Bee Gregorie, Cycling Coach.

We are 50 strong!
Over the last 5 weeks, the annual KVG 50 mile Development Plan has been taking place - whereby members build up their fitness by gradually increasing the distance on their rides, starting at 25 miles and culminating with a 50 mile ride.
This week, over *FIFTY* Kent Velo Girls have completed a ride of at least 50 miles. An amazing achievement considering we cannot run Club rides at the moment!
We are blown away by the commitment our members to have to riding, regardless of the circumstances and so excited about the imminent re-start of Club rides.
Well done everyone! There is a little gift waiting for every KVG and KVB who has completed this challenge 🎁

BGCC Christmas Party! wishing all my lovely clients a Happy Christmas 😊

Today is the 300th consecutive day that I have walked at least 5k. Most days it has been a thoroughly pleasant experience. A few days I have really had to drag myself out, usually because I have been cycling or working all day, and it’s now the evening and I’m tired. Overall it has been such a positive thing to do,65 days to go to complete the year.

KVG as far as the eye can see! Getting ready for day 3 of our stay at home training camp. 6 groups out today riding 40 or 60 miles in the Kent and Surrey countryside.

We had another session with PB Cycle Coaching today. In the wind and the hail! A good time was had by all- honest!

Day 2 of our Staycation Training Camp and we’ve been training with Paul Butler, he wrote some words about us in 2017 Training Camp;

“When you think of a cyclist you might think of Investment Bankers who have given up golf and are now riding three abreast on a Sunday morning blocking your road as you drive to your golf club.

Or do you imagine skinny men in lycra with tanned shaven legs or worse still with stomachs trying to escape from said lycra with white hairy legs?!

Or bearded Rapha clad fixed-wheel types with tattooed calves and sporting what looks like a tiny wooden spear through their eyebrow/nose/lip?!

Whatever you imagine, it is unlikely to be a group of 10 mothers-of-two in their late forties, all kitted out in bright pink, riding in the tightest most organised groups for miles around, communicating superbly with each other and the traffic whilst stylishly combining Giordana’s custom team kit with every pink Rapha accessory available.

Meet the Kent Velo Girls.

To save you time deciphering the cryptic origin of the club’s name, suffice to say, a girl, from Kent, rode a bike. Before founding this fabulous 200-strong ladies-only cycle club, she knew she was a girl because every time she rode with men she was overpowered by the stench of testosterone before she’d even started the ride.

She wanted to ride her bike with other girls, like her, from Kent.

So that it was she did.

Kent hasn’t been the same since.
Yet only last year many of them would have rather been chatting about which Fired Earth bathroom to have installed or the latest Amtico flooring pattern but now their conversations have changed, probably forever, to which Cervelo to get next and whether you’ve seen Rapha’s latest overshoe (in pink of course).

And don’t even let them get started on carbon wheels…….

Long gone are family beach holidays. Unless it’s Mallorca 312.

Cars are now only cars if at least 2 bikes fit in the boot or a bike rack can be installed easily and quickly.

Houses must have a garage, but not for a car of course, unless the bike is still ‘new enough’ to ‘live in the house’.

Children, it turns out, will clean your bike for £5.

They even have their own language: I have heard Steve Cummings be referred to as a ‘CILF’ whatever that is?!

So what do *HABS of KVGs do whilst their better halves are out gaining PRs on Strava, practicing their cornering, trying their first time-trial or road race, smashing it in sportives all over the world or secretly upgrading their chainsets on Wiggle via their i-phone at the school gate? Other equally sexist suggestions for locations for Wiggle shopping on I-phones are available.

They set up The Kent Velo Boys of course!

If you can’t beat them (up a hill – a power to weight issue – client-lunch-induced weight) then join them.

The clue is, once again in the title, although, having had the pleasure of meeting many members of these two wonderfully-well-drilled clubs, I fear that the use of the word ‘boys’ is as optimistic in its use as the word ‘girls’ is.

I was doing so well.

What I love the most about the creation of these two clubs is the unlikeliness of it all, especially a few years ago when they began.

But, isn’t that the point: Triple chainrings, spacers in your handlebar stems, cycling kit for all weathers, wider tyres, 25-mile sportives and peaks/visors on your helmet are all advancements that, whilst laughed at by the ‘hardcore’ have made cycling accessible to all. One thing was still missing until a few years ago though, at least in north Kent anyway.

Until the Kent Velo Girls came along.

Welcome to a new way of life.

Welcome to The Kent Velo Girls.

Welcome to cycling.”

PB http://www.pbcyclecoaching.co.uk/

*(husbands and boyfriends)

The calm after Gareth.

Glorious sunny morning for day 64

Such a beautiful day! Early morning (day 55) and then a lovely sunny ☀️ ride to Fabulous Sunday!

It was sooo foggy this morning for day 53 of the sun ☀️ was really trying to burn through. After 10k with it appeared! ?

It really felt like spring today. Such a joy to be out in the sun. Still going! !

with
・・・
“We are not built to run. We are built to walk.” - Jade Teta
#
When it comes to fat loss, most people like the idea of extremes. They believe doing intense exercise along with a restrictive diet will give them the best results. While this can work in the short term, it can backfire when done in excess or for long periods of time. Our metabolism adapts to the stress we place upon it, and if we put it under too much of a burden, it can push back in the form of sleep issues, fatigue, and increased hunger and cravings. #
And when it comes to pursuing more aggressive body composition changes, a balance of both intense exercise and restorative activity is needed. While most of us have no problem killing it in the gym, we often forgo the easier, more leisurely activity because it does’t feel hardcore enough. But that’s a big mistake. Walking is one of the most overlooked activities you can do to ensure your stress in check and progress keeps humming along at a good pace. #
Intense exercise and dieting are both stressors. When added to an already stressful life, this can keep cortisol elevated, causing the body to revolt, thereby making fat loss more difficult. Adding in lots of slow, leisurely walking will help negate the effects stress and elevated cortisol can have on the body, like fat storage, muscle loss, and sleep disturbances. Walking also increases blood flow to the muscles, which will aid in recovery from intense training. #
While most people are fixated on speeding up their metabolism, what they don’t realize is that in doing so, they also risk speeding up their hunger. So adding more intense exercise isn’t always the best idea, especially if it causes you to eat more. Walking is great because it won’t increase hunger, and it can be a great tool for coping with stress, sadness, anxiety, anger, etc. rather than turning to food. It also improves mental clarity, making us more productive. #
Exercise doesn’t burn that many calories. Rather, it’s our NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis) that accounts for most of our calorie burn, up to 20%. Walking doesn’t burn too many calories, but it sure beats just sitting