The Courier is media sponsor of this year’s Etape Caledonia cycling sportive and has a five-person team taking part. In the weeks leading up to the event on May 8, Team Courier will be posting about our preparations for the big day.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on cycling forums in the last few weeks, keen to find that key piece of advice that will help make my Etape more of a pleasure than a penance.
Among the tips on nutrition, gear, where to stay etc, one theme bubbles away under the surface from some.
While the days of outright Etape opposition and saboteurs leaving tacks on the route are long gone (at least let’s hope so), there is still a vocal minority who question why anyone would want to pay good money to cycle on closed roads that are often all but deserted much of the year anyway.
I can understand the argument. We are pretty lucky in this part of the word in that within minutes we can be out of our towns and cities and coasting along quiet country roads with very few vehicles to encounter.
But, for lazy sods like me at least, the ‘why the Etape?’ argument misses a crucial point and one of the great hidden benefits of signing up for organised events.
I’m exploring parts of the countryside around me for the first time thanks to the demands of Etape training
By committing to take part in a formal event, it establishes from the very beginning of the year that it’s time to shape up.
Most years I’m into summer before I step up any exercise and by then it’s too late. Before I know it, the nights are drawing in again and that fitness target I had in mind gets knocked back another year.
So I’m valuing the enforced discipline that signing up for the Etape brings. I really feel my whole year will be better because I’ve had this in the diary.
Don't know if I'm getting any fitter but I'm finding some amazing new routes home. #etapediary #etapecaledonia pic.twitter.com/hSyQ7JRPRS
— Richard Rooney (@C_RRooney) March 4, 2016
I still allow myself the occasional Saturday afternoon in the pub, but I’ve already enjoyed a number of great training outings that wouldn’t have happened if May 8 wasn’t etched into my consciousness.
Just preparing for the Etape is meaning great days out on the bike and discovering quiet routes in the countryside minutes from my house. I’m finding out where all those minor roads I would normally avoid in the car actually lead to.
I’ve been rolling through
The Etape might be a one-day event, but it’s bringing a whole year of benefits.There’s still time to sign up and take part with the Marie Curie 400 team.Click herefor more info.