to the finish.

Apart from a couple of riders going down in front of me I didn't have any real drama's or wobbles and even with the threat of passing cars it all seemed to be a lot better than I had imagined. Of course there were a number of riders, all dressed in professional team kit that seemed to be passing me with relative ease, but I'm pleased to say that I was even managing a few overtaking manoeuvres of my own.

With the majority of the first 15 or so miles being relatively flat the first hill leaving Chertsey came as a bit of a shock but having taken a minute struggling to regroup and adjust my gears I managed to pull it back together.

It would be fair to say that after an hour and a 3/4 on the bike the sight of the 8 miles to go sign coming away from Virginia Water was really an uplifting moment. Looking back I realised that coming up the previous hill I had sagged a little but that sign lifted my spirits and whilst I can honestly say it was a struggle I managed to complete the whole course in just under 2 and a half hours.

The finish straight was a very welcome sight and if someone had told me I would reach it in a time just under 2 and a half hours I would have laughed at them. Despite my training since January/February time I still didn't feel confident but I can honestly say I was pleased with my time.

Of course the only thing left to do now is to take the experience from this year and register again next year to try and imrpove on my time.

At the time of writing the donations currently stand at £205, so any more anyone is willing to give would be fantastic, the just giving page is open until the 5th
December 2010 and can be found here

Thank you to all who have donated so far, now onto the next challenges, watch this space