Ever since finding the Tough Girl Podcast when I had my DVT in 2016, this has been one of my favourite podcasts for motivation and inspiration. A real honour and pleasure to feature on it myself this week. This interview was recorded at a time when I couldn’t talk about my new business venture yet….
Category: Reflections
48H Pure Peak Grit: from hill-hater to hill-lover
When Alaina invited me to join the inaugural 48 Hour Pure Peak Grit event, I initially declined. I am Dutch. I am a flatlander. I am scared of painful hills and have done my best to avoid them. I’d choose a headwind any day over a climb, taking my chances battling an invisible enemy rather…
Flipping Flapmash
It is not uncommon for cyclists to openly refer to saddle sores. But usually that is where the descriptions end. An understanding nod, a painful grimace, followed by silence as if to say “please spare me the gory details”. After years of suffering several #flapmash episodes, I feel there is value in sharing some details…
And in the End …
How do I do justice to a project that took up nearly three years ? How do I reflect on lessons learnt from it? And how do I let go, heal and move on? If you want to find out more about why my End to End record breaking dream ended the way it did,…
The women of the End to End
The ‘End to End’ is a goal for many cyclists in the UK. Most people wisely ride from Land’s End to John o’Groats in 1 or 2 weeks, taking their time to enjoy the great scenery along the way. But the UK also has a rich history of people doing the End to End (which…
4 weeks until LEJOG …
Thank you TrainingPeaks for showing me every day how much closer my second opportunity at breaking the Land’s End to John o’Groats record is getting! With just over 4 weeks to go until the first possible start date in early July, it is time for a brief update on how the preparations are going.
Rethinking Fuelling
After my first attempt at the LEJOG record abruptly came to a halt due to uncontrollable puking, it was obvious I had to go back to the drawing board for an overhaul of my nutrition strategy. After a few months of re-jigging and testing, I think we have found the answer. Nutrition is of course…
The Gift of Failure
Failure is always an option. Of course, this depends on how you define success, but success is never guaranteed. Whether in sport or in business, people tend to look for ‘top tips’ for success or ‘best practice’ examples. Nobody deliberately strives for failure, but failure can also be a gift that ultimately helps you grow….
LEL – Sign me up for 2021!
About 10 days have passed now since that epic cycle ride from London to Edinburgh and back. Since then, many blogs and Facebook group posts have been written with riders’ and volunteers’ tales of London-Edinburgh-London. All contain great stories of camaraderie and ingenuity when faced with challenges. This left me with a warm feeling and…
24 Hour Races: Solo vs Team
In 2013 I did my first 24-hour cycle race at Le Mans on the famous Bugatti Circuit. Solo. Straight into the deep end and I absolutely loved it. This year I competed at Revolve24, a similar 24-hour race at Brands Hatch in Kent. This time as a mixed team of 4 and again I got…
Conquering Cramp Update
Earlier this year I wrote a blog post on ‘Conquering Cramp‘ in which I commented on my troubles with cramp, previous strategies, the results of a sweat test and the personalised hydration plan I had received for using Precision Hydration, electrolytes that match how I sweat. Unfortunately DVT then got in the way. I have since used…
Training with DVT
“When can I resume my cycling training?” and “How soon can I race again?” were two of the key questions on my mind when I was first diagnosed with #DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) in June. I knew I was not going to get the answers I wanted, being Little Miss Impatient it was never going…
Duracell Bunny on a Bike 