Gearing up for Cycletta ride at Whipsnade Zoo

EXCITEMENT is building among the Cycletta ladies as the big event approaches, and I have been getting as much peddling practice in as possible before Sunday, writes Connie Primmer.

Along with our video reporter Natalee Hazelwood, I spent Saturday tackling part of the 40km route.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring the map and we had to rely on my notoriously poor sense of direction, which actually seemed to be fairly successful until we started seeing fellow female riders whizzing past us in the opposite direction and realised we’d somehow managed to do the route in reverse.

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Hopefully this won’t be an issue on the day as there will be signposts, race marshals and a very large crowd to guide us.

I’m also grateful for the mechanical teams en-route as during our trial run I had a few technical issues.

Upon my arrival at Bison Hill I realised I had no idea how to reattach the front wheel of my bike that I’d removed for the car journey, and after 15 minutes of fiddling around and frustrated phone calls to dads and boyfriends, all to no avail, brave Natalee resorted to waking up a cyclist who was napping in his car nearby.

He didn’t look too pleased about having his slumber interrupted but he managed to get the wheel back on so we were very grateful and set off on our journey.

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Apparently Natalee was impressed with my speed at first, calling me ‘the whippet’ – a nickname I’m trying to introduce to a wider audience as it makes me sound speedy and nimble, but it was she who conquered the dreaded Bison Hill – a 21 per cent incline which goes on for just under a mile.

Cycletta promise all sorts of help on the day, from a Mr Motivator style warm-up, to refreshments and a helmet hair remedy centre.

The one I am most looking forward to seeing in action is the ‘sweep vehicle’ which will pick up any cyclists who can’t finish the course.

I’m imagining a big bin lorry ploughing along the roads sweeping crippled and exhausted cyclists into the back of the vehicle to deposit them safely back at Whipsnade Zoo for some much needed recovery.

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However, I remain hopeful that it won’t come to that and that we will all finish the course.

Looking forward to seeing all you there, whether you are cycling or just fancy visiting the zoo to say hello and cheer us all on.

Visit www.cycletta.com for more information and cycling tips.