MY LEGS HURT !
50KM, a break and then back again
Its not the kind of ache that I have gotten used to, again, over the last few months. It is more of a burning pain, the kind you get after a really hard workout where you push yourself to the limit and perhaps even a little bit further than you thought you could.
There’s a good reason for it, today (Saturday) I did 101 km on the mountain bike (MTB), that is my all-time record on the MTB, even when I was a competition cyclist, 30-35 years ago, I never went this far. On the road, sure, I did 100+ km several times a week during the season but back then doing 80 km on the MTB was considered extreme distance due to the energy it takes.
Unfortunately/fortunately the record is unlikely to stand for long, Day 3 in the Transaid cycle Malawi charity mountain bike cycle ride – which I am taking part in 4 weeks from now – is 143 km, see that is an extreme distance on a Mountain bike!
Three months into the training I am actually finding myself rounding into shape somewhat, not the old “I-am-going-to-beat-the-whole-world-racing” kind of shape, but more of a “go-to-bed-sore-but-happy-and-ready-to-go-again-tomorrow” kind of shape, and I am loving it. For the first time in forever my weight is plummeting like a rock and my legs are starting to show real muscle again.
That not even the biggest thing though, the biggest thing is the pride, the pride of putting in a real effort and making a difference. Transaid has been our charity of choice for years now, they do excellent work making the roads in Africa safer with hands-on practical training for HGV drivers and saving lives with their fabulous, sustainable, bicycle ambulance schemes, to name but a couple of their initiatives.
Check out Transaid here: https://www.transaid.org/ and if you feel like sponsoring them through me you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/freddy-rasmussen 100% of your contribution goes straight to Transaid.
My thankyou to all the people, and the companies, that already have sponsored, I shall keep on making my legs ache for another 4 weeks and then making them really hurt for 5 days!
Thank you for reading and for all the support.
Freddy.