June 2014 - Ordinary Cycling Girl

29
Jun
2014

Team spirit – that magical thing

Team spirit is a magical thing. Without it, many of us wouldn’t be half the people we are today. The nice thing about being part of a team is that you always have others on your side.

Today myself and my two little ones, I, 7 and S, 3 have been on a family bike ride. It was only a couple of miles around a lake, because at three, and only a month into riding his bike stabiliser-free that’s pretty much all S could manage. The wind started to build and the rain started to fall mid way through our ride and S was all set for giving up. ‘I can’t do it, mummy!” he shouted through tears. I had a huge surge of pride as I heard my daughter shout back to her brother: ‘You can do it! I know you can! I’ll wait right here and I’ll give you a big hug if you can make it a little bit further to me.” That was something very special right there. There was that magical thing. Team spirit. (more…)

18
Jun
2014

Streetvelodrome

categories: All posts, Track cycling

14008828713_00c5166418_z — Image courtesy of Streevelodrome on Flickr

Hand’s up who’s heard of Streetvelodrome! It’s making a very loud buzz in the cycling world right now and the series is being televised!! I got half an hour to sit down and watch some the other day – it was brilliant!

A couple of months back when I first started this blog I set myself some new challenges for 2014. Whilst I’m not doing too badly at ticking them off, one of those was to ride in a velodrome and do some track cycling – that one, sadly, hasn’t happened yet. Velodrome’s are hard to find in the UK – they’re too spread out! Although, I say that now – when October arrives we will have the new Derby velodrome not too far down the road from me. *let’s out an excited squeal* (more…)

09
Jun
2014

Why we need more women’s cycling on TV

categories: All posts

I’ve heard a lot of arguments lately about why we need more women’s cycling on mainstream TV. I watched The Women’s Tour and loved it, but it wasn’t accessible to everyone…it wasn’t on any of the main four tv channels and it was on later in the evening than I would have liked to have seen.

My daughter is six. Very nearly seven. Up until just over two weeks ago she couldn’t ride her bike. Regular readers will have grasped my frustration at her apparent lack of interest. We’ve tried to encourage her to learn on a number of occasions – shiny new bike was delivered for her birthday last year and she just wasn’t all that interested. Fear seemed to set in and she refused to go anywhere near her bike. In recent months, the mere mention of giving it a go has sent her into a trembling mess, which was really sad to see. I was about to give up trying to encourage her altogether and was ready (reluctantly) to accept that maybe cycling wasn’t ever going to be something she would want to do. But then a wonderful thing happened… (more…)

02
Jun
2014

Aviva Stress Less Challenge: week three

categories: Wellbeing

I’ve been taking part in the Aviva Stress Less Challenge in conjunction with the Mumsnet blogger network and their research panel. I’ve been trying out the tips recommended especially for me by the Aviva experts over the last two weeks. You can read about my experiences with getting started with the challenge and the information that Aviva needed from me. And then how I got on with the first set of tips from their lovely experts.

I wasn’t too well during the first week – I was recovering from a three week long chest infection and was shattered, so whilst I gave the tips a try, some days I was just too tired to follow through with the diet tips of ensuring my meals were split in 60:30:10 ratios. This week, however, I’ve been feeling much better and the tips have gone well. (more…)

Month: June 2014