The short version is that I was a bit more unwell than I thought, mainly due to high levels of stress. In an attempt to bring my stress levels down, I decided to abandon this project as it was definitely contributing to it! It took a long time to come to accept that the health problems were sorted, by which point I had pretty much forgotten about this blog. I was still cycling to work a few times a week, just not thinking about setting slightly mad challenges and risking the additional stress!
What, you might ask, has caused me to add to the blog now? In short, I got a new bike.
The long version is that about a year ago, my wife got herself an e-bike. She had never shown much interest in cycling before, but having a new bike meant she wanted to get out and ride it - so I jumped at the chance to go out riding with the woman I love. I assured her that I would take it easy and sit behind her to be there in case she had any problems. Her bike is very heavy and pretty slow. It only has 7 gears, so heading down our hill and along the flat valley I was having to brake constantly and slow down considerably to stay behind her. Then we turned up a hill. Quite a tough hill (though not tough enough to make my list!), called Abbey Lane. It starts pretty steep, then eases off through the woods before cranking it up again near the top. I remember "dancing on the pedals" for the first bit and being surprised that she was staying ahead of me, then sat down to grind my way up. When I next looked up to see how she was doing, she was just ... gone. Seriously, she was nowhere in sight. I eventually found her waiting impatiently for me by the cricket ground on Ecclesall Road South.
We went out again, and this time went up Bocking Lane (tricky first couple of hundred metres, but after that fairly easy gradient) and it happened again. Off she glided, with me utterly unable to keep her wheel. This is the e-bike she has:
I knew that people were cursing me as I rode past them up hills, because that is exactly what I do when overtaken by someone on an e-bike. But I didn't care!! The bike made it possible to get out on those rides I had been dreaming of, but made it enjoyable too, as I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery. It is still good exercise (you have to pedal to get the power assistance!), but made the hard bits much more manageable. That was it, I knew that an e-bike was going to be my next step. Sorry, Raleigh, but I didn't want one of their bikes. It is, without any hyperbole, a fantastic machine. It makes hills easy. It is solidly built and will last years. However, what I wanted was the smoothness and speed of my Cannondale road bike, but with the Raleigh's additional power assist when I needed it.
That would normally be just a pipe-dream, as I can't justify the kind of cost that would mean - but then the final block moved smoothly into place. They changed the Cyclescheme rules at my work and raised the limit of Cyclescheme purchases. Now, with 40% off and 12 monthly instalments, it became far more realistic. When I worked out that if I stopped smoking I would actually be better off, that was it.
A bit of research, and I found that not only are there proper road e-bikes but my dream of having the same road bike as I already ride but with a motor was actually possible, and available to buy. New bike ordered!
On one of those rides, I found myself riding up Scarsdale Road - which happens to be one of the hills on my list. It was by no means easy, but I managed it without feeling like I had to stop and recover at the top. This got me thinking about the challenge again; could this bike mean that I could start it again?!
Well, spoiler alert, rather than get back into a negative mindset by overthinking and overplanning the challenge, I just decided to head out an try a couple of the hills. So, a few are already in the bag. No stress, no worries. The challenge is definitely back on!!
