One week to go

Well, that is it.  Training pretty much over and I am not going to get any fitter now, so I need to take it easy for a few days ahead of our departure for Lusaka.  I am really looