ENDURANCE CYCLING TIPS / TOUR DE FRANCE Q&A – GETTING A BIT EMOTIONAL

In this video we answer some questions that were sent in about the Tour de France challenge. Sorry that we didn’t get chance to answer all of them but hopefully anyone looking to get into endurance has picked up a few tips. We also show an update on the grass and not so healthy plans.

Thank you so much for watching, if you can spare a second to hit subscribe with your pinky that would be awesome.

^ Strava – https://www.strava.com/athletes/30216361
^ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amy.cycling.adventures/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
^ Chai latte fund – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/amycyclingadven

If you’re riding, enjoy it and stay safe x

The following brands support me either via paid sponsorship or gifted items and you will see their products in my videos, I’m beyond grateful & in disbelief that I get these opportunities :
^ Rouvy – Get 4 weeks free on Rouvy with code AMY – https://bit.ly/3NcniAZ
^ AMY20 for 20% off Santini
^ Pinarello UK – https://www.pinarellostore.co.uk/
^ Selle Italia – https://www.selleitalia.com/saddles/
AMY-SI for 15% off Saddles
^ Panaracer – ZAMY10 for 10% off https://www.panaracer.co.uk?sca_ref=6451602.0o2mqK81q5GY
^ https://ukbikefit.com/ AMY10 for 10% discount on shop & bike fit & performance lab
^ Pelotan – AMYCYCLING20
^ SunGod – https://sungod.avln.me/c/COdaXADXNHkF – AMYCYCLES10
^ Garmin – https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/

We’re rolling. Right. Hello everybody. Um, it’s 10 days since I finished the challenge and we had a lot of questions come in. So, I thought I’d do a little Q&A video. Hopefully, this will help anyone wanting to get into endurance cycling. For anyone that doesn’t know that just come on to this video looking at the endurance cycling title, um, I recently cycled every stage of the men’s tour to France plus the transfers for charity. We can now confirm that including gift aid, we’ve raised over £90,000. Yeah, it’s incredible. which I just can’t believe. And yeah, Kyle’s got the question, so hit me up. Right. Question number one. Sorry, I’m I’m just worried about the microphone position. Well, you’re holding yours further away from No, you’re holding yours up here. Right. Okay. Number one. Sorry. How did you train to be able to ride back and back to back days? I think I’ll do like a separate video on how to train for a big event because I could go on for hours here and we all know I like to speak. But in a simple term, I started with a coach in January. Before that, I’d never had a coach before. Um, oh no, I had last year, but yeah, sorry, I made that. I made a mistake there. Made a mistake on that one. I started with a my coach for this in January. Last year, I had about six months of coaching. Um, but since I started cycling, I’ve always kind of cycle quite far. I had a base endurance from running. And my training basically consisted of long backto-back rides every weekend. So every Saturday and Sunday I’d do a long ride. That could be about 8 hours on a Saturday, 6 hours on a Sunday. And then in the week I’d have three or four sessions which would be harder, shorter. So like interval sessions, over and unders, which is where you do above your threshold and below your threshold. Your threshold, your FTP is basically your sort of your max power. Is that Kyle? It’s it’s designed to be like the power you should be able to hold for around an hour. Yeah, it was like training where I’d go above that and below that to try and get my muscles ready. Um, and it wasn’t just just being on the bike. It was doing strength and conditioning as well to prevent injury. But I think the main thing I always say about my training is just riding my bike as much as I can because up until like I say this year and training for this, I have done some endurance events and I’d never had a coach and I didn’t follow a plan. I just rode my bike loads. And I think the more you ride your bike and the more you do it multiple days, the more your body gets used to it. And I always say, don’t feel like you have to have a coach to be able to do endurance events because it’s not something that everyone can afford. I’m very lucky. My coach, Matt, who’s absolutely great. My local bike shop, Bella Bavarian, actually sponsored me by paying for my coaching. Not everyone can afford to pay I don’t know how much, like £120, £150 a month. Um, but there are other alternatives like I use Ruby and they have training plans. You’ve just started one, haven’t you, Kyle? Kyle’s just started an FTP builder, but we’ll talk about that at the end. So, yeah, it’s just multi-day riding really was the main thing and getting my body used to being on the saddle for long hours back to back. Okay. Well, what was your nutrition plan? How did you not run out of energy? Um, I wouldn’t say I had like a specific like very very specific plan. I wanted to be quite flexible with my eating. I think when you’re doing when you’re talking about nutrition, the main thing to say and also I want to say I’m not I’m not a professional endurance cyclist and I’m not an expert. This is just stuff that works for me. So, please don’t take this as professional advice. Um, I think everyone is different and that’s the most important thing. What works for me might not work for you. I am a bit of a weirdo because I