The Hills!!!!

That's it.  I have "done" the dreaded Ride London hills in one session.

Newlands - tick.  Leith - tick.  Box - tick (and pleasurable)

Ok, I did them after just 20+ miles, not the 55+ on the day, but there is time to do more before 10th August. I was still smiling after them (see photo) and even after doing just over 70 yesterday I still had room for more.  I concentrated yesterday on my fuel and that seemed to work.  I am ignoring the nay sayers who mention glycogen rushes each time I take a bite of home-made flap jack.  Yesterday was a good day, particularly after Saturday's planned ride was a wash out.  The country side was glorious.  The chilly start turned into perfect temperatures for ride.  The company of Woking Cycle Club was, as always, lovely.

So, I have a start time of 8.07, which annoyed me as I feel it is too late.  But, parking at London Bridge is booked and I am giving someone a lift.  The day is coming.  Getting excited.  Can't wait.

In my next blog I will say more about why this event is important to me and my plans to remember some of those we have lost. In the meantime, keep spinning!

I would like your support. £300 could run our nurse helpline for a day. £100 could enable our patient volunteers to talk to local groups to raise awareness. £50 could cover the cost of running our online patient forum for a day, where patients talk to each other, providing support and reassurance. If you can, please be generous and donate via www.justgiving.com/Mark-Flannagan3.

An interesting and educational weekend

Every time out on the bike I learn something new - hills, cadence, fuelling properly, etc. This weekend I learned lots - including something I don't want to see again.

To begin with lessons learned and some team work arose out of a bad situation.  A lovely ride to take in Box Hill with seven others on Saturday turned into a close call for one and his pelvis broken.  We were coming down the other side of Box Hill and Mike was taking a corner when his brakes locked, he skidded into an oncoming van and ended up on his back in the middle of the road.  Result was ambulance, paramedic, assorted police cars (including a full road traffic accident team), a stressed out group of cyclists and a phone call to his wife.  Mike has broken his pelvis in two places and we are waiting to see how long to recover. No Ride London to raise funds for the MS Society for him (we had just been talking fundraising tips).  The lessons?  Things can change very quickly. When accidents happen everyone has a role and people come together very well.  So, not a nice thing to happen but the team came together.  Mike has all our best wishes for a speedy recovery. And I don't think his back wheel is fixable!

Not going anywhere - new wheel needed

We rode back under a cloud and completed the 46 miles at a slower speed than we set out to.  A real shame as we were all on a high after taking Box Hill pretty much easily.

The talk at the Woking Cycle Club meet up on Sunday was about Mike and wishing him well.  Then off to Windsor town centre for our half way stop.  This ride, 32 miles total, was another reminder how dodgy it can be to be on the roads.  It seemed that there were more drivers than ever trying to overtake at speed, getting frustrated when they couldn't (and why do they insist on doing so on a blind bend?), pulling in on our riders and then shouting or showing abuse.   Time for education that riding single file isn't an option as that makes overtaking harder (longer line to drive past), that two abreast is safer for everyone and that, frankly, car drivers being an unmentionable doesn't help.

Anyway...the ride was pleasant despite some drivers (and many were really very good) and I added to the 32 miles with another 24 of my own to make 56 miles in one go - key goal reached.  Over 100 miles in two days.  Legs aren't too tired, I slept well and raring to go (after two rest days to come).

Next Sunday we plan to recce the Surrey Hills part of the Prudential Ride London route, including doing Leith Hill.  Aiming for 60+ miles too.  So, despite an accident and being conscious of the road, I am feeling very positive about cycling.  Can't stop now. Seven weeks and it will be done and I will be looking for my next challenge.

I would like your support. £300 could run our nurse helpline for a day. £100 could enable our patient volunteers to talk to local groups to raise awareness. £50 could cover the cost of running our online patient forum for a day, where patients talk to each other, providing support and reassurance. If you can, please be generous and donate via www.justgiving.com/Mark-Flannagan3.

The difference we make and why I need your support

The Beating Bowel Cancer nurses - Louisa, Jenny, Gill & Gary

Eight weeks this Sunday I will be out there cycling 100 miles in the Prudential Ride London for Beating Bowel Cancer.  Every mile will be dedicated to the memory of those we have lost and to all those affected by bowel cancer in so many ways. I hope to include as many of these names as possible on my ride shirt on the day.

I am immensely proud of the work Beating Bowel Cancer does.  We do a huge amount to beat the UK's second biggest cancer killer. One service I am particularly proud of is our nurse helpline - the only one for bowel cancer patients. What our nurses do makes a difference. For example, our nurse Gary recently spent an hour and a half on the phone with one patient, listening, providing information and reassurance, and discussing possible treatment options. That call made a huge difference to the person at the other end. It is just one example of the difference we make.

We are there for patients every day. We help and support thousands every year. That is why I have set my ambitious goal to raise £10,000 by taking part in Ride London. This sum will be a significant help towards funding our vital services.

I would like your support. £300 could run our nurse helpline for a day. £100 could enable our patient volunteers to talk to local groups to raise awareness. £50 could cover the cost of running our online patient forum for a day, where patients talk to each other, providing support and reassurance. If you can, please be generous and donate via www.justgiving.com/Mark-Flannagan3.

Making progress - not long now

What a great weekend's cycling.  Here am I with Andy at the top of Box Hill, completed as part of a 45 mile ride Friday evening.  Clever Andy (in the Beating Bowel Cancer top) didn't tell me we were going up until we were almost there.  He knows how to manage me!  I know Box Hill isn't the hardest on the Ride London route but doing it felt like a real achievement.  And doing it on a gorgeous evening felt life affirming.  By the way, I will remember May and June for the weather being pretty good as I have been on some glorious bike rides in the Surrey countryside.

Sunday was the second Woking Cycle Club social ride.  The "social" refers to the pace, which was less than 11mph.  I chose this because I wanted to enjoy myself after Friday and couldn't be certain I would keep up with a ride of 15mph.  We went out to Farnham and back via some lovely country roads.  The hills are much less troublesome when you are taking your cue from others also pedalling up them.  We took the half way break at a lovely country life centre with, of course, cake!  Overall, door to door, it was 40 miles at a very easy going pace allowing time to chat, enjoy the scenery and concentrate on gears going up hills.

Next stop is to get the miles up to or beyond 60 and to get those Hills on route done.  There is a ride of 65 miles taking in much of the Ride London route on 29th June and I will see if I am up for it in a week or so. On 27th July the Cycle Club are doing a seaside run of 100 miles there and back. Initially I thought that would be a good thing to do two weeks short of Ride London, but now I wonder whether it is wise to do a full 100 so close, particularly as a novice.  Too much can go wrong.  So I may just do the outward leg and train it home with others who are also so minded.

All in all, feeling fitter, sleeping better, enjoying the cycling and definitely want to continue beyond 10th August.  I will, of course, need to get a permanent bike.  Time to buy a Lottery ticket!

In the meantime, there is just nine weeks to go until the Ride London 100.  Eek!!!!

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show your support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

Time to step it up

It feels different. I am beginning to feel like a "proper" cyclist, and not just someone out on a bike trying to keep going for as long as possible.  It is thanks to a very nice man called Andy, one of our Ride London team, who has taken me out twice now - first for 37 miles and second for 29 miles with a few hills.  His patience and advice have been very welcome and it has been a tremendous reassurance to have his confidence that I will do this.

And, after riding 29 miles last Saturday, I still managed to meet up for the first time with Woking Cycle Club on Sunday morning.  I had to get up at 6am to be breakfasted, digested and there for an 8am start.  It was hard work motivating myself to get up and out. I hadn't slept that well or for very long and had a cold. I am delighted I got off my butt and did it though.  It was glorious.  The Club are really friendly and very welcoming.  There were quite a few new members of all backgrounds so I felt very comfortable.  The ride turned out to be a slow one (10.28mph), which is usual for the new members day.  They also have faster (up to 16mph) rides, not quite for me - yet.  We rode to Esher and stopped at 21 miles at G!RO Cafe for coffee and cake, meeting up with the faster groups.

