100 miles. On a bike?

First of all some lovely photos of me and Pedalling Paula last week:

This is us very near the end in front of the green bit in front of the Royal Crescent:

And this is us right at the end - Pedalling Paula looking stylish and composed in her shades, me squinting in the sunshine.  And there will one day be a spectacular picture of The Rucksack I took with me.  It misbehaved horribly meaning I lurched to the left rather a lot.  However, the picture is on Pedalling Paula's camera which is now sitting on our kitchen table...

Last week, despite the 33 miles and a numb backside, I said that I was going to enter RideLondon 2014 - a bike marathon of 100 miles.

So I did.

EEEEEEEEEEK!

I actually entered the ballot on Monday, only to find that they don't tell you if you're successful until January.  JANUARY?  If I'm going to do this I need to start training NOW.  So, given that I was going to do it for charity anyway (there's no way I'm doing 100 miles without getting everybody I know to feel my pain - you are warned) I decided to apply through a charity.  Which is how I now have a guaranteed place on RideLondon 2014 raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Yay!  I think...

Today training started.  I cycled up Caerphilly Mountain.  I knew I wouldn't make it in one go and thought it would be a useful marker of my improvement (if any) over the coming months.  It's extremely steep, and starts WAY before I thought it did.  Like about Morrisons, for anyone that knows Caerphilly...

However, it does make for a very spectacular cycle ride elevation:

Do I need to point out that Caerphilly Mountain is the High Pointy Bit?  Or the Very Steep Bit?  The rest of it is what passes for 'flat' in the valleys of South Wales.

I stopped half way up then it was so steep I couldn't get going again so I pushed the bike about 50 yards to a flat bit (ha - flat?  It's all relative).  Then I managed the rest of the way in one go, including the horrible last steep corner.  My legs were burning, I thought my heart was going to explode and when I stopped I felt a bit queasy.

Bike riding is fun, right?

Anyway, I stopped long enough to recover and take a picture of the Caerphilly Mountain Snack Bar sign just to prove I got there...

And, no, I didn't have a burger...  It actually wasn't open - but it was only about 7am.  I'm not keen on all the traffic on the roads, so I'm going to go out super early to avoid it, although it's amazing just how many people are out and about at 6.30am on a Sunday morning...

I now have a Four Week Training Plan:

Week 1.  Find a fairly flat bit of road and get some serious miles in.
Week 2.  Go on my hilly 20 mile route from 2 weeks ago.
Week 3.  Go mountain biking.  For fun.  It'll improve my bike handling skills.  Allegedly.
Week 4.  Same route as today - when I first make it in one go you'll all hear the cheers!

However, before Week 1 there's something else to do:  Buy a More Comfortable saddle.

Ouch!