don’t use gels and I don’t use carb mix. I did train a little bit with carb mix, but I just felt like I didn’t need to use it. And I’m my body works quite well with real food. And I think having had an eating disorder, I do have that little thing in my head where I quite like to eat natural and real food. So I try and do that as much as I can with my riding. Obviously, it’s a lot easier if you use carb drinks because it’s a lot easier to consume a liquid. But basically what I did was in my training got my body used to eating every hour on the bike. So at first my body didn’t really like that. Got a bit of upset stomach, bit of bloating. But the more I did it, my body’s adapted and got used to it. So people always say, “Oh, how can you eat like a whole baguette and then get straight on the bike?” But for me it’s fine. So I’d say day by day typically it did change a little bit, but I’d have a big bowl of porridge for breakfast. I’d have the biggest breakfast I could get in because then that’s going to fuel me for as long as possible. We also have a big bowl of porridge with sometimes honey, nuts, peanut butter, a banana, and lots of water and a pear. I always like to have a bit of a bit of fruit. Then I’d go for 2 hours on the bike, not eating anything cuz that would just fuel me for then. And then between hour two and three, I’d have a first snack, which could be a bar. I really like the SIS oat bars. They’re really, really nice. Um, homemade bars. I have lamb that we actually made while we were out there. homemade flapjacks, banana smoothies, things like that. That little pouch smoothies in my back pocket. And then at my first stop with Kyle, I’d always have my magic milkshake, which we can reveal contains um not whey protein that’s in the recovery one, but it has whatever milk you like, cocoa powder, cinnamon, mixed spice, oats, peanut butter, is that it? Banana. And banana. That’s really nice. So that was always my first food stop. And I’d always also have a bit of food left over from the night before. So either pasta or rice or if Kyle had been to a bakery, an almond quissant. Then I’d go again, eating every hour. And then I’d meet Kyle again 4 hours time. So I meet Kyle 4 hours, 4 hours. And then at the end, so 4 hours again, I’d have meet Kyle. I wouldn’t have a shake. I’d have pasta or rice or a baguette, something a bit substantial. And then I’d do the last bit of the ride again, eating every hour. And still in my head sometimes I be I’m nearly done now so I don’t need to eat now. But actually I was fueling for the next day. And also as my coach always tells me keep eating right to the end of the ride each hour because then you’re helping your body to recover better. So that was really hard sometimes when my eating disorder voice came back in a little bit. But I managed to make sure that I ate enough. And then after I got off the bike straight away, cherry juice, which Kyle forced me to have cuz that’s what the pros do. Apparently it’s very good for recovery. And then I’d have a recovery shake, which is exactly the same as the morning shake, but with added whey protein in. We use like a natural 100% natural organic whey protein. And then I’d have an evening meal. Sometimes have a little nice little pudding cuz I’d be really hungry and then back to bed and same again. So yeah, basically a lot just I think I was having to eat 7,000 calories a day. Um, so yeah, and since I’ve been home, I’ve been quite hungry, but that’s kind of leveled off now. So yeah, but like I say, different things work for different people. The main thing is you just keep eating and keep fueled and you have to eat a lot more than you think you do is what I’d say because the worst thing is if you’re feeling really hungry on a ride, it’s probably too late. Do you agree, Kyle? Yeah. What were you fueling on in the car? Kyle, if you don’t know, Kyle was supporting me in the car and riding a little bit as well. Just Yeah. Trying to think what I was feeling. I can’t really remember. You actually Kyle lost weight, didn’t you? Yeah, I had my I tried to be careful not to eat too much cuz I knew that I’d be in the car a lot. So, yeah, cuz I know one of the questions someone sent in was how many classants did Kylie eat? Yeah, which was a tally of nine in total. Nine. Mhm. For 28 days. 29 days. Didn’t actually have that many then. How many did I have? A lot more than me. Can you have a look? We’ve got We’ve got a tally of every single thing I’ve eaten. So, you have a look what how many I ate. Mhm. We’ll write it down. While you’re doing that, should I do the next question? Yeah. How did you prevent getting saddle saw and how was your bum at the end of the ride? Well, saddle saw was one of the main things I was really worried about because I did my first really long endurance ride I did was Paris Press Paris which is a 1,200 km ride that happens every four years Paris breast to Paris as the name says and I got really really bad saddle saw on that and it was awful and I never want to relive that. So that was kind of a constant fear. But things I did differently this time was have a bike fit with UK Bike Fit. Really, really helped just make sure I was in the right position on the saddle. I got a sellalia saddle. I am sponsored by them and I do have a discount code. Um I use them before I got sponsored. All my sponsors are things I’d already used cuz I’m already I always like