Learning to Tri as an adult: Cycling - Rute & Lorraine's stories

The third of our "Learning to Tri as an adult" series - and next we have two more inspiring stories from Rute and Lorraine who learnt to cycle as adults.

Rute's Journey: My Bicycle and I: A Love-Hate Story

My lifelong feud with the bicycle began when my cousins attempted to teach me how to ride one, an effort that ended in a rather "unsavoury fall" and my immediate, strategic surrender. The two-wheeled menace had won the first battle, and I wouldn't touch a bike again for another decade.

At university, my friends were making a short movie and asked me have a cameo in it. The scene involved cycling a beautiful vintage bike into the shot. I had to regrettably inform them that my skill set did not, in fact, include "cycling". After some deliberation, they rewrote the script so I would just walk the bike into the scene. Meanwhile, a patient friend taught me to ride in a straight line in our study breaks, a secret mission to conquer my nemesis.

On one holiday, my fear forced me to rent a tricycle while my friend effortlessly cruised on a bike. In my head, I was the star of my own version of Easy Rider. In reality, I have yet to see a sport that includes a tricycle category, which is a real shame.

Years later, seeing my daughter (who at the time was only 8) swimming prowess in the Olympic pool inspired to go out of my comfort zone and run my first marathon in 2022 and in the process, I entered a series of half marathons. Within a year, I was comfortable with long-distance running and I knew I needed a new, terrifying goal to keep things interesting. That’s when I saw it: an advert from the local council for free adult cycling lessons. It was a trap, but I was ready.

I would show up to my lessons in full battle armour: knee and elbow pads. My main goal was not falling and ruining my running event schedule. I recall my anxiety manifesting itself through the butterflies I had in my stomach and the tingle on the edge of my fingers. My greatest achievement was keeping my feet off the floor for "double digits of seconds". My primary fear was not the cycling itself, but the vision of my teeth making a sudden, dramatic exit from my mouth and having broken bones. I also had a healthy fear of cycling on London roads, where there isn’t much love lost for cyclists.

The moment I felt a flicker of confidence, I did what any rational person would do: I signed up for the London Duathlon and Challenge London, my first-ever triathlon on the exact same day. I dread to imagine what else I’d sign up to if I had more than a flicker of confidence! I was comfortable with a pool swim, but open water was a different thing altogether.

This grand plan involved an open water swim, which was a terrifying new frontier, but my mindset has always been that I am the biggest barrier to my own accomplishments. To avoid a full-blown "freak out" on event day, a friend agreed to watch me while I went to a lake for an induction – just in case this small lake had any “sweet water sharks” and ate me. Spoiler alert: I didn’t love the experience, but I was too stubborn to back out.

I loved the training I put in with different people who’d volunteered at various times to practice a few routes with me. There was no better feeling than turning up on event day knowing that I was prepared. I was no pro-athlete, but I had quite a few hours training under my belt, and my main concern which was whether it’d rain on event day didn’t materialise. At least I had the experience of cycling under adverse conditions.

I finished that first triathlon, and I’m pretty sure I had a permanent smile plastered on my face for a week. Today, I have strategies. I use Google Street View to conduct reccies on my routes like a cycling spy. I've had a bike fit, which helped with my fear of falling, and I've learned to engage my core. I also repeat mantras from seasoned athletes, such as "purposefully smile as a strategy to relax and work through pain" which for me looks more like a grimace.

Since that first triathlon, I have participated in other triathlons such as London T100 and I even conquered the Etape Loch Ness, a cycling sportive with a monstrous 4.8 mile (7.72 km) climb with a height gain of 380m and a gradient that reaches 12% at its steepest points. Knowing I did that on my own fills me with pride and I feel encouraged to continue pushing my limits and increasing the distances and intensity of events I participate in.

My advice to other nervous cyclists is this: find a local scheme, recruit a patient cycling buddy, and join a group so you can feel the reassurance and learn from the group. Set a goal that is both achievable within your abilities and a reasonable timeframe. And remember to enjoy the ride even if it’s through a forced, painful smile.

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Lorraine's Story: From busy working mum to challenge thrill seeker

I have been cycling all of my life but since moving to London over 40 years ago I was cycling less as I hated the London roads and didn’t want to leave my bike anywhere for fear of it being stolen.

In Covid I really enjoyed a cycle into Central London to witness the closed shops and deserted streets, the silence in the city and the idea that this could be a once in a lifetime experience.

I have been a runner for the last 9 years and after running the London Marathon 5 times and many Ultra marathons, doing a Duathlon seemed the next step in my journey.

I booked Richmond Park Duathlon last year but very close to the date it got cancelled which was so disappointing as my husband had bought me a new Gravel Bike especially to use and train on and to ride on the big day.

This now felt like the right time to get swimming lessons for front crawl and move into the scary world of Triathlons. The world was leading me on to pastures new.

My main fear was riding on the London roads, as I mentioned above, but my husband, being a competent cyclist was trying to encourage me to get cleats on my pedals as I would look and be, more “professional”.

