Back to life, back to reality! - Ben's blog

It’s been a bit difficult not having Dave around for a few weeks, but I’ve got on with it and used my time wisely for training. My back is almost pain free thanks to not putting in so much time on the saddle and doing more core and gym work.

I had a brake problem and couldn’t fix it so I swapped an evening on the bike for a few hours in the gym and on the bike there.

I have also been getting in kms - I’m not timing myself now as the time on the bike isn’t that critical, all I’m doing is getting kms on it. (I have been listening Dave, see!!)

Saturday afternoon after work I got on the bike and just did a lovely round route through the mountains and small villages, really nice. I even stopped for a coffee in one village as the time just wasn’t that important and I thought instead of killing myself I can quite happily do the kms and enjoy it!

After my coffee I was racing a motorbike down a mountain (I’m getting quite good at that as I can do corners a lot quicker than those guys), came round a corner and there was a bloody pot hole in the road! I just missed it with my front wheel but my back tyre went in. I was doing about 60k at the time, stayed on and didn’t crash but once again I’ve got another flat.

I can ride a bike for as many hours as you want me to but I have no idea how to fix it!!!!

I’ve never changed a puncture in my life and the other day with the front brake - it’s just getting embarrassing, so I seriously need to learn the basics of bike repair. I forget that it was only January that I bought my bike and before then I knew nothing!

I’m now down to 70 kgs, which is brilliant. It was Cenk’s birthday on Sunday - the old git’s now 40!!! I did have a small piece of chocolate cake.... and of Laura and Joe’s too as he was running around with a paper aeroplane (can’t let good cake go in the bin)!

Spoke to Dave yesterday and hopefully he’ll be back out to Mallorca this week and we can crack on with some proper training again. I think I’ll just be glad for the company and a mate back around me. Dave is far more than just my trainer, he is a friend, a shoulder, a rock and a buddy all rolled into one and he’s also funny! If you haven’t read his diary on my blog, please find the time!

My biggest concern at the minute is that though I’ve proved I can do hours and kms on a bike, my recuperation is slow. I can do anything you want but the next day I’m stuffed, and I can’t do anything.

If I do anything over 50k I need a day of rest afterwards. I don’t rest as I get gym session in but I’m very lethargic and just have no energy.

This worries me for the target that I have for next year at 200k every day - at the minute I wouldn’t be able to do it.

Dave tells me not to worry and that my training is on track and I’m actually ahead of training and kms at the time being so just to relax. I am reassured!

There is so much being talked about at the min that the excitement is oozing from everyone on the team! I think everyone is just having a great time with this whole adventure, as it’s new territory for us all. The ideas are amazing, well done to everyone and it’s just nice to hear that people are enjoying themselves and having fun too, cos, believe it or not, so am I!

Thanks to everyone in the team, thanks for all the support and I’ll keep on pushing on the bike and speak to you soon.

Love Benj

From Batman to the Tasmanian devil - Dave's training diary

Well I’ve been in the UK for a couple of weeks so it's distance training for our caped crusader. You know I just can't get this bat thing off my mind. Sorry Ben, but when we spoke the other day I imagined you had a big red phone with a flashing light, dressed in tights, a cape and mask – that explains my initial sniggers! So glad my mother didn't name me Robin.......there's no way I could continue with this.

So, on to the training… After the punishing 312 success Ben had a recovery week – rest with some light stretches and swimming. I asked Ben to list how his body felt during and after the race before devising the next piece of action in the gym. His back is in agony and lower body weak, hardly surprising after the punishment. It's been a tough week mentally for Ben too, an emotional rollercoaster, the highs of such success followed by the reality of normal life. Taking everything in consideration, plus to keep Ben fresh and motivated, I devised a new 'home' gym plan along with the 300km (20% goal marker) bike time.

Ben was in Decathlon to pick his balls up - no he didn't leave them there after the race last week – I’m talking Swiss and medicine. I had mailed Ben the training plan just 10 minutes before! Seriously, his car must be as fast as a batbike! He phoned, he was confused and in an agitated state. I pictured him stood there, a massive light ball under one arm, a small heavy one under the other trying not to tip over due to the unbalanced weight, his phone wedged between his ear. “How’s this going to make me cycle better?" I think he was worried I was going to send him over the road to buy bits from the hardware superstore to make a "chopper bike". I'm sure he was looking at those balls as wheels for some kind of makeshift bike. I put his mind at ease "We're doing some work on your core, back and lower body - just read the bloody plan first".

That's the trouble with Ben, he wants to do everything now! It's actually a good quality – enthusiasm, energy and mental strength will take you a long way. If you were in Decathlon that day you would have seen just a whirl of smoke as Ben rushed round the store like the Tasmanian devil.

Ben has had a tough training week, struggling with the new plan and I really need to get back and train him, that's tough for him but I know he is putting himself through the paces. Lady luck is not on his side, his brakes seized earlier in the week, he called from a stationary bike in the gym, that shows a lot of strength to find a solution, continue, not be beaten and he's so self motivated. In fact he's so driven I can't wait to get back to Mallorca to put some kind of lead on him, if you can ever get a lead on the Tasmanian devil that keeps going at 100 miles an hour!

And I do worry! I was with Claire in Birmingham last Monday and we called Ben. He had only gone and done a 50km ride Sunday night – said he felt guilty as he hadn't done much; we went mad as hatters (one step down from the devil, that’s age for you!). Hadn't done much?!, that's the trouble when you have achieved so much in such a short time, you don't realise just how far you have come…

Ben’s post-race blog

Oh my God!!

Wow, wow, wow!!!

This is an amazing feeling....

I’m over the moon that I finished the ride. It nearly killed me, and there were a lot of ups and downs along the way.

I’ve never done a race before, I’ve never felt pain like it, I’ve never been so tired in my life. But I’ve never - and I mean never - felt so good in my life!!

The amount of support I’ve received is just amazing! Every comment means everything and helps so much. I could hear my phone binging every two minutes with another message. I couldn’t read them because I was riding but I could hear them coming in.

At 220kms I hit the ‘wall’ that endurance athletes talk about. I was thinking of reasons to quit, knowing that everyone would be proud of me for what I’d done anyway. Sitting at the side of the road, feeling exhausted and lonely in the middle of nowhere, I started to read some of the messages of support. Well... I couldn’t get back on my bike fast enough! I wasn’t alone out there, I had a load of support and people thinking of me.

Every message boosts you more than you can believe.

I didn’t want to let you – or myself - down. I wanted to prove to you and to me that I am man enough to take the pain, man enough to keep pushing, man enough to finish what I have started. The fear that I was all talk and no action scared me to death.

When I came through the finish line, if I’d had any water left in my body I would have cried!

IT WAS THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD!!!

Two days on, hearing all the congratulations, I can’t remember the pain. I just remember that I did the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. As my big sis Claire says: ‘Welcome to childbirth’!

I am now on nitrous oxide overdrive to get better and ready for the Gibraltar to Nordkapp ride next year. I’m going to train like no one has ever trained before! (Hope Dave doesn’t read that bit!)

I have the best team in the world, all based on the standards set by my family, Slimming World and Dave Bladon. We have the foundations and the building blocks to go all the way and take Europe by storm.

So we now need to get serious and remember why we’re putting massive effort into all of this, the reason why ‘The Ride of My Life’ started. The reason I’m going to train like I’ve never done before to pump out 200km a day for 6 weeks and ride the full length of Europe! We want to impress the socks off everyone, of course - but most of all so that we can raise some serious money for kids.

Everyone in the team is doing this for free. It’s costing me not just a fortune but also a year and half of my life. My wife is taking care of me and the baby - very one-sided and not fair for her but she’s doing it because she knows this is a once in a lifetime push, to raise as much money as we can.

If you donate £1 or £10, you know that every penny of your money is going to the kids, not to me, not to the bike or any support. We are paying for that so your money goes to the right place.


The team are still working like demons on this and the donations link isn’t live on the website yet - it will be soon. Keep coming back, keep reading what I’m up to, how the training is going, what Dave Bladon my trainer has written in his diary on my blog and I’ll keep posting words from my heart too!

So come one everyone, please support me in every way you can. Tell your friends, family, colleagues and anyone you know AND LET’S ABOLISH CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT FOR EVER!!!!

Thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart.

I love you all.

Benj

Ben's got bats in the...belfry - Dave's training diary

Well it's been a while since my last blog, mainly as Ben's a unique 'specimen' from a trainer’s angle. He doesn't need a Mr Motivator breathing down his neck, just give him a bit of direction, wind him up like a kids toy and he's off ten to the dozen!

Hold that thought – his energy & determination push him around training like a mad dog chasing his tail - get the picture now? Seriously it's like that, and he's like a big kid too – egging me on trying to prove a point. I'll give you an example telephone conversation:

‘So how did you do last night?’
‘75km’
‘Hold on, you were only supposed to do 50km!’
‘Well it means if you join me on Saturday then there's 25km less to do!'

So Ben's just had his head tucked down, following the plan and tapering the last week for the "312" which I'll tell you about in a mo.

Mind you he had a shock a couple of weeks ago that really made me laugh. Superman (recall the last blog?) was on a 100km evening ride. It was pitch black (apart from his meagre bike lights) and cycling through very quiet, wooded country lanes – and when I say mean quiet, you can literally hear a pin drop - that's a scary, lonely place to be!

