Summer's here (TT column 30.06.13)

Summer has arrived and no I'm not referring to the weather; right now the list of gripping international sporting events are endless. We have had the glamour of Royal Ascot which saw the Queen receive her first ever winners trophy at that meeting, the smile on the monarchs face said it all. It was then straight over to SW19 where Wimbledon got underway, the hopes of the nation may still be on Andy Murray but there is some exciting new home talent shining through in the form of the young Laura Robson. To fill the gap on the Sunday away from the grass courts there was the strategically placed British Grandprix providing plenty of excitement from the Silverstone track, just not quite a British podium finish. It doesn't end yet, yes you could be forgiven for missing it in this frenzy of sport but there was action on a different version of a track up in Birmingham where our athletes were in impressive form. It was the Diamond League meeting and again golden boy Mo Farah did not disappoint as he cruised to victory.

The list doesn't even end there or on our British shores. The largest competition in the annual cycling Calender had an eventful start, over in Europe the opening day of the Tour De France saw its fair share of crashes and even an incident with a bus when it became stuck on the finish line. Further afield in the Southern Hemisphere it is all about the rugby where the result is currently one victory a piece for our British Lions against the Aussies.

I won't deny I have been incredibly envious of any spectators at any of these events, however I have managed to console myself thanks to the brilliant television coverage. The only problem is that I've been brought up to make the most of outdoors, for me doing sport still beats watching it.

Cycling crazy (TT column 24.06.13)

When you or a close friend or family buy a different make of car it suddenly seems they are more commonly around, obviously this isn't so, you are just more aware of that type of vehicle - I liken my increase in awareness of cycle events to this theory. Over the last few weeks I have been aware of races, open days, sportive events and general cycle route promotions in all parts of the country.
In just this past week the southwest has had cycle related events in abundance. Unfortunately I wasn't there to join in with Wednesdays activities but thanks to fellow a Olympic Modern Pentathlete my Mountain bike did make an appearance alongside our most famous cycling Olympian Sir Chris Hoy as he stopped in Bath on his promotional tour.
Our local club Tavistock wheelers have been busy; during the week they held time trial events before hosting a women's Breeze event on Saturday. As a natural competitor I am keen to attempt a time trial but must admit I am a little intimidated, so far for me cycling has been purely social, I am not sure my cycling skills are developed enough for an actual race. The Breeze event was a perfect opportunity for women less confident on a bicycle, again I wasn't able to attend but my mountain bike did, this time my mother ventured out on it.
Suffering from major withdrawal symptoms after my big nine day challenge i didn't survive long off my bicycle, just one day later I was out for a four hour ride. I had a good excuse to cycle as I was car-less for a few days and with the sun shining cycling was the perfect mode of transport.
I topped up my mileage significantly over the weekend when partaking in "BikeBath", another participation event. Long before my John O'Groates to Lands End ride I was caught at a weak moment and agreed to help promote this event, part of which included joining in. Unable to do things by half I considered the only option for me was the "gladiator", a hundred miles both days - I forgot this was going to be only five days after cycling one thousand miles. I had started to think this was maybe a little ambitious and my friends certainly thought I'd "lost it", but it turned out to be just what I needed. Despite the weather not playing ball I found both rides thoroughly enjoyable; there were several pit stops, wonderful routes and a good mix of people.
Bath is often thought of as having taxing hills but being brought up on Dartmoor I can assure you they are best described as mounds in comparison. My double one hundred might sound taxing but knowing the climbs our area has to offer it is hats off to all who completed the arduous Dartmoor Classic on Sunday.
My rehabilitation process back into the real world is continuing, after last night I might need to focus a little harder. Lycra in the cycling community is the norm, I am not sure this quite stretches to a bar or restaurant, I did however push this rule slightly. Stopping for a social drink on the way home that then lead on to food it was easy to forget how bizarre my appearance might seem to fellow diners, I think it is time exchange my cleat shoes for a pair of heals.

It's all over (TT column 17.06.13)

I can not believe it's over, I have cycled 982 miles from John O'Groates to Lands End. It's already difficult to remember the finish let alone the nine days earlier when we apprehensively arrived at our first base camp in the north of Scotland. It has turned out to be a trip of a lifetime, I never expected to enjoy any of it and all I could hope for was reaching Lands End in one piece, after day one I soon realised it was all going to end far too soon.

I've spent months at a time travelling in developing countries and endless trips abroad for competitions but even then I still seem to have a pretty clear idea of what is happening in the world and with my friends and family; so it is difficult to explain but I don't think I have ever been so far detached from the "real" world as I was on this event. The lack of phone reception along our remote routes did add to this but it was basically due to the bubble that was created. We had a fairly strict routine which involved a 5am wake up call with a motivational song; I am not sure I shared the sense of humour when "I want to ride my bicycle" was blasted out over the speakers. It was then head down to eat enough breakfast to fuel for the ride ahead, pack up the tent, dress into the appropriate layers of lycra, fill my pockets with any provisions needed and collect my bike before meeting my team on the start line. Each pit stop plus the evening involved a routine and although we would usually arrive by late afternoon the time flew, admittedly a lot of this was spent either eating or reminiscing on our ride so far. I need to now dramatically reduce my food consumption but think I'll continue to reminisce for a while longer.

