As she approached middle age, Marcia discovered a love for getting on her bike and riding a long way. In fact, when things got tough cycling regularly saved her sanity.
In 2020 she had her sights on riding the Race around the Netherlands, but Covid put an end to that, at least for that year.
But feeling the fittest she had ever been, and not wanting to waste a winter of hard training she cooked up a domestic adventure instead, and because the first woman to have attempted cycling the 1,725 miles from Lands End to John o’Groats and back!
By completing this long distance challenge, Marcia raise £'000's for her local branch of mental health charity MIND and bagged herself a Guinness World Record!
Learn all about Marcia, her passion for cycling and what she’s learned from taking on this challenge.
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Show notes
Who is Marcia Roberts
Working a full time job in IT
Discovering her love of riding bikes
Encouraging other people to ride their bikes
Getting into cycling 10/12 years ago
Going through a divorce in 2000
Moving to Hampshire
Looking for a new challenge
Having time to herself
Entering a charity challenge to ride across Vietnam
Avoiding the hills!
9 months to train and get ready
Wanting to do a bigger challenge
Lessons from Vietnam
Cycling over to the Alps
Dealing with “bonking”
Wanting to do a challenge in the UK
Managing her cycling while working full time
Cycling around main coast Britain
Breaking down big trips into smaller chunks
Loving the simplicity of cycling
Setting up a local women’s riding group
The planning and preparation for cycling LEJOG (there and back)
Going back to March 2020
Breaking it down into blocks…. 4 hrs, 3hrs, 3.5 hrs
Planning on 12 days…
Looking for a Guinness World Record
Support crew, nutrition and meeting points
Dealing with the wet, windy and stormy weather!
Behind schedule all the time
Being stubborn and setting her mind to the challenge
Mental resilience and determination and not stopping
Tricks to stay awake
Sleeping
The bike setup for cycling LEJOG
Figuring out nutrition and being able to eat
Magical moments
Adventure blues and having a foolproof plan to avoid it
Dealing with lockdown and feeling very low
The evidence needed for a Guinness World Record
Blogging and sharing content online especially around problems and how she overcame them
“Why you can do incredible things, if you just put your mind to it”
Final words of advice for middle aged women
Find a friend who you can go cycling with
Don’t focus on speed or millage - just get on your bike
Social Media
Instagram: @Mawonavelo
Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/marcia-roberts to donate.
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