I got a phone call from Phillip. The call was direct and to the point. End of call. So that was that. I was roped into the ride. I sat for a few minutes thinking about what had just happened and my default thought was how do I get out of this? My mind was filled with negativity. Nothing positive was radiating from my head. I knew my fitness had fallen off the cliff since the Covid Lockdowns. I had all the vaccines and all the boosters too.
So why did it come to my door? The weeks from hell passed and I had beat it, or so I thought. COVID had left its mark. I started to notice that my heart rate was off the scale. I would get up from my desk and my heart was racing and pounding in my chest. I had no energy and felt weak. This is not good. I started to constantly check my heart rate and it was in the hundreds. Sitting at my desk my heart rate was bpm. Standing up it would go to The best I could get it down to was around 90 bpm and that was lying down on my bed.
I used to have a resting heart rate in the very low 50s and even recorded 42bpm, so I knew I was done. So what to do now? Looking at my options there was only one choice and this was to get fit enough to make it. So with this in mind, I started doing some small rides after work. I kicked it off with some fifteen-mile rides, building it up to twenty and thirty miles over the passing weeks.
I started to notice that my heart rate was getting better but nowhere near where I was before the weight gain and COVID. The signs were promising and with a few months to go before the ride, I had at least a chance to get in some sort of shape. The negative thoughts were still there but I was committed by the ribbing I knew I would get If I pulled out. The male ego is a powerful motivation.
But with a 7 am start and an mile first-day ride in front of us the hotel was a good choice. We settled in and headed to the bar. The hotel was filled with middle-aged men and women decked out in lycra and wearing flip-flops. If you did not know this is the dress code for cyclists you could be mistaken for some sort of funny club. Wink wink. People were checking each other out and the conversation was about who is riding what and did you see that fancy bike with all the super flash-lightweight bit in reception.
