Schwinn Revolution 2008 - Hemsby

Although not a big deal for our continental friends (who regularly do 12-hour continuous rides) or our cousins across the pond (who host events with thousands of bikes), this was (I believe) the first event of this magnitude in the UK: 100 bikes, 14 hour-long rides spread over a weekend and - this is the clincher - the ability to stay on the bike the whole time.

I went with Rick, a friend and fellow Spinning/Schwinn addict from Hove, who took these photos. When we arrived, after a brief stop at a roadside stall to eat the best sausage-bacon-egg baguette I've ever tasted, we were told that event would start an hour later and, apparently, everybody but the two of us knew. So we had plenty of time to choose our bikes and set up...needless to say, we both went for front row centre.

Just one problem - having fractured my shoulder blade two weeks earlier, would I be able to ride, much less push myself? I thought that I might have difficulty in holding the bars without a sling but it was worth trying, as there were only two classes that Friday evening. It took me a while to find a suitable riding position, as I could not stretch or put any weight on my shoulder. As you can see, I wasn't very comfortable but at least I was able to ride - I could always coast along and use it as an educational experience.

Well... what an education! After the initial stiffness, I loosened up gradually, the adrenaline started flowing and I was really getting into it. It helped having Mel Chambers leading the ride - when she suggests you could maybe work just that little bit harder, it's hard to disagree! Soon the pain disappeared altogether and I was able to lift myself to a higher level of effort, at or above my lactate threshold, for the two hours.

Rick said he could see I was really pushing myself, despite my totally relaxed state that might have fooled others into thinking I was taking it easy. I was certainly "in the zone", so much so that my focus was on one of the tealights in front of me and all I could see was the dancing flame - I can't remember the music, Mel's words, the pain, the effort... just the emotion and the little voice whisper "I can".

The next day was more of the same but with a variety instructors leading the rides. On the final ride on Saturday morning, I started feeling pain in my knee - quite unexpected, given my other problems, but probably related to the accident. Luckily, it was time for the lunch break, so I had time to recover... especially as Rick and I decided that 45mins was nowhere near enough for a decent lunch and we opted out of the first two rides of the afternoon session. The final two rides were relatively steady, the first being a 45-min climb and the second a low-end endurance ride.

Four more rides the next day, with best (for me) being a ride called "Feel the energy". A long climb up to Macchu Picchu, going through storms, caves, sprinting away from cannibals, working together as a team to get through the worst and using the electricity of the storm to charge us with energy, finally using it all in a final burst to the top and into the sunshine. Even while writing this, the memory of that ride gives me goosebumps... I wish I'd recorded it, so I could ride it again and again on my own!

Sigh! Roll on next year - I hope it becomes a permanent fixture on my iCal.