to be really like what’s it called? Honest about that. Like I don’t work with brands that I wouldn’t use anyway. So yeah, Cellalia works for me. But like I say, everyone’s bum is different, so you have to find what works for you. And then this little bad boy, absolute lifesaver, shammy butter. As you can see, it’s been very well used. Yeah, this is like the third or fourth one we use. So what I would say to prevent saddle sor as well, obviously it’s really important to be the right position on the bike, the right saddle. Shami butter. People always say to me, where do you put it? Cuz I never knew this existed when I did Paris breast Paris, and it might have been a different story if I did. You basically put it on where the seams of your bib shorts are. So, what I’d say is underneath your bum, cheeks, where that little crease is, and at the top where the top of your legs meet, in between those creases there, just put it all in there. And then what I’d do is every time I went for a wee, sorry for this too much information, but this is something that really helped me. Every time I went for a Wii, wet wipe and reapply. I’d always have a little tub of Shami with me and then I’d reapply with you. And then also when I got really hot, changing bib shorts. So, I’d get to you, put a fresh pair of bib shorts on. that really helps as well cuz obviously when you’re getting sweaty down there things can start to develop. Um the second to the third to last day I started to get a blister. Maybe the fourth to last day I started to get a blister where the top of my legs meet and then the third to last day I started to get a blister underneath my bum. And I think the reason for that is I got wet and I got a bit hot and sweaty and I didn’t change my bib shorts. And sometimes I don’t know why but when it’s raining I don’t tend to feel it rubbing. It’s like afterwards when you get back you realize, oh no, I’ve rubbed and I’ve got a bit of a blister. But compede was the lifesaver for that. Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to work cuz I thought it’s too bad. It’s just going to get worse and worse. But we put a com wipe the area with an alcohol wipe. Yeah. Make sure it’s really dry. Compied on and I was absolutely fine. So yeah. So basically bite fit right saddle shammy butter and keeping clean. And you’re not Yeah. And you’re not always going to prevent even all those things when you’re riding as much as that, you’re not always going to prevent something. Yeah. Like you’re not going to ride for that amount of time and guarantee that you’re going to be comfortable for the whole time. Sometimes, as bad as it sounds, you got to suck it up and then try and deal with some of the little issues you might come across, bits of advice, but obviously these things are massive factors. Yeah. Like it was painful. The blisters were painful to be honest. But once we got the once we got them sorted, it was okay. But yeah, like Kyle says, you can’t really expect to do a ride for that long without being in pain at some point. So yeah. Yeah. Would you like to be a professional cyclist? No. That’s an easy answer. Loads of people message me like, “Oh, you could be a pro.” First of all, I’m not fast enough to be a pro. Second of all, I have no desire to be a pro. The thought of being in a Pelaton in a bunch of people, no, no, no. Not for me. I like the solo, the solo life. me my mascots. That’s That’s what I enjoy. Did you have any punches or mechanicals? And how did you sort them on the road? No, literally. I cannot believe it. I wanted to keep saying while I was riding, while I was doing the videos, I was like, I can’t believe I’ve not had a puncture. And but I don’t want to jinx it. So, I was waiting till the last day to say I’ve not had a puncture. But these are the tires that I use. These are a sponsor as well, just to be totally honest, cuz I like to be honest about it all. Um, so Paneraser used the Agilist Joro TLR 30s. Here we are. Um, so this is a new pair. This is the pair that we took with us to swap on, which we thought we’d need to swap on. But no, I use the same pair of tires for the whole trip. 6,5. Yeah. 6,556 km. They’ve got little markers on that you can check and they’re fine. I am going to swap them now obviously cuz they’re about ready to swap, but no punctures the whole time. I was running tubes, not tubeless because I just prefer I prefer to have tubes because it’s easy to fix. And I had the panoraser inner tubes in and yeah, no punctures for that long. So, they are now my favorite tire and I probably will use them all. And also for disclosure on that is you did test them before you had them as a sponsor. Yeah, I did. So, you wanted to see what they were like first. Yeah, that’s what cuz they basically contacted me to say would would you like to be like would you can we sponsor you and I thought well I don’t want to be sponsored by Tai that’s rubbish. So, I said, “If you send me some, I’ll try them.” And yeah, they’re really good. They’re really grippy. I feel safe with them. They’re fast, but they’re Yeah, really, really puncture resistant. It says airproof layer protype belt. Well, obviously they do different types. So, like I’ve used the compound tires that are like race tires before. And Kyle used the compound race tires as we know from the Italy trip on a 2,000 km bike ride. Let’s just say it wasn’t puncture. It wasn’t puncture power. We