NSV - bike ride

Just needed to share - last week on hols in Ireland I took part in the Sean Kelly 50k bike ride. I had heard about this and seen it for several years as we are always there at the same time of year, and had thought 'those people are mad! I would never, could never do that!'. It was 4 years yesterday since I first started my lifestyle change, and while I have maintained my 70lb loss for over 2 years, it is only in the last year I am getting a taste for fitness challenges. So last year, in a whisky fuelled conversation with a relative I agreed to do the ride. For a while I hoped he'd forgotten - but he hadn't, and so last week I arrived at a ridiculously early hour for the first day of a holiday to have a 5 minute test on a slightly rickety borrowed bike, then 4 miles steep downhill to the start of the ride!
The weather was wet and windy, the roads crowded, but it was a great day! The Uncle was very supportive and calm when I was nervous at the beginning (I am nervous on downhills after a bad crash last year), and it was a great craic!

I am very proud to have done the 50k with no problems, but even prouder to have done the 4 miles back up the hill at the end with only one short stop! Many years ago I cycled a mile of it, took me 30 mins and I was exhausted after.