I have drawn the line up to now, as I am an older lady and I have no desire to fall off sideways at a road junction or traffic lights when I have to struggle to “de-clip”.

My bones wouldn’t take it even though I know it would make my life easier in the long run.

But, never say never is my newest mantra so maybe one day I will be brave enough to try cleats but only in the winter when I can wear loads of extra padded layers for protection and be somewhere off the main roads to practise.

I do love a cycle on the canal towpaths, coastal paths and anywhere off the roads on smooth surfaces. Pot holes and lumps and bumps give me too much stress, so basically, I suppose, my biggest fear is falling off and this, in turn, ruining my running abilities too if I break a bone or two.

Trying to master the change in riding position as I was having to reach quite a way forward to reach the dropped handle bars of my new yellow gravel bike, was very challenging.

Also pulling the brakes vertically now rather than horizontally on my mountain bike I had ridden for many years. I felt like my hands weren’t strong or big enough to brake effectively and was worried about rolling out of junctions in front of traffic or just not being able to do an emergency stop if required.

Also, my husband had fitted a small bell near the central post on the handle bars (essential when riding on the towpaths) which also concerned me as I had to literally remove a hand from the handle bar to ring it, which made me feel unstable.

All of these things were quickly and efficiently sorted for me at my fabulous local bike shop.

They moved my seat forward a little on the post so I wasn’t reaching so far, yes that is very easy to do apparently.

They did an adjustment to the angle of the brake levers which made it easier to pull them and the thing I was most excited about was that they moved my bell to the curve of my handle bar so I could just ping it as many times as I wanted with just my little finger while keeping my hand safely on the bars for stability.

Now I probably annoy the towpath users with my frequent pinging of my bell but at least they know I am approaching them from behind and can move safely to the side, (unless of course, they are wearing headphones in which case they don’t hear a thing!)

Getting familiar with my yellow bike has made me much more confident to ride even on London roads.

Recently I came home from a 25mile bike ride and felt like I had finally become at one with my bike.

We seem to start to work well together, getting familiar with the gear changes and on June 1st I completed my first Sprint Triathlon in Henley.

This involved a 25km bike ride which was twice round a country road route, not too busy but still having to be aware of the occasional car passing by as it was a Sunday morning when people were just heading out for the day. There were potholes but the organisers had thoughtfully sprayed white rings around them for easy visibility and a few steep hills which I have to mention, as they were challenging both up and down.

I managed to come first in my age category that day, supported by one of my daughters and 2 of my friends who yelled encouragement and who were my paparazzi and for my first ever triathlon I was so proud of myself. In fact, I was the oldest female on the course that day and (shhh, don’t tell anyone, the ONLY lady in my age category so I won a second medal that day for being first!!!)

This gave me so much confidence in my abilities, not only winning but being the oldest female at 66 years old, pushing boundaries and getting myself out there giving it a go.

I also put my new found swimming front crawl into practise as I swam 400m in the pool that day and finished with a run of 5k on the grass field, which wasn’t so much fun, even though running was my best discipline.

Surprisingly the cycle was my most favourite part of the Triathlon.

One tip I would give is to practise drinking from the bottle while on the move and getting it back into the cage without looking down.

Oh, and another, wear your socks the day before so they have stretched to get them on wet feet more easily and use a shoe horn to slip your trainers on more efficiently. ( I didn’t read anywhere that this was not allowed but maybe check to be sure?)

Have everything laid out ready in order of use in transition, remembering helmet on before touching the bike in transition 1, and helmet off after racking the bike in transition 2, an easy mistake to make which, I understand, could cause disqualification.

My advice to other women would be to practise cycling in areas where there isn’t too much traffic, road junctions and distractions.

These areas are difficult to find when you live in the cities but large parks are a good place to start.

Make sure you have an easily accessible bell attached to your bike and a water bottle cage along with a strong lock if you plan to leave your bike somewhere for a while.

I prefer circular routes so I never have to leave my bike locked up, unless I need to pop into a loo somewhere.

Brightly coloured clothes and a snug fitting helmet goes without saying.

Cycling gloves to save your hands and padded leggings/shorts to save your under regions, especially when starting out until those important bits get used to the saddle!

I believe it is possible to get saddles specifically for ladies and there are even places where you can be fitted for saddles too if you look around on the internet.

You might be a little wobbly at first but after some perseverance you too can become at one with your bike with a few tweaks, to make it just right for your needs.

I wish you good luck with your journey and remember to enjoy your surroundings and getting out in nature is the best tonic of all for any kind of life issues you may be experiencing.

You might also end up like me, with 2 medals on your first triathlon.

This has boosted my confidence no end which was well needed after starting my retired life, finding myself not working or being in an office environment with younger influences has been one of my more difficult transitions.

Next up for me will be a triathlon with an open water swim instead of a pool swim. Now that’s a BIG step for me but I think it’s not too far off. Wish me luck!

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Whether it’s your first 5K or your first triathlon, Women in Tri UK is here to support you every step, stroke, and pedal of the way. Inspired by Tiff and Annie's stories? Why not set your own challenge this year—and see just how far you can go? Join our community here.