rode gravel with them. And well, it’s a testament to the tire really because they did well. The tires did well, but it was survived. They survived. But yeah, but these are really, really good for endurance. And I do have a discount code which I’ll put on the screen. So yeah. Right. What was the hardest day and how did you get through the hard moments? The hardest day was probably the tormal day. It was a mountain stage. I knew I had I think I had four mountains that day. Yeah. Cold aspen. Tom, cold aspen, cold a pair of swords. Is that how you say it? And super bag. Yeah. And Tom at that point in time was the biggest mountain I’ve ever done in my life on the bike to the highest point I’d ever been. And I remember just thinking, I’ve still got three mountains left after this. I was struggling. It wasn’t necessarily my body that was struggling. I think it was more my mind because my body clearly could do it. But I think when your mind is being negative, it just makes it so much harder. So to get through, I did have a few tears on the way up. Kyle actually rode this climb with me, which was really helpful. But I always just use my little mantras in my head. So I always say to myself, I can and I will. I can and I will. I make up little sayings like on this trip it was I get through one, I get through another. Keep my head in it. I got this me lover. Me love is what me and my friend Laura say. So just little things like that and like thinking positive, reminding myself I’ve done harder things in the past. I started cycling because of my mental health and nothing is ever as hard as what I went through in my head with that. So I always bring myself back to that. And it is such a beautiful climb tomally that just looking up made it better. So that was a really hard day. There was another day when I was setting off in the rain. I had 190 miles to do setting off in the dark knowing that I still had like another 20 days to go and just feeling really tired and sort of questioning whether I could do it. But like every time I had those moments like an hour later I’d be absolutely fine. So I think I always told myself like I feel like this now but it won’t last forever cuz you have these really big high and lows on endurance cycles. Like one minute you can be like really singing and hyper and then the next hour you’re just counting down the miles and it’s not going down. But I think a lot of that is to do with food as well. Like if you’ve not eaten enough, your emotions are a lot lower. So it’s just making sure you eat enough and sleep enough as well. That was really important. So as soon as I got in from my day, I’d be eating and going to bed as soon as I could. But having Kyle there really helped. I couldn’t have done it without you, Kyle. Seriously. He was very Yeah, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. having someone there to meet you. Like people that came out and cheered me on, I couldn’t believe it. Like that was a real mood boost. Actually, at Parisords that day, two people with an Amy sign were on a corner and like I was struggling so bad. It was so hot. I had heat rash. I felt like I was being burnt alive. And yeah, that really helped me. But what I kept saying is it on all these long rides, it’s going to feel like you can’t do it sometimes, but you do get get through it. Yeah. If you let yourself. Yeah. And if you tell yourself you are going to do it and you get through it and then the next day you’re like actually I got through that really bad day. Yeah. And it’s all a lot of it is mindset. Yeah. If you get if you push yourself I’m not saying always push yourself for it cuz that might be a bad idea. Sometimes you have to you got to put your health first sometime. Yeah. But mentality is a big part of it I think. Yeah. I think when you’re doing a long ride you always have to be careful. Like if you physically are really struggling like you know if you’re getting chest pain and things like that then you have to stop. like nothing any sort of pain is nothing is worth your health. Like obviously that’s the most important thing. But I think for me I kind of went in with the mindset of quitting is not an option. So I never saw that as an option. And I also did this thing where it’s really weird. But when I was riding with someone, they were like, “Oh, it must just be like muscle memory now. Your body’s just riding like you’ve been doing it for so long every day.” And that really helped me because when I was going up a climb and I was struggling and my mind was telling me I couldn’t or it’s hard, I just thought to myself, muscle memory, my body can do it. Even if my mind says I can’t, just pedal. And I kind of like separated my body from my mind a bit. And I was like, no matter what my mind says, just pedal your legs. Just pedal. Just pedal. And yeah, I just kind of use that little saying in my head like muscle memory. Your legs know how to pedal. Just keep going. Yeah. Next question. This is a big one. What does your recovery look like? How long until you get back on the bike? Was the chai latte as nice as you expected after all the stages? Chai latte is my favorite drink and I didn’t have one for 29 days and yes, it’s tasting good. I actually had two chai lattes in Paris today after I finished at two different cafes. So, yeah, it did taste good. Um recovery. So, I’ve finished 10 days ago. Um and I have already been back on the