Lock Down Antics...

Not surprisingly It took a few days after packing up the Fiat and driving back to the UK for me to settle back at home, I felt pretty drained, having had so many mixed feelings and emotions running round my head, at this stage the UK had yet to be locked down, but it wasn’t long before I wanted to get some routine back into my days, and fill what felt like a huge amount of free time! I hope sharing some of my lockdown antics may inspire you to give a few things a try.

Having 2 younger Brothers there’s always schoolwork going on in the house. UK schools closed the week after I got home, and suddenly I found myself promoted to the role of Home School Teacher!! Luckily having done most of the same subjects at GCSE & Sixth form I had some hope of being up to the job, as you can imagine my Brothers were thrilled One of the upsides was getting my art equipment back out to be used on GCSE artwork, I quickly remembered that having a drawing or a painting on the go is a great way to loose yourself for a few hours.

During my short stay in Belgium, I’d enjoyed cooking, I’d begun to learn more about Vegetarian & Vegan food from my Teammates. Emily & Kerry had introduced me to the wonders of Tofu, Ellen shared her fab oat pancake recipe with me, and Antonia and I mastered the art of potato wedges…… what can I say, they’re a great source of Vitamin D!

I decided to continue cooking new recipes at home, my Parents are still going to work so knew it would help them, however, I’m yet to convince the boys about Tofu! I’ve also done a lot of baking, as you can imagine Chocolate Brownies and biscuits were high on the request list! I got them out of the way so I could focus on trying some healthy energy foods, experimenting making things for pre, during and post rides. My Grandparents and elderly Aunt have enjoyed deliveries of homemade biscuits along with essential groceries and a chat whilst standing at the top of their drives. There are so many recipes available but making them palatable for a family of 5 isn’t always straightforward, next time I’ll share some of my more successful efforts with you, until then, here are some Brownies….

Another thing I’d started to enjoy before and during Belgium is Yoga. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a real beginner but It’s pretty addictive! It’s been a great way to help focus my mind and find some calm during such uncertain times. There are loads of tutorials available online for beginners, I already had a yoga mat, but for anyone feeling they’d like to have a go a folded-up blanket or towel is a great substitute.

I’ve made the decision after a couple of solo rides on the road to do the majority of my training indoors for now, whilst riding solo is still allowed within the social distancing guidelines, emotions in the community are running high, so to avoid getting anymore grief it’s the right thing for me for now. However, I may head out on the road at the weekend if its nice weather and were still allowed, I figure if I get out early, I’ll miss most people!

In my first Blog Post I mentioned the Cycling Weekly 5000 challenge, it’s something that a lot of cyclists are doing, I said I’d give you more info on that…..

The Cycling Weekly Magazine have launched an initiative to get more of us onto our bikes, and to complete 5000 miles of cycling during 2020, whatever level of rider you are. Obviously, no one could foresee what was going to happen with the corona virus, but perhaps now more than ever doing some exercise is important for both physical and mental health. Not everyone will have an indoor turbo, or a set of rollers, but I’ve seen some ingenious ways of making some at home from things around the house, must be worth a google! So, you simply sign up at Cycling Weekly, it’s free, you then complete 5000 miles over the course of the year, and voila! Cycling Weekly will send monthly challenges, and provide inspiration to help you keep going, there’s a Facebook page, e-newsletters and for everyone that completes the challenge there’s a Certificate & Medal available from the CW5000 shop.

I hope I’ve inspired you to dust off your paint brushes, or to get back into baking, and hopefully to join me and tons of others with the CW5000 challenge, it’s not too late….

Till next time

Mily :)