"I only went in for a £6 Bell"

By Wendy Anne ............

It all started one afternoon during the first lockdown of 2020 …

Well actually, it probably started way before that when I met my hubsband who is an avid cyclist with N+1 bikes and a love of all things cycling related … Or maybe even further back than that when I lived with my great aunt and uncle in Liverpool and would spend Saturdays helping out in Uncle Jim’s bike shop (he made his own bikes and ‘Fothergills’ were well known on the Toxteth Road)… Or may be even before then as I had grown up from a very young age riding bikes and as a teenager experienced a number of years with no family car so everything, literally everything that required transportation was done by bike, including collecting manure for the rhubarb patch much to our embarrassment, as dad would force us to stop on the Red Ways of Milton Keynes to scoop up horse's bodily waste into carrier bags to use as fertilizer back home, surely that should have put me off cycling!

But I digress - back to the more recent May 2020 enforced lockdown when we set off for our daily allocated exercise time on our bikes - me on my trusty Raleigh hybrid of 24 years and hubby on one of his many up to date, fully cleaned, polished and well maintained bikes. Though it was great to see so many people out exercising, the frustrations of trying to get safely by people walking on the bridleway got to us and I suggested popping into the bike shop on the way back to buy a £6 bell. Leaving the local bike shop with pockets lighter by over £1000 instead of £6, I headed home with a beautiful yellow and turquoise Liv Avail road bike and that’s where my love of cycling truly started. Since then we have ventured further and further afield dabbling in some bike touring in Europe, including cycling the Portuguese Camino to Santiago de la Compostela, this year planning to cycle the length of the Outer Hebrides.

But ‘come on’ I hear you cry – ‘this is a virtual group for Zwifters, how did you get into Zwifting?’. Back on December 20th 2021 I decided to join the hubby and start riding indoors as he was proving that by zwifting he could keep his fitness levels up over winter and I was at a distinct disadvantage! For that first year I used his account (being a cheapskate and not wanting to pay the fee until I was sure I’d use it regularly). My first ride was a cautious 8 miles, with very little elevation, around Watopia. I rode on my lonesome and in fact it was a while and having my own account (January 23) before I sought out company, being quite nervous about the whole thing.

My first companion was not even real, but instead Bernie the Pace partner and then 5 days later I took the plunge and joined my first official group ride with …guess who…ZZRC ladies night out 1.5! You’ll now find it hard to believe but I kept myself hidden and didn’t comment on the chat. Over time I tried out a number of groups and have really enjoyed riding with many of them, however in the past year have found myself coming back time and time again to ZZRC rides, partly due to the fact their schedule ride times fit in well with my work schedule but mainly due to the fact that everyone is so supportive, encouraging and friendly.

The ethos of ZZRC ‘we pace not race’ makes their rides accessible to all with the crew working hard on every ride to make everyone welcome, keeping the banter light and friendly as well as encouraging. From riding small distances of 8 miles on a turbo to buying the Zwift bike this year (all the gear and hopefully some idea now) my goal for this year may seem small to many, but comfortably challenges me in the busyness of life, set at 2700 miles. And to top it all I’ve now been given the privilege of ‘buddying’ on rides as part of the fabulous ZZRC crew. I’ve got a lot to learn in this new role and it’s early days, but isn’t that what life’s about – getting outside our comfort zones, learning new things and what better way to do that than by being a support to others joining Zwift and ZZRC group rides.