Panic time (TT column 09.06.13)

I have always been guilty being a last minute type of girl, whether it was revising for exams, writing to meet deadlines or leaving my house to reach somewhere. In the past this system has worked for me, unfortunately I am not so sure it carries over to cycle training. After having four days out of the country I missed valuable preparation time for my big cycle ride. My whole cycling affair has been last minute but this time not out of choice as I only signed up to cycle from John O'Groates to Landsend at the end of April. I had promised myself to do at least one ride taking me into the triple digits and possibly even a ride from Bath to home, worryingly neither happened. On returning from Russia I crammed in two decent rides which probably only succeeded in making me feel slightly reassured mentally but with no effect physically at this late stage. Luckily however it did show up a mechanical problem that resulted in my back wheel being rebuilt before sending my bike on its journey to the north of Scotland where I joined it on Friday.

All preparation or lack of it has now been forgotten, the challenge has begun. I am currently working my way down through Scotland where we have been spoilt with the most magnificent weather and stunning views. The combination of a breathtaking route combined with such varied yet entertaining company has so far distracted me from the incredible discomfort that comes from sitting on a small hard pointed road bike saddle for a hundred odd miles every day. I will be passing through Devon on Saturday and would appreciate any other distractions so please feel free to check out the route and give me a wave whilst I grind my way up our wonderful hills.

   http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/live-event-page/?utm_source=DELOITTE+RAB+RIDERS&utm_campaign=d5ee55f64f-REV_Reg_Interests_Shard_promo2_13_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c03f1e9707-d5ee55f64f-348924601

Russia (TT column 03.06.13)

I always love an adventure, or so I thought. When given the last minute opportunity to "pop" over to Russia for some commentary work I jumped at the chance, that was before I thought about logistics. I was only invited on Tuesday with the broadcast company hoping to have me at the event by Friday.
For most European countries this should be straight forward, however Russia certainly doesn't come under that label. It just happened that I had a trip to London anyway so with a letter from the Russian hotel I headed to the visa office. After the warnings I'd received I was prepared to be waiting all day so was pleasantly surprised when my application was submitted promptly.
The next problem was the collection of my acquired visa as it would not be ready until the end of the following day. I decided to risk things, I headed home for a day before travelling up to London the night before planning to pick it up first thing on the way to Heathrow. I hadn't bargained on several other people having the same idea, my stomach sank when reaching the visa office twenty minutes before it opened to find a queue down the street. Thankfully for Russian efficiency I was back on the road running across the city to make my flight.
It seemed things were on my side, my flight was delayed. This moment of relief didn't last long as I soon discovered that i had no ticket for my connecting flight which even if I did there was no way of making on time. Not sure how logical a decision it was but I boarded my flight to Moscow, on arrival after many phone calls a second ticket was issued however apparently there were no more flights to my destination of Nizhny Novgorod for two days. It turned out that if I made the train, metro, then train journey across Moscow with my luggage I might catch the final flight that night from a different airport. The adventure didn't end there but thankfully my journey did

Reproduction (TT column 28.05.13)

I always knew that the May is a sensible month for animals to be born, on the whole the weather is improving, the daylight hours are long and there is plenty of nutrition in the land.  I have started to think that we as humans must feel the same - or otherwise there is really not much else going on in August - as this month has been full of births or thirtieth birthday parties.
There must be a lot of bonuses to having a birthday now but I had forgotten the inconvenience of turning eighteen or maybe twenty one for many of my friends, May is slap bang in the middle of exams. I remember always procrastinating over my revision as I would do anything to be outdoors during the day light hours, at this time of year that doesn't leave much time for studying. It is a recent deadline I've had myself that reminded me of the stresses of exams. As an athlete I am not used to having deadlines as such so the last couple of weeks having to spend all my daylight hours indoors has been a challenge. This was all in aid of a radio Devon documentary I have been producing, you not might not have heard that I was a trained producer, that would be because I am far from it. This experience has been a steep learning curve and I am now waiting to hear if it is anything along the lines of what the editor was hoping for, if you hear my voice on the radio sometime in the near future then you know I have succeeded.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com Heather Fell

Cake (TT column 20.05.13)

Chocolate, ginger, fruit, lemon, coffee and carrot; I have recently sampled them all in abundance, in the form of cake. I've been brought up on the stuff - no that sounds a little extreme - i mean I've been brought up in a house that always has a home made cake "on the go". Some might say the Brits' are known for drinking tea, the Fells' however are known for eating cake. Growing up not even liking tea i didn't have much choice, although thankfully I was also encouraged to do plenty of sport.
This weekend I managed to combine the two perfectly, whilst also raising money for charity by hosting the coffee break for the Tavistock Wheelers Sunday morning ride. I do still have a challenge; in just over two weeks time I need to have raised several more pounds but also be fit enough to cycle one hundred and six miles a day for nine days straight. Cake might be the solution for the financial aspect but I think I might need to refrain from joining in on the sampling as instead of fuelling me up the hills it could well end up weighing me down.
I was amazed at how much a bit of cake can make for charity but it is not a touch on football it seems. I was honoured to be asked to present the highly competitive Sonrise cup to the winning team of Tavistock Tyres. That was just the finale of a huge fundraising effort for the local charity, it is just a shame I wasn't brought up on football.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com Heather Fell