Penny and Helen take on tough cycle challenge with industry colleagues, surviving its ups and downs!

Those of us who have climbed Scarfell Pike (978m) will recall that the Lake District has a few lumpy bits! Helen and I experienced the true nature of those “lumps” a few weeks ago on pedElle – the “must-do cycling event for women” in the real estate industry.  When Helen agreed to take part in pedElle in early 2020, we were due to cycle from Vienna to Budapest which has less lumps. Since then, some stuff happened in the world, and we found ourselves camping in the Lake District for the first “home” edition. 

So, Lake District, cycling and camping. What could possibly happen?

Three days of amazing riding, scenery, chat, food, laughter, tears and raising money for Coram is what happened. For anyone who’s not familiar with Coram, it is the UK’s oldest children’s charity which has been supporting vulnerable children for 280 years. Planning Potential were one of the ride sponsors and we had a representative from Coram with us on the ride who explained the work they had been able to undertake as a result of the fundraising from pedElle – thank you to everyone who has individually sponsored us.

I won’t lie, the event was challenging both physically and mentally. When a climb is called “The Struggle” it’s not going to be a walk in the park, even Bradley Wiggins got off his bike on this climb in the Tour of Britain in 2016. Helen came up with a very good description for the profile of this climb, but the editor wouldn’t allow us to include it. These tough moments are where the pedElle magic kicks in, with people supporting each other through chat, humour (and some swearing). Connections are re-established and new connections made.

For me it was the first time I have ever had a colleague join me on a Club Peloton Event, so it was exciting to be able to share the pedElle experience. As a ride Captain, I had to pretend to be responsible (once I had switched the team radio to the correct channel) but, by the third day, people were seeing through my “it flattens out round the corner” and “we’re nearly there” lines.

We were well looked after by Club Peloton, which meant that we could concentrate on the cycling. We were treated to amazing cakes, substantial lunches and we had our own chef back at camp, not to mention the waffle van on the last night. We also had a mechanic, paramedic and two physios to make sure that we all remained in one piece.

Helen:

Highlight: The last evening when we had finished and could finally relax with a beer or two, finding out about all the gossip in the property industry.

Lowlight: Discovering on day one at lunchtime that we had another 75km to do that day to get back to base.

Penny:

Highlight: Helping riders conquer climbs when they had been saying they wanted to get off at the bottom (ok so I told them they weren’t allowed to get off and to keep on pedalling - all heart!)

Lowlight: The bells (should church bells be allowed to chime every 15 mins through the night?)

35 Women, 3 Days, 430km, 6,800m, 1 Team