bike. I thought before I did this, I’m going to not want to ride my bike for at least a month after this challenge and I’m going to be injured and all sorts. but no injuries. So, I was really happy with that. Very ironically, I have hurt my knee from too much walking in Paris. So, I didn’t even think about this, but obviously the whole 29 days I literally hardly walked because I was just on my bike. Then the only walking I did was from my bike to bed basically into a meal. So, we then in Paris, very silly, we walked 30,000, not intentionally, but like it was just the only way to do it. We walked 30,000 steps the day after I finished and 25,000 steps the next day because all the metros were closed for the tour to France. My knees started hurting and yeah, my knees been hurting a little bit now. Not on the bike, just walking. Today’s been the first day. It’s actually okay. So yeah, um that’s a bit ironic, but I did go on the bike 4 days after I finished when we got home just for a little recovery ride and I’ve been on the bike five times since then. The maximum ride I’ve done is 35 miles. So, just keeping it short for me, really steady, no pushing. I don’t feel like I’ve got push in me at the minute. It’s just about keeping my legs going and just steady and just enjoying having a bit less miles at the minute. I’ve been doing a lot of decorating. I’ve been painting the bathroom ceiling, painting the cupboards. I’ve got paint on me at the minute, actually. Um, but yeah, recovery wise, it’s just sort of eating eating well, keeping my body moving a little bit, not pushing too much, and I’m looking forward to getting back to long rides again cuz I’m missing them. Yeah. But let your body recover properly. It’s so important because if I do too much too soon, then I’m just going to waste all the effort I put in of not not waste it, but I can benefit from what I’ve done basically if I recover right. So I do find resting really hard. But um yeah, just just doing some steady miles to tick me over. How do you feel now that you’ve done it? Oh, and can I just say on a side note, we did have a spa day as well and Kyle came. A spa morning. I’ve organized it well with help of the mother-in-law. Okay. So, we did recover with that as well when we got back. That was really nice. I had a nice relaxing massage. But yesterday, I had a sports massage and I never want to have that again. The most painful massage I’ve ever had in my life. The the sports massage started doing my leg like started touching my legs. She went, “Oh, wow.” She went, “You’re very tight.” I was like, “Yeah, I can imagine. I can feel it.” But yeah, I just was like gritting my teeth. But how do I feel now finished? Um, it’s weird like I I’m not very good at saying I’m proud of myself cuz I feel like it’s a bit big-headed. Do you know what I mean? And I feel like I don’t, you know, like cuz I couldn’t believe it when Sky News contacted me. I went on Sky News the day after live and I couldn’t believe it. And I just feel a bit like I don’t want to come across like bigheaded. I think if anyone that know this annoys a little me like a little bit about you because when I finish I was like I don’t know. I think anyone that watches Amy knows that she’s not pigheaded. Even though some people might think it, but no one everyone that knows Amy knows you’re not big. So, you should be proud of yourself. People can be proud of themselves for accomplishing something. Whether it’s big or small, everything’s personal. You should feel proud of yourself. But like I always say, like I didn’t do this to be on Sky News or something. I did this because I wanted to make a difference for people. Like that is the real reason I did it. And I want to I want to help people. Like it kind of didn’t set in that I’d finished until probably even a few days ago. But like the other night we were watching telly, weren’t we? And there was an advert for a um a blanket with a hood on it. And Kyle said to me, “Oh, that’s what you used to be like. Like when you were poorly cuz I Sorry, I’m getting a bit emotional.” Um cuz I used to like walk around the house and that and with the hood on, didn’t I? Just used to walk around with It was a TV series. Yeah. I just used to walk around with this like blanket with a hood on just like wrapped up and I didn’t want anyone to see me. It was a picture of our life for a while where yeah, you just used to walk around in your pajamas and dressing gown all the time. And it was like when I just started cycling, I was really unwell and I just didn’t want to be here anymore and I didn’t want anyone to see me. I didn’t want to go out. Um I felt very ugly. I still feel ugly quite a lot now. You are ugly. Um then like that last night when we saw that it made me really sad because I was like I wish I could go to that girl and say like look what you’ve done now. Yeah. Well I I remember I didn’t want to get emotional. I remember at that time I I used to take tell you daily that one day you will look back. Yeah. And this will be Yeah. Yeah. I wish I could go to that girl and be like please don’t like think that you shouldn’t be here because in four years time you’re going to cycle this and you’re going to raise £90,000 for charity. I just couldn’t see that when I was at that point like I just didn’t want to be here. Um, and that’s why I did this because there might be people now that were like me then that well I