All Ben heard was ‘Shwooooosh’ and he felt a warm sensation on his… let’s just call it his "neither regions"! He looked down and there was a large bat! You can imagine his surprise and shock as he took a few swipes to remove the winged menace!

His legs have never moved so fast - it was the best performance he has put in to date. So our superhero must now be re-named BATMAN. In Ben's interest (and in the name of health and safety) I checked the diet of this Mallorcan breed of Bat and apparently they only eat maggots… so you'll be ok won't you, Ben!

So let's get down to the 312 race from a trainer’s angle and let's pull no punches – there's no way he should have done it. 312km around the coastline of Mallorca, with the first 150km comprising huge mountain terrain. When I took on the challenge to train Ben he threw this in at the last minute – I just laughed because it just wasn’t realistic.

In those short weeks not only did he do it, he finished 30 out of 200 – with the other 170 not even finishing the punishing ride (and they were all fitter, stronger and better equipped than Ben) What they didn't have is Ben's massive heart – the heart of a Lion.

I spoke to Ben the night before and asked him how he felt. ‘A bit scared and excited, but I've decided that the most important thing is just to enjoy it’, he told me. We discussed breaking the race down into manageable chunks, focussing on sections of the race, achieving that, taking stock and moving onto the next section. We discussed that this was not a race, it was part of the journey – it's just part of the marathon training to get ready for the 6,000km challenge. It didn't matter whether he finished, I just wanted him to train hard and push himself to the limits – but safely.

Do you know what – I think he sort of listened to me… but he also had his own agenda! He was going to finish. He told me: ‘I don't care if it's midnight, I'm going to do it!’ I tried to keep his feet on the ground but when you have the heart of a lion..!

I waited at Palma Nova roundabout at the halfway mark, expecting him to be pushing hard but making up numbers at the back. Cenk texted to say he was on his way and I waited and waited, watching groups of hardened racers pass by. I waited for nearly 90 minutes and phoned Cenk who told me he’d passed Mood Beach over 20 minutes ago. Do you know I thought I’d seen him, head down, focused, in a small group of serious riders! Well, when you have the heart of a lion!

I underestimated him - more faith and I wouldn't have a big burnt nose!

Well the big day is tomorrow – I’m taking part in the Mallorca 312 1st International Cycletourist Tour of Mallorca - and I’m really nervous.

I have my number and everything is ready to go. I’m downloading some more music for my MP3 player tonight and cleaning and checking the bike. I am in a real state though, I have strained my sciatic nerve!! I can hardly walk and driving my car is painful. I’m very worried.

I will start tomorrow but I’m so scared of the pain I know I’m going to feel, I’m also scared if the pain is too much and I quit!

There’s no way I’m going to finish in14 hours so I have Cenk on standby for about 8pm to support me the rest of the way. I don’t want to let anyone down and this is so important to me, I don’t want to let myself down.

I will give it my all tomorrow and hold the pain as long as possible, I just hope I can bear it till the end.

I have spoken to Dave and I am keeping the goals small so I can mentally hold it.

Wish me luck,

Love

Benj...

...the boy from Woodhouse - I feel I have the whole of Mansfield behind me, feels really good, it helps a lot to see the messages!

Lots of emails have been flying backwards and forwards so let me start by thanking you all for your hard work and effort in to this web site and challenge, I don't know if it is because you love me, love the idea or your just scared of my sister, but thank you.

I am really excited and nervous all at the same time. This started with just a wacky idea and now it's more real than I can believe!! Every day when I train in the gym or on the bike I'm thinking of you all and the emails that you had sent that day. The effort going into the smallest detail to make this whole challenge work is an inspiration to me to push harder and go faster.

Just to let you know that this Saturday I have my first race coming up, this will be my first competitive race in my life!!

This week I am taking it very easy with no or very little training, I am resting completely and having lots of physio work as I have strained my back, left knee and right tricep. This is not through accident, it's just from lots of kms on the bike over the last 4 weeks. Now I have stopped for a few days all the aches and pains are coming out, so I have a real big push to get ready for Saturday.

The race on Saturday is for 14 hours. I guess that I will be disqualified for not finishing on time, but that's not important, I just want to finish. I will have Cenk on standby in the afternoon to continue the support once the race has finished and also to drive me home afterwards. I think my time will be more like 17 - 18 hours. The Tramauntana mountain range is just a killer, it will spit me out at the end and I will be destroyed, I will then have another 200kms to do!!!

Wish me luck for Saturday, and once again thank you all so so much, with such a good team behind me, I feel we are going to do really well with charities and raising some really good money too.

Love

Benj