My Favourite ride: Sara Penton

I don’t have a special favourite route to ride, more like a favourite way of riding. I enjoy good company, nice roads, no stress and maybe even a ferry trip included. This ride I want to tell you about had all of the above, and more. I wasn’t even supposed to come along, so no expectations either.

I had been invited to a long ride, at least 200k’s a few days before. Some of my friends wanted to do a long one as preparation before the nationals and asked if I wanted to tag along. As me and my boyfriend had already (the weekend before!) done almost 500k’s as a bikepacking adventure I wasn’t supposed to ride that long again. I also had my spring term final exam the day after the proposed ride and I kind of had to study….but decided I’ll start with them and then turn home earlier.

The sun was shining, company was great, route was nice and ice cream was in the horizon. So instead of turning home when I was supposed to, I ditched my studying plans and went with my gut feeling and tagged along for the full ride. Thinking about it, it’s pretty awesome my body let me just allowed me to ride over 200 kilometers (for the third time in 10 days!) just because I feel like it, no special prep needed. Just eating and drinking enough along the way and surrounding myself with the best crew.

All the boys were really strong and to be honest I did not see the front much but I just enjoyed the ride and the day. Sometimes it’s just what you need to go out of your box and planned sessions or waetever is on your schedule to just enjoy where you are and seize the opportunity in front of you. Throughout my career I have worked a lot on the mental part my sport and if there’s one thing I have earnt it’s that a happy head gives you fast legs. And a ride like this one, or should I just say a good day out with friends, gives me so much more then the perfect numbers on my cycling computer. It also gave me a clear head for my exam witch went well and I’m really happy I decided to change my mind that day.

Sara Penton.

#ColourTheRoad