Jul 19 2009
Malmesbury Peloton
Why a Peloton?
I have two young sons and I’m desperately keen to ensure that I can keep pace with them as they grow up.
Until the boys appeared on the scene I used to do a lot of windsurfing, surfing and kayaking - but as most parents will know, when the kids are quite young, it’s not easy to escape to the coast for a couple days on a frequent basis, especially as the ideal weather for my watersports wasn’t conducive to building sandcastles and avoiding hypothermia. So I’ve happily put those acivities on hold… for a while. But I know that in a few years time the boys will be big enough to introduce my watersports to, as well as kitesurfing (as they’re always drawn to these huge kites on the beaches) - all I need to make sure is that I’m fit enough to help them learn.
The Idea
I know how difficult it is to juggle any exercise regime with a busy family… and know that the ‘great exercise plan’ is often the first compromise to be made during that juggling process. So I started to wonder whether there were many other parents in Malmesbury in a similar situation… and if there were, then perhaps I could organise something to create a regular exercise regime.
…and, I thought that the easiest way to start would be a fortnightly bike ride around Malmesbury - it’d be muddy, you’d work up a sweat, but it wasn’t too technical.
I knew that quite a few people had road bikes… so a chaingang out around Malmesbury might also work as an alternative.
The rides
Now we’re going out most Sunday mornings. During the winter and on wet sumer days it’s mountain bikes, but if the roads are dry then it’s hybrids and race bikes for a faster run out.
I’ll get some of the routes onto Bikely soon, but we’re normally out for 60-90 minutes - by the way, we try to get out at 08.00 in the mornings.
We’ve done a run out to Chepstow and are planning this summer’s “long run” - and try to get together for a ’social’ every few months, not to mention the Christmas ‘do’.
That was history. . .
We’ve now been going since November 2002 - we’ve got fitter, we’ve been joined by new riders and we continue to attract attention. . .
The Malmesbury Peloton is getting to be very well known.
If you’re interested in knowing more about The Malmesbury Peloton give us a shout.