Week 7 - Faster - meeting the main man!
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Plan the week, ride the plan – that was one of the key improvements I identified to get me through seven days of cycling without falling out of love with riding my bike (or myself) somewhere between Wigtown and Belfast.
Well seven weeks into my Eighteen-week Spoked training plan and if I’m honest I’ve done better than I thought I would.
I haven’t missed a planned ride yet and the vast majority have been ridden pretty close to the prescribed intensity and volume. So with the latest block of training complete and a recovery week to look forward to how do I feel ?
The legs have got some fatigue in them but compared to previous training plans I have followed with far less discipline the effect seems to be steady improvement rather than burnout from overtraining desperate to see quick results.
Next week’s recovery week will see mainly steady commutes and then a trip to Cheshire to complete county number 29 and the first century of 2023.
Mark Beaumont – Faster
Highlight of this weeks training was undoubtedly getting to meet Mark Beaumont.
Having read his books “The man who cycled the world” and “Around the world in 80 days” his “Faster” talking tour performance was as entertaining and inspiring as I thought it would be. Huntingdon Hall in Worcester town centre provided a quirky venue, a cross between a theatre and a church, with pews to sit on and an organ high up in the roof space it was unlike anywhere I’ve been before.
In relation to my 7-in-7 challenge the most significant concept I took from Mark’s talk was his belief that his mental strength was the key to his success. His first world tour he planned to take 195 days, this arbitrary figure was simply created by deciding he could ride 100 miles a day, once he’d addedtime for transfers and border crossings the 18,000 mile journey time was set in his mind.
Cycling solo, unsupported he arrived back in Paris in 194 days and 17 hours. Rather than getting carried away with being the new Guinness World record holder, having smashed the previous record of 276 days he was struck more by the fact that he’d ridden it almost exactly in the time he had planned. From that point getting around the world in 80 days was now just about planning, decide how it could be done, identify the team and sponsorship he needed and then just execute the plan, simple. What happened is nothing short of extraordinary, Mark himself says he had the easy job, just ride the bike. Just 16 hours riding a day in four blocks of four hours averaging 225 miles a day!!!
His belief in how crucial a positive mindset was to succeeding was made abundantly clear and was demonstrated by his turning down significant sponsorship money because the backer asked him not to publicise the 80-day target but instead announce the round-the-world record attempt only just in case the 80-day target was missed. Mark couldn’t countenance any doubt being passed on to him or his team, so he refused the biggest sponsorship deal he had offered to him.
Beware of the Badger
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