did say on camera and yeah, the video must have deleted itself fortunately for me. But I had a bit of an emotional moment when we was in France and one of our friends donated quite a big amount of money to the charity and it was you could never see a not a way out of that place but you should be so proud of yourself. not for well you should be really proud of yourself for like the charity and the rides and the recognition and you fully deserve it and that’s I feel like I’m talking to Amy now I’m not even talking to camera but like you fully deserve it so you need to take that and run with it but I think you should just be proud of yourself for beating and being in a good place that’s the achievement that’s the achievement for me I always I knew I’d be hard on myself if I didn’t complete this challenge because I’m very hard on myself um but I think that’s what makes me very determined as well and makes me do these and also you’ve inspired Yeah. more people than Yeah. I can literally remember. Yeah. But I think that’s what makes me do these rides because I do have that like determination in me. And I think that’s what I always said like even if I didn’t finish this challenge, I’ve already got the biggest win I could ask for, which is my mental health back. Like I’ve got my happiness back. I never want to go back to that place again. And I’ve got cycling to help like to thank for that. without the bike, without you, Kyle, I don’t know where I’d be. So, that’s why I did this. I didn’t do it for recognition. I didn’t do it for views, which is what some people have said. Um, I generally did it because I wanted to help people and I hope that’s what I’ve done. Um, yeah. Sorry, I’m feeling emotional. Like, it’s just sad to think of what I used to be like. Um, that’s Yeah, but that’s how it made me feel when I was talking about it before. Um, but I I’m so I am to be fair. Yeah, like maybe I can say I’m proud of myself because I got through that and it took a lot of determination to get through getting better. It took a lot of hard work to get better and get out of that place and get to a healthy weight cuz I struggled with my eating and be healthy and yeah, so that’s the message I want to give. Like please don’t give up. Like whatever you’re doing like you can’t compare yourself to other people because we all go through our own struggles. I’m very fortunate. I’ve got a family. I’ve got you. Like there’s people that don’t have that. So, I’m very fortunate and I’m very grateful for you and Chester and everyone. Um, but yeah, I think I know what’s the next question. Sorry, I’m just thinking and one lesson that you’ll carry with you for the rest of I think it like leads onto the next question of the lesson that I’ll take from this is probably that I am stronger than I think because I think I kind of thought that having you thought you were just bling it at times. Yeah. I think sometimes having struggled I always think I’m a weak per like makes you a weak person but no it doesn’t. makes you a stronger person because you it’s not easy to get through what I went through and it’s definitely not easy to get through that tour to France ride. There was really hard moments but would I do it again? Yes, 100% because riding through those mountains was so beautiful and what I’d say to anyone that I know I’m very fortunate that I’ve got this platforming channel and somehow it’s become my cycle. It’s become my life and I’m so so grateful for that. Honestly, I cannot thank any everyone enough that watches this channel because I wouldn’t be doing this without you and I wish I could everyone could experience what I get to. But whatever is in your budget and within your range, like if you’ve got setting yourself a challenge, don’t think that you can’t do it. Like as long as you train, if your body’s ready, then it’s just 80% of your mind then. So get your mind in it and go for it and enjoy that feeling at the end. But then at the same time, if you don’t want to do a challenge, don’t. just go on cafe rides and enjoy yourself because at the end of the day what I’ve kind of learned as well is we only live once and you’ve just got to enjoy yourself and not give a shiny about what anyone thinks because there’s always going to be negative people but as long as you’ve got the people you love and you do something you love then that’s all that matters cuz one at the end of the day we’re all going to be end up in the same place six feet under I think I think but hopefully not yet I think people have to remember as well like going back to the thing you said earlier about people feeling like it’s weakness to have mental health struggles myself included. We’ve all been there. Yeah. That you’re probably the strongest of most people. Yeah. Like because it creates a resilience in your mind that’s really good. I don’t. So never doubt yourself and that proves what you’ve done. Yeah. No, I don’t think you would have done that before you were ill. No, I probably wouldn’t. I don’t think you would have had the same. That’s the other thing as well. I wouldn’t have started cycling if I didn’t get ill cuz I knew you you was a little bit ill when I met you probably but not to the level obviously of where you were and yeah I don’t think you would have done something like that so it’s a testament to and it’s a journey last journey is it like you can’t life is a roller coaster ride it yeah um but