QuadEPIC 2010 - England to Singapore

My first week of training is out the way and only 9 more weeks left to get up to a reasonable fitness level. I have a good feeling I will be on target so I can comfortably cycle 40 miles per day. It's not been as hard as I first thought it was going to be. I've managed a number of 6-12 mile bike rides a couple of times a day, also one 32 mile and one 30 mile in under 2 hrs 30 minutes. The most interesting ride for me was on Friday 22nd at night. It was raining hard, extremely foggy and with some harsh head on winds. These were some the worst conditions I've had to cycle in since I lived in Perth, Australia. It took me a while to build up momentum and motivation to tackle these conditions, plus I was holding a stomach full of spaghetti bolognese.

 I've zipped my rain jacket all the way to the top, closed all the vents on the jacket arms, tucked my right trousers leg in to my sock, picked up the garage key and exited the house into the harsh conditions. I turned the lights on (even though they had very little effect in the fog) and cycled away. Even before I got a mile into the ride I was soaked, but it felt so good being alone in the Lincolnshire countryside with noone around at this late hour on the road. Also with only 10 ft visibility there was often the surprise of a couple of bushy tailed foxes running out in front of me. This loneliness and isolation from other people made me realise a new love for cycling, it was nice to escape and almost feel at one with nature again, with the only noise being my gears changing and rain drops landing on my helmet. This was a feeling I've not felt since living in Canada.

At the 7 mile mark the weather lifted, and both the rain and fog where gone. The last 3 miles flew by extremely quick as I pushed on down what was now a noisy busy road with cars zooming past at unsettling speeds. I returned back to the civilisation of Scartho Village, and did the final stretch of the loop back to the warmth and dryness of my home. The 10 mile loop only took me 30 minutes to complete, which I was extremely happy with considering I've only been training for a week.

So with that little story out the way we also welcome someone new to the QuadEPIC family this week. Varun is from New Delhi, India. You can read more about Varun by visiting our web site:  http://www.quadepic2010.org.uk/riders.html. Varun will be riding along side us on a mountain bike and will be rotating with the riders on the quadbike throughout the 3 month period.