(via facebook)
The Rapha Women's 100 on Sunday went well!
It was a lot of climbing and I was off the back of the group for a lot of it, but I just sat in my pace / rhythm and the group waiting at the top of the climbs.
Our sweeper was lovely and friendly and had a great sense of humour and didn't make me feel at all bad for not being able to stick with the group (or that they were frustrated with me in any way).
My hydration went well - no headache.
However, my eating plan didn't go so well. I didn't eat as much as I should have.
I started bonking at about 92km in - my bike hit a hole and I started laughing hysterically.
From then I just started shovelling shot blocks and gatorade in until the end.
All in all it was a great event to participate in and I'm really glad I did it.
- It's a great achievement.
- It kept me cycling through Winter!
It was great looking at all the #womens100 pictures on Instagram.
It's probably best summed up in an article Kath Bicknell wrote for SBS Cycling Central :
"A community builds. And with it, the perception of riding for women undergoes a dramatic shift.
It’s no longer so hard to seek out role models, to learn from others, to share stories, to ask advice, to ride to participate rather than race, to be supported, to learn about equipment (designed for needs that might be different from a male majority), to look good, to feel good, to click a hashtag and see thousands of images that show that what you’re doing isn’t unusual at all.
Well done, Rapha. While a large part of the cycling industry are still scratching their heads working out how to get more women on board, the ways you have built momentum are empowering indeed. And you have done so by creating a model that’s not just about women’s participation, it’s about participation full stop.
…As I looked around the crowd on Sunday, I suddenly didn’t feel like an odd-ball at all."
In other news, I'm giving myself a week off road cycling and I'm going to stay up and watch the rest of the Tour de France!!
Favourite moments of the week so far:
(via www.scmp.com)
Now, to find something to sew my #womens100 badge onto...
