Don't ask me why, but after swearing never to ever ride Mayhem again, I've gone and got myself onto an all-women team of four through the mountain bike club I ride with, Manchester Mountain Bikers. We've had a big push in the club lately to try and encourage more women not only to join but to follow through on their guest membership and actually become full club members. Also, those of us involved in Breeze rides are aware that when those easy rides become too easy, women need places to ride that they can progress, so myself and others have persuaded MMB to have a regular women-only ride (after much discussion, I should add -- some of it heated!) so it was time for me to put my money where my big mouth was and step up and do something to represent women in the club. Encouraging women to race is only one step on from encouraging them to ride, and that really is how I've ended up on the Mayhem team. So what happens next?
Well, training isn't a word I'd use but the fact that the other three on my team are machines (one is riding Fred Whitton in a few weeks, the other rode past me on all the hills last week, and the third member is out four times a week, apparently) means I am probably the weakest link of the four. That's not good, so part of me feels like training of some sort might be in order. But where to start? Well, I'll be posting more on that in coming weeks. I don't really know where to begin so am going to have a broad putting in the miles approach that may or may not be the way to go. Time will tell.
