{"id":4590,"date":"2016-08-01T10:01:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T10:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=4590"},"modified":"2016-08-01T10:49:11","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T10:49:11","slug":"riding-for-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=4590","title":{"rendered":"Riding for Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ride<\/a>I was awakened by excited shouts from close by at around 6.40 this morning. No, it wasn’t the arrival of breakfast at a neighbour’s all nighter but the first sight of riders on the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, when 26,000+ amateur cyclists take on a 100-mile cycle challenge through the closed roads of London and Surrey before finishing on The Mall.<\/p>\n

Presumably the shouts were from friends and relatives, bribed to get up early and cheer them on. Or they could have been greeting them as they arrive at the pit-stops that are normally parked outside Fullers Brewery (what synergy there). But the explosive growth of this race shows how cycling has captured the public’s imagination.<\/p>\n

It’s been a while in coming, which is hardly surprising in London because the capital’s streets have never been particularly cycling-friendly. Who are we kidding? We just don’t have the space of other cities built on a grander scale, like Paris, or the driver temperament to accommodate two-wheelers on busy roads.<\/p>\n

I no longer cycle in the centre of town, partly ’cause public transport is so good but also because I don’t want to turn up at meetings hot and sweaty (never a good look). But I did for many years, thankfully without incident. Actually, there was one when my gears went at Hyde Park Corner and I had to freewheel my way to safety but that was the exception rather than the rule.<\/p>\n

When kids arrived I taught them to ride as quickly and as safely as possible. In fact, I’m the only one who hasn’t been on a cycling course and maybe I should. Some of my fondest memories are of waking at dawn on summer days and cycling with them to the Thames and then down to Putney and back. We’d enjoy the sounds of the dawn chorus, smell the honeysuckle – and then buy freshly baked croissants from the factory at Hammersmith before heading home for breakfast.<\/p>\n

A few decades on and we’re all still cycling. In fact son and heir has announced his intention of signing up for the 2017 Prudential Ride race when entries open on Monday. The only family member who never ventures on to two wheels is Dame Mike, who claims cycling in London scares him rigid. What a contrast to his formative years when he was apparently an enthusiast.<\/p>\n

I was even lucky enough to have driven behind the peloton in the Tour de France way back when, having been invited by one of sponsors. What an experience. Nothing prepares you for the grit, determination and skill of the riders, the manoeuverings, and the cheerful anarchy of the sponsors’ and advertisers’ vehicles that accompany the race.<\/p>\n

A few years on I am happily sitting up in bed with the Sunday papers, with the odd cheer for stragglers floating in through the window. My plan for the day? To organise a picnic lunch, take it to the park, and hopefully time it so that I can cheer Chris Froome along on the way. After all, it’s my civic duty pre-Rio.<\/p>\n

N.B. A day later, my heart goes out to the brave Geraint Thomas, who had been out on his own after making a break 50km from the finish before being reeled in by the peloton in the final 5km, with Tom Boonen winning a bunch sprint finish.<\/p>\n

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Cycling is a family thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,55,50],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4590"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4610,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4590\/revisions\/4610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}