It's weird isn't it! I think the 'me not being happy' part came from me not being used to having an attractive body. I was so used to compensating for my body with make up, shoes, oh and being a right noisy so and so, that once i had a slim body, it took a lot of getting used to! It was a bit like I would imagine being a celebrity was like, it was ALL anyone EVER wanted to talk to me about! I wonder whether me regaining 20 lbs was to do with me wanting space to get used to being slim? Oh wow, breakthrough!!!!!
Please don't think it's all doom and gloom though. I'm slowly on the way back down again, and enjoying it! I'm using Paul McKenna's Easy weight loss cd's and find the 'programme your mind to slim your body' cd most helpful, as it's all about getting your head round being a thin person. You could use it if you were SS, as that one doesn't actually mention food.So, onto the bike ride! I could quite happily bore on about this for hours, as it was the most amazing experience of my life so far, but will try and keep it 'potted', like you asked for! Originally, 2006 was to be the year I lost weight, and also the year I got married! I knew I would need something else to focus on after the wedding. I was reading 'slimming' magazine one day (in the staff room at work) and saw and advert for RNIB, advertising the ride. In a very spontaneous moment, I phoned up, paid my £250 registration fee, and was accepted onto the ride! I had to raise £2500 before i went, as well as doing the training. Oh and I cancelled my wedding as I realised I wasn't ready, but OH and I are still very much together and happier than ever!
I rode with 19 other people, of very varying levels of fitness. We had a doctor who rode along with us, a support van, a bike mechanic with 2 assistants, another truck that took our stuff from camp to camp and another truck that set up every lunch break and cooked us lunch (as well as setting up camp and sorting breakfast and dinner). We slept in either carpetted tents or v basic hotels. Daily routine was up at 6am, breakfast (or not in my case, can't do it!), then on the bikes for 7am. Cycle to the first stop for snacks and juice, then cycle onto the lunch stop for an hour(ish). Then cycle to the next break, then cycle on through to the camp/hotel.
It was an amazing experience, and i have made a lot of what i believe will be life long friends. I can remember that it did hurt at the time, (although i didn't really get any muscle soreness until the morning of day 3) but I can't really remember that now! It was a real mental challenge as well, as there were many moments where i just thought 'you can't do this, stop riding' and had to fight my silly mind! I did it though! Whenever i think I can't do something now, I just think - you cycled through desert (that is bloody hard, i'm not going to lie, cycling through sand!), up mountains, dealt with one person trying to push you off your bike, and someone else throwing stones at you, got lost in a sand dune and cycled over 100K in one day as a consequence, you sure as £$%^ can do this!!!