yeah I think you’ve just got to take the ups and downs and it does frustrate me when you do get the negativity as well yeah cuz I’m protective of you. I think that’s another thing. I think I have I have learned to be more like I am quite good at being positive thinking when I’m on a ride and I’ve definitely positive person. I’ve definitely developed that on the ride. And I think the main tip I want to give to people that want to get into endurance cycling. We are going to do a video for beginners. That will be one of the next videos. Although I still class myself as a beginner. We are not beginners anymore. We can’t say that anymore, Kyle. Um I would think that the main thing for endurance is pace yourself. Don’t just think to yourself, go slower than I need to than I usually ride, which is what I did. Even though you feel like you’ve going at the pace of a snail or a meal worm, ride your own ride. Yeah. Don’t worry about average speed. That went out the window. Don’t worry about like I say don’t worry about watts or heart rate, but I did I was looking at my watts a little bit just to make sure I wasn’t pushing too much. Yeah, by the end of the ride, my power pedals died, so I wasn’t even knowing what I was doing. I was just going on the feel of my body. You don’t need you don’t have to have that, but it is helpful in training. But yeah, just go slow, steady, set yourself a challenge that you think is doable. Because if you set yourself something that you don’t think is doable, setting off with a negative mindset isn’t ideal. And yeah, just enjoy it. Like I always say to myself on these challenges, you’ve decided to do it. So you can’t be moaning about it because you’ve put yourself in pain. It’s a privilege. There’s people that are in much worse situations in I was telling myself when I was struggling, in real pain. I was on my bike living my best life. though and those hard moments always 100% outweigh. A tip a tip I’ve actually learned though. Yeah. Sorry to cut you off. Yeah. But while it was on my mind, otherwise I’m going to forget. Yeah. Is there’s a really famous Ordax person, don’t you say his name? Mhm. But I spoke to him at the end of the Easter. Yeah. And this was really interesting cuz he he’s one of your biggest believers. Yeah. And he’s always telling me of what you should be doing and what you can achieve and I keep having to remind you. Yeah. And he said, “I think the thing prior to this challenge, I think the thing is going to be a bigger struggle is believing in herself.” And he was like, “If you can get her to believe in herself, then she will achieve it.” But he was saying like, there’s no reason why you can’t set yourself a challenge that you don’t think is attainable. And even if you fail to like complete the challenge or do what you set out to do, sometimes that can be a blessing because that can push you forward. Yeah. Like you don’t need to complete everything. You don’t need to succeed in everything. Like just try your best. We all have. Yeah. And the failures can be what actually really Yeah. The same as your mental health. Yeah. That’s the thing. Sometimes the the hardest from through the hardest moments come the best moments. And that’s why I always remind myself like yes, I left my job as a mental health nurse. I couldn’t cope. But through that, I’m now doing this. So at that time it was felt like my life was over. But now here we are with Pepe and Mommy who came from the Alps and he came from home and he’s our little mascot beforeand I think that’s all the questions we have had a lot of questions asking what are we doing next secret well there is something coming so there’s something coming don’t worry mind and both of us will be doing it I’m currently planning it I’ve been planning it since January well we are planning who’s you have a little bit more time on the laptop than I do you’ve planned about 3% so far with me. No, that’s not true. Um I think he did. He spent about an hour with me. I’ve done about 50 hours. I don’t think that’s fair. It’s fine though cuz you spend a lot more time on the I I I’m expected to do mason planning for it cuz you’re out on the building site. So it’s my job really. There’s something coming. Kyle has started an FT builder training plan on Ruby. We are doing a Ruby club ride on Monday the 11th um 700 p.m. So if you want to come and join us, we’re doing stage 13 of the tour which is the parasords TT. Good stage actually that. Yeah, enjoyed that. And well, we just want to finish on a little present that Kyle got me, which is very nice of him. It was something that took a lot of communication while we were away. It’s basically it’s made by a man from our local cycling club. This is not any any way paid or anything like that, but he has given a little discount code in case anyone else wants one because you can make it about anything. He cycles in our local club. So, and can I just point out I wanted to pay for this because I wanted to pay but he wouldn’t let us because I wanted to pay because a lot of time and work went into this and it’s just fantastic. And I I already knew I wanted to get you this before I even contacted him. Yeah. It’s basically a like a 3D print of my whole ride with the stats used by using actual GPX files. Yeah. And it’s even got like the little elevations on it. And then there’s a little cheeky extra. Also, this is hangable on the wall. It’s got the hooks