Ken's Story - To Be Continued
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It's about 28 months since I started cycling and almost a year since I realised that I'd be able to take on a challenge like RideLondon-Surrey100.
Our trip to Hunstanton last August made me realise I could do this. Having arranged a guaranteed charity place I began fundraising last August - a very good decision to begin early as the last thing I want to be doing around now is organising fundraising events when I have miles to focus on.
First a big thank you to all who took part in various organised events and donated early on. That gave me no option to back out and motivation to begin gaining the fitness that I need for next weekend (10th). Having a target and supporters was key to getting me ready to do the ride and putting in the increasing miles, especially over the last three months, but here I am ready to go and try to do myself justice over the course.
I didn't know what the consequences of taking on this ride would be, and where it would take me this year. No doubt some of you could just get out of bed on the morning of 10th August and do this ride, but I had to make a real effort and push my body over several months, harder that I have done for about 40 years and with increasing intensity. But I've proved it can be done, even with a couple of health setbacks along the way, and it shows that anyone can get back in some kind of half-reasonable shape with a little determined effort.
Many of the rides this year have fitted in with my overall training. Amongst my highlights have been the overnight Hero Ride to London, cycling in the North Pennines over the beer festival weekend, assisting John Mawby for 3 of his 24 hours charity ride around Dullingham, the 100km sportive around Huntingdon, two rides in the Chilterns and the recent 89 mile Cambridge sportive. Having to get fit was sufficient motivation to keep training through the winter, and to push me to finally do something about losing some pounds.
Some stats, which I would never have believed two years ago - in the last year I've ridden 3200 miles; in the last 2 months I've ridden over 1100 miles, about the same as I cycled in the first 8 months of 2013. I've seen improvements in blood pressure, weight, BMI, heart rate and cholesterol count. And I've set a new record for hot baths to recover!
So the benefits to me of deciding to RideLondon are very evident. If anyone would like to make a small donation through my charity page I would say firstly that I am very grateful for help towards my target, but mostly that the donations are not really to help me, they are to help the British Heart Foundation carry on it's groundbreaking research into our country's biggest killer disease. At some time in our lives we all come into contact with the consequences of diseases of one sort or another, whether directly or indirectly. This is what spurs us on to try to make a real difference to what is going on out there. This year is my time to make a difference, with your help. And it feels a real privilege to be able to do this.
There are mini updates and a few photos of how my year has gone on this page, if you haven't checked it recently .....
https://www.justgiving.com/ken-dunn/
Although I haven't actually done the ride yet I feel as though I have done all of the hard work and I know that the whole day on the 10th will be fun, especially crossing that finishing line! Thanks for your support - I'll be thinking of you all as the miles go by - and I hope this inspires others to do something similar.
Ken