The second half was back off into the Surrey countryside, seeing places I had never been to despite living in the area for over 8 years. There are some very nice houses tucked away down those country lanes.  There were a few hills that would have left me breathless just weeks ago, but I sailed up them.  At points I was able to buddy up and chat on stretches, which gave me a chance to ask questions about Ride London logistics and about Leith Hill.  The consensus on Leith Hill was there are no tricks, just endure, and perhaps fit better gears!  We ended back up where we started, Woking Leisure Centre, having done 37+ miles, which meant 44 miles for me door to door - hooray!

So, the plan now is to move the schedule up and, with light training during the week, see if I can tackle 50 miles this Saturday - taking my own pace and learning about fuelling up as I go.  Hopefully I can find someone to come with me.  Then I will definitely be up again Sunday to meet the Woking Cycle Club team for another lovely ride - and cake!  And I can't wait.  I love it.

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show your support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

If you need just one reason

I can give you lots of reasons why I need your support in my Ride London effort.  Our nurses and how they need funding to do their valuable work every day.  Our information (booklets and via our website) that provide support and a source of hope for those dealing with bowel cancer and why we need to print more. Our approach to awareness raising by breaking the taboo, being the charity that challenges society to talk more about bottoms and bowels and the need to fund new campaigns that do this.  Or even the simple fact that we are still far too small and need to grow our income, our impact and our reach.

Personally, I was inspired to take part, despite my reservations about the size of the challenge and my ability to do it, by meeting one man.  I spoke to Christian Alvey on the day of last year's Ride London (pictured here on the right, with our Patron Matt Dawson) and was deeply affected by his story.  You can read it here http://www.justgiving.com/Christian-Alvey-RL100.

Quite simply, after hearing Christian's story there was no excuse for not signing up to do this year's Ride myself.  Christian exemplifies the heart of why we need to do what we do and why I, as Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, spend my days focused on our vital work.

So, whether you support me via my own Just Giving page (you can do so here), or whether you support Christian, or whatever way you show your support - thank you.  We are dealing with a cancer that needs to be beaten - whatever that means for every individual.  Beating Bowel Cancer will be here for you and for everyone we can.  We will do our best to make life better for those dealing with bowel cancer.  We will challenge society to listen about bowel cancer, to talk about it and, together, we will do our best to beat bowel cancer.

Thank you. X

Starting late

So, training has started.  Ouch!  Because I didn't have a road bike and the weather was pretty lousy I confined myself to the gym until recently, concentrating on building stamina and just getting used to exercise from doing nothing at all.  Then a very kind friend lent me his old bike - the Fuji you can just see in the picture.  It was time to get serious. Fortunately I live in Surrey (Woking border) and it is easy to get out into country lanes with their deceptively long slow inclines and, mercifully, not too much traffic.

I bought shoes and cleats, and scrounged up some reasonable gear and set off for a "quick" ride.  Six miles and one fall later I had started.  That was on 27 April.  I pushed the rides up and the miles then went from 9.7 to 15.6 to 18.3 to 21.7 and yesterday I hit 26.6 miles.  The last two rides were in cold, damp and windy conditions so I learned a lot about staying warm, adding fuel and the need for better socks!  I have also seen areas near where I live that I have never been to before.  There is something good about going down a road and hoping you are not about to set off on a dead end or a 10 mile detour.

The challenges so far are clear.  I need to improve my pace - still feels too slow to be able to complete the Ride London.  I need to get sorted on how to tackle even the smallest incline - one early on in my route has left me exhausted.  How will I ever get up Box and Leith Hills at this rate?  I need to start enjoying it - it is still something I have to do rather than want to.  But...I do feel great.  I feel a little slimmer, and expect weight to go as I seem to be burning close to 2000 calories per ride.  I am sleeping like a baby.  

I am nervous about getting to the level needed to do the Ride London, but have to trust that I will - if I get out there and build the miles up.  Who knows, maybe I will become a "proper" cyclist" and even buy my own bike one day?

And finally, proof.  This is a pretty poor selfie taken just before my first ride of just 6 miles. Hides the double chin (almost).  I will post another soon, when you can see I am beginning to look like a real cyclist.

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show you support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X