on the back. Car’s getting his advert head on. And then he even made me a little cut out of my bike, which it’s even got like this SIS bottles. Yeah, it’s even got everything on it. Look, the tail fit. It’s so cool. I even got the assa on. Got the ass saver on which we didn’t use that much but put Sarah bed there. Um but yeah it’s even got a little stand so that’s really nice. Um so but what I love about this as well like all the mountains stick up. Yeah. This was by far the biggest one. Really nice. But the mountains stick up you get. So thank you to Print my ride. I’ll put the um discount code cuz that’s just like something I’ll keep forever. So I wanted something as a but yeah. But sorry we couldn’t do all the questions because we had so many and we’d be here all night and I’ve got a nice lentil stew cooking out in there which I’ll show you and we’ve already been busy. So, but we’ll do some more videos like but we’re going to have a bit of chill time now riding in the peaks again. But we have got 200k coming up, haven’t we? I’m excited. No rest for the wiki. Wiki wiki wiki. Um, someone people have asked about the grass. Oh yeah, some people have asked. So before we left, we know if you’ve been watching us, you know that we’ve been having some building work done. Also, this is Chester’s donkey. Oh, and we got Chester a donkey. Chester. Wait a minute. Chester missed us, but he’s back now. Someone bought me an emotional support pickle, so thanks for that. From Canada. They’re from Canada. Lovely. Oh, that’s some that’s some wine for Nigel for letting us borrow the um the bike rack and he was a lifesaver with that. These are what we got from the top of every climb. Kyle gave me them at the end as a surprise. That was really nice. Here’s Chester. Do you want your donkey? Oh, he’s not actually Oh, yeah, he does. He’s not a massive fan of the donkey, though. He is. He does play with it, but he just he has to be in the mood. He more wants to play with them. It’s quite lazy dog. You’re not allowed then though. Um and then the grass situation. So the extension is going up. Do you want me to open the Go on then Kyle? We’ve actually just been to the kitchen. We’re basically just point you going. You can’t get anywhere in there cuz our mortgage is renew and we thought, “Yeah, let’s add the kitchen to the mortgage, don’t we, Kyle?” Which is where we’ve been this afternoon. But we’re not getting fridge cuz they’re too expensive. So Well, and the fact they’re quite small, are they? Anyway, this is now the garden. And the grass has grown. So, we’re very happy about that. And Chester loves going out there, but he has to go out the other door. And this this section over here is going to be planters and stuff. So, yeah, those there’s a couple one trees actually started growing back, but we’re going to dig that out and that’s going to be planters. Yeah. Nice big window. And this is all rubble. Well, this is going to be the floor obviously. Yeah. But anyway, um just thank you again everyone. Thanks to everyone that donated. I cannot believe that we raised so much money. Chester says thank you too. And I’m sorry to my plant that died while we were away. That’s what’s mine survived. So everyone was She was laughing at my plant before we went away. This is another one of my plants. My cactus. That’s just ridiculous. So I’ve even managed to kill a cactus. But she was laughing before we went away and I think it was on video at some point and she was laughing about how dead my plant looked and how it was going to die while I was away. How wrong were you? Come on then. Let’s see. Come on. Sorry the Hoover’s out cuz I’ve been doing some cleaning today. Oh, these are the tires. Look. Still fine. They’ve done over 4,000 miles and no puncture. My wife’s going for a service tomorrow actually. Oh yeah, cuz tomorrow I’m going to be on, you know, Grant Thomas podcast. They’re doing a women’s version. I’m going on that tomorrow. What’s occurring? Yeah, wiki’s occurring. That’s what’s occurring. What’s occurring? I say wiki on the podcast. No, I can’t do that. Hey mate, what would you do if I said wiki on the podcast? Quite funny. It’s thrived. Um, it’s not exactly thrived. It’s grown grown loads. Am I on the camera? What’s this? Well, it it was close to That’s dad. No, that leaf’s dead. That leaf’s dead. Yeah, but you said that before or when the rest of it’s good and it’s grown even more. Yeah. So now I’ve got a bigger tree and I’ve still got my foam rollers because one this one I ordered thinking it was a paint roller. This one we bought from it turned out to be, you know, a muscle one stretching. Anyway, we’re going to go now because I’m cooking me lentil street. Oh, do you want to see me lentil stew? This is another thing with my eating. I always make homemade meals and I always make meals that are high in protein and going to fuel me well. Hang on. We might bring down there. Here we go. Vegetarian tonight. That is butter bean, lentil, spinach, tomatoes, pepper, onion, some different spices, and then we’re going to have it with homemade flatbread. So, I do love my cooking. Anyway, Carl’s not really a fan of the uh lentils too much. Are you actually been really healthy? You have, but the lentils sometimes give you a bit of flatulence. Yeah, flatulence. And he already has enough of that. Anyway, thank you so much for watching. TTCFN. Tata for now. Goodbye. Oliver Dutchy.