women v cancer conquer Stratford –upon-Avon!

I can't believe this – I cycled 100km!  We did the Great Shakespeare Ride, in aid of the Shakespeare Hospice. And as a training exercise. This is the furthest I've cycled in my life! Quite a few of the girls that I am cycling Kenya with came, which made it great fun. It was so nice to see them all again.

The longest day's cycle in Kenya is 99km – and we certainly won't be belting along like maniacs! We did the cycle on Sunday in 6 1/2 hours, including two stops [for fabulous cake and incredible pork pie! thanks to those volunteers – everything was free] – well chuffed, as I was quite worried I wouldn't manage it at all. The middle section was horrific awful not very nice. But the great thing was, we had 'proper' cyclists with us – and even they said it was a tough ride. So we feel really pleased with ourselves.

The FH was there of course, my Main Support Team :) Dragging up the hills was unreal – my chain came off due to the low ratio, and some Smart Aleck [I am being polite here] on his Skinny Bike [road bike] passed me and actually called me a stupid b**ch! I was so stunned I was speechless. And that's a new one on me.

There appears to be an hierarchy in cycling, where people who ride road / racing bikes feel they are superior to people who ride mountain bikes. I have NO idea why – it's twice as hard on a mountain bike, as they weigh substantially more. Would like to have seen that rude man do the cycle on MY bike. But after Kenya, we are getting Skinny Bikes ;)

Here's a pic of us, nicked from the photo site. Note pained faces, funny hats and odd t-shirts…not to mention those spazzy hats!

This is before we left our fabulous overnight stop at Loraine's house – where we had a great dinner, and were warmly welcomed – MUCH better than a B&B. Don't WE look fab in our beastly cycle shorts?

In the meantime, back at the cancery ranch, everything seems to be fine. With me. Thank God.

But some of my friends. Not. Last week [yes, it's taken me THAT long to get my head around it], one of the girls who was to do the Cycle 1 with us, died. Cervical cancer. She was so young. It's heart breaking. Infuriating. We chatted on Facebook – she was a very brave young woman. And I miss her.

This is why I am doing the cycle. To raise funds to enable MORE research into these horrible cancers – perhaps one day the amazing people who spend their lives trying WILL actually find a cure?

And to honour the women who have been killed.