6 Months ago i couldn't even Climb the Stairs.
Today i climbed 1,943ft
The Wild Boar Chase
As part of my own self belief and achievement and to show what can be done if you really want it, i signed up todo The Wild Boar Chase (17/5/15), a mountain bike ride in the Forrest Of Dean. Having never ride or driven through the Forrest Of Dean i really wasn't sure what to expect, what sort of terrain, how many climb's? Would it all be on Fire roads? Single tracks? Forestry? Big climb's? Big decent's..? So to prepare for this through out the week Myself and Gringo rode some random rides out and about locally to us, trying to incorporate various situations, i prepared my bike and got all my kit together on the Friday, and on Saturday i was at a wedding all day so i was tired and aching from that, which wasn't a great start.
Gringo Picked me and my bike up at 7.30 and we made our way to Speech House in the Forrest Of Dean, as we arrived in the field (Car Park) there were probably around 300 cars already there, we parked up and went to sign on and collect our Number plates and Route, We then met some lads we would ride with, Ian, Ike, Dan, Brad, and Gareth these lads are Beasts! Dan and Brad went on to complete the 45Mile Route!
So at around 9.45 we made out way to the Start along with 1100 other riders. We hung back towards the back of the cue as there was far to many bikes bunched together, and at 10 o'clock we set off, passed the start line with the chap blowing his Horn, there was probably 800 bikes in front of us, i was quite happy towards the back of the pack altho it was a little dusty for the first mile.
The first 2 miles were quite flat and fast, then we came to the first climb, cycling in a pack definitely helps your performance, digging in to get to the top, at this time i was riding with Ian and Gareth, i Worked with Ian for about 3 years while i working before i became to unwell and needed the Transplant. Graham was ahead a bit ahead riding with Ike, Dan and Brad. The first 4 miles were all on Fire roads, with plenty of room, then we split off onto a single track where we found Graham waiting for us, then there was a 30 minute wait which we originally thought was a check point, it wasn't, the track went down a through a single track forrest trail, some riders with less experience were walking their bikes down through this and holding people up, which was unfortunate, all the warming up we had done before, it felt like we were starting the ride again from the start. Even when we were going down the trail through the forrest we were being held up, when we finally got through the forrest we were back on a fire road, fast decent down hill, before the next climb..
Fast forward to around 15 Mile, the riders were now very well spaced out, blasting through another single track forrest, i had a bit of a shock, all of a sudden i come to a stop, my helmet almost ripped my head off, my Go-Pro was caught in a low hanging branch, trying to reverse on my bike with riders behind me was quite awkward, Graham had shot off through the forrest at this point, he loves zooming off through the trails, id catch him up at some point, we got to the food halt at 17 Mile, had a few glasses of water, and made our way to the split where we would decide which way to go next, it was either do the 7 Mile forrest loop around the quarry or take the 5 mile back to the finish, altho our intensions were todo the 26 mile Forrest Boar, i was feeling quite sick after stopping for something to eat and drink, at his point my New Lungs felt amazing but the rest of me was starting to hurt, so we decided to get to the finish at 22 Mile, in 3 hours, including the 30 minute hold up. Graham managed to loose his Go-Pro off his helmet after the 17 mile food halt, so we went down in the van to check anyone had handed it in anywhere, and luckily as i write this now, a walker has found the camera and has posted it back to Graham. So good new's!
The first 2 miles were quite flat and fast, then we came to the first climb, cycling in a pack definitely helps your performance, digging in to get to the top, at this time i was riding with Ian and Gareth, i Worked with Ian for about 3 years while i working before i became to unwell and needed the Transplant. Graham was ahead a bit ahead riding with Ike, Dan and Brad. The first 4 miles were all on Fire roads, with plenty of room, then we split off onto a single track where we found Graham waiting for us, then there was a 30 minute wait which we originally thought was a check point, it wasn't, the track went down a through a single track forrest trail, some riders with less experience were walking their bikes down through this and holding people up, which was unfortunate, all the warming up we had done before, it felt like we were starting the ride again from the start. Even when we were going down the trail through the forrest we were being held up, when we finally got through the forrest we were back on a fire road, fast decent down hill, before the next climb..
This was at the Bottle neck down into the Forrest.
Fast forward to around 15 Mile, the riders were now very well spaced out, blasting through another single track forrest, i had a bit of a shock, all of a sudden i come to a stop, my helmet almost ripped my head off, my Go-Pro was caught in a low hanging branch, trying to reverse on my bike with riders behind me was quite awkward, Graham had shot off through the forrest at this point, he loves zooming off through the trails, id catch him up at some point, we got to the food halt at 17 Mile, had a few glasses of water, and made our way to the split where we would decide which way to go next, it was either do the 7 Mile forrest loop around the quarry or take the 5 mile back to the finish, altho our intensions were todo the 26 mile Forrest Boar, i was feeling quite sick after stopping for something to eat and drink, at his point my New Lungs felt amazing but the rest of me was starting to hurt, so we decided to get to the finish at 22 Mile, in 3 hours, including the 30 minute hold up. Graham managed to loose his Go-Pro off his helmet after the 17 mile food halt, so we went down in the van to check anyone had handed it in anywhere, and luckily as i write this now, a walker has found the camera and has posted it back to Graham. So good new's!
So, i completed my first Mountain Bike Event.
Altho we didn't complete the 26 Mile we intended to I'm still massively chuffed to have got around in the time we did, with no problems, and no mechanical failure or punctures.
I hope by me doing this i can inspire others to get involved in any type of exercise or activity they enjoy, and prove to them selves that anything can be achieved if you have the will power to follow it through.
6 Months ago i couldn't even Climb the Stairs, Today i climbed 1,943ft on a bike, this ride was hard work, it really took some mental work to get up some of the climb's, you kind of have to pick a tree of telegraph post as the next goal to pass before you decide to stop and have a breath or a drink, each time try to pick a tree further away from the last, this really does help your endurance and stamina to push onto the next, if you reach that tree and decide i can keep going, pick another tree and make sure you get to that one!
This really does prove that after a Double Lung Transplant My Life has changed Massivly!
I have a couple of other rides planned, one in Hay-On-Wye for Cystic Fibrosis a 16 mile Road ride, altho I'm not keen on riding on the road's hopefully i can get some people together to ride with me.
Emma is doing a 100k nigh ride in London which i may join her on yet depending how i feel.
Then My Next MTB Event will be the Brecon Beast in September.
Here is my Strava on the left and for some reason it decided to pack in at 13.8 mile.
On the right is Grahams Strava, So we did 22Mile in 2:59:12
And Climbed a total of 1,943ft
Here is Brad's 45 Mile! Insane! Here is the a Graph of the
Elevation from Graham
Thank you for reading.
Davee.
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