Yesterday was an ace day. That’s because it involved my first independent trip to the Forest of Dean to meet some lovely Bristol Bikellas ladies. I hadn’t taken my bike anywhere by myself before, without my husband and his van! It may sound like a small achievement, but I was really pleased to be able to head off and go for a ride without depending on him. And he was pleased too, as it meant he could work on a Saturday without feeling guilty. We’ll still do plenty of riding together, but I’m happy to head off without him now too.

I rode the Verderers and the Freeminers with my new riding buddies yesterday and had a really good ride. I still seem to be slow on the uphills, but better going down afterwards. I think I need to work on strength as well as my cardio-vascular fitness to make it up quicker. I’ve started going to a Body Pump class for the strength element and CV is hopefully going to come from more and more riding.

While we’re on the subject of the Forest of Dean, make sure you pick up a copy of issue two of Women’s Cycling magazine to read my article about why I love it there so much!