Hello!!! Wendy here.
My head is always full of thoughts. They rattle and spin around, just like the chain of my bicycle.
In 2017, I started delivering food by bike. A rather random choice in the search for a part-time job, which inadvertently led to a very big part of my life now being about cycling. I have worked as a bike messenger ever since, and since 2021 I also cycle in my spare time.
During these rides, I soon discovered that I would rather cycle as long as possible, than as fast as possible. As a result I kept going further and further. Six months after I started, I had ridden my first 300km ride. With some intervals - mainly due to studies - I continued to make similar trips every now and then, and developed a passion for the self-reflection process it entailed.
In 2024 it was time for my first ultra-race, and that surely left me eager to try and do more. Cycling, both during work and in my spare time, brings me closer to myself. I love sharing my thoughts on this, and connecting with like-minded people over them. I greatly appreciate you reading along!
As some of you know or have seen by now, I've been pretty absent and off the bike due to Long Covid. It's almost been three months now since I was actually sick, and it's been a pretty crazy experience. That I'm actually able to write this piece of text now means I'm doing much better. Writing or thinking constructively for an extended amount of time has been one of the most difficult things in these past three months.
βWas it shit? Yes.Was it also a lot of fun? YES. β¬οΈπ
ODCMC'24, also known as the Open Dutch Cycling Messenger Championships, 2024.
24hour-race (alleycat) π β And a life lesson in dealing with fatigue.
The biggest question LPL left me with was: "What difference would it make if I pulled an all-nighter on the first day of a race?" Mostly because there's probably a big mental advantage to it. Next to that, all the all-nighters I have done so far were always at a later point in the race, and therefore probably less efficient. So, time for a test under different circumstances!
By the end of my summer holidays in Switzerland, I suddenly realised I didnβt have that much time left to prepare for LPL. I decided to go for a long ride on my last day in ZΓΌrich, and would on the road make some decisions about what my approach was going to be.
First and final test-run for LPL. Literally nothing to complain about. This is absolutely the best I have ever been, and I still have enough energy left to dance in the kitchen while making my food. Which I'm going to continue doing now ππ»β¨οΈ
Decided to do part of the route I 'skipped' when taking the train from Bern to ZΓΌrich, because I was still a little bummed I didnβt get to see the area. It did absolutely not disappoint!!
Welcome to cycling in Swissneyland π
Even though I would not have started this 'challenge' if I didn't think I could do it, I managed to get myself pretty nervous about it. A summary of the thoughts going through my head: "What makes me think I can do this? This is difficult for people on their lightweight racing bikes. Why do I - someone who possesses no exceptional talents or strengths for sports - think I can do it on a bike that makes it significantly harder?"
Because you need a shit ton of courage to climb up there with a cargobike in the dark.
Yay! Social events that last multiple days! ECMC was a blast, but even with booking an appartement separate from the event-housing, I only got about 60% of the sleep I actually needed. That meant today was going to be a challenge.
Luckily I was able to cycle for more than 2 hours without breaks again, so the worst of whatever ailed me seemed to have passed.
It seems like I have caught a small virus that's messing with my lungs π
The main thing that made this day difficult, was me thinking it was going to be easy.
Relatively speaking, this day would qualify as a calm day. I was, however, completely worn out by a 'cateringspiraal' between 10:00 and 12:00 π
Cycling as a necessity?
I told myself I could get my bike tattooed if I finished RatN on it, the rest is history.Drawing and tattoo done byΒ @poppietattoosΒ π
Red light.
I wanted to cycle the last part of RatN again, because I was still struggling with how to 'frame' the way I treated myself during mostly the last day of the race.
In the winter of last year, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge into the ultra-cycling world. As doing long-distance rides had become a passion of mine, I felt like it was now time to take the βnext stepβ and signed up for RatN. Even though doing an ultra for the first time is already challenging enough, I was also immediately 100% determined it had to be done on my heavyweight cargobike.
- "An ultra, with that bike? Are you sure?"- "Yes, I'm sure."
Weather-wise, days like these are mentally the trickiest. At least, they are for me.
Last long ride before RatN!! And I honestly couldn't be happier with how things are going. Me writing about that is something for tomorrow, though ππΌ γγγ
If a thought that comes to mind is: "Why on earth would you do something like that on a bike like this?" Well, you're not the first one to think it. Plenty of people have asked me this question up until now, which has actually been a nice thing. It has given me the opportunity to put words to a decision that was - initially - solely based on a gut feeling.
Had to make the last hour (relatively) the fastest in order to keep myself awake π Off to bed π γγγ
This day didn't start off very promising. It would be a grey and rainy day; one of those days you just have to get through and then usually forget about as soon as you drink a beer with colleagues, or you've taken your warm shower at home.
Overall a great day. Saw some nice places and finally did the southern municipalities in 'Zeeland'. They weren't anywhere near as horribly boring as I expected them to be!!
Preps don't prep themselves, so no matter what the circumstances, today was a day meant for cycling. (Or something.) No legs + the weather was absolutely horrendous 50% of the time. Cold wind and hailstorms.
A broken chain and a nightly encounter with a wolf in the forest. Fuckety fuck.
'First long distance training on the new bike' or just 'A fucking long testride'. Not sure what to call it, but this ride sure was long and brought up a lot of things.
Gravel for breakfast and lunch, tarmac and pizza for dinner ππΌβ¨οΈNot fully recovered from last week's cold/flu/covid/keeltyfus yet, so promised myself I would leave the route and go home when I would start to feel tired. Yesterday this was at 60kms, today it was at 145. All good things I'd say!! Big month coming up and I'm HYPED πππγ
With RatN coming up, I knew I would eventually have to devote complete weekends to cycling. So I decided February was for the other stuff I like to do on weekends; drinking a few beers, going to some parties, and, well, whatever the hell else you do when you're young and have the time to fool around π
Yes, you may accuse me of favouritism, because the woman I'm about to tell you about is one of my favourite weekly conversations. And we've never even spoken a full sentence to each other.
But I'll explain that tomorrow. Hoarding food as we speak. γγγ
Wauw, wauw, (w)auw.Absolute best ride so far. I'll post the rest of the pictures and a little story later. Very much in need of a shower and some sleep first. γγγ
If I were to appoint two main themes to describe this working day, I would pick 'temperature' and 'diversity'.
In general I would say I am a rather cheerful person. Especially when I'm working, I'm full of energy and make sure I have a smile on my face when people open their doors. Sometimes, unfortunately, that smile turns out to be an unfitting gesture.
It's been a day. A pretty hard day, to be honest. I've worked for 13 hours, and I'm way too tired to write, but I'm going to try anyway.
When I was born, they named me Wendy. And they still call me that.
While the name is a constant, the person ‘Wendy’ is not. That person is always learning and changing, running (or cycling) into walls, while being presented with opportunities to improve themself in the process. I like going through that process, and I like to actively seek it out while cycling. This can be during a challenging long ride, but also during work. In both cases, I find myself in all kinds of different states in all kinds of different situations, so there's always a lot to see and to learn.
Self-reflection on the bike, in all shapes and sizes. I guess that's what it comes down to. If you (m/w)ildly recognise any of this, or if there are other thoughts you'd like to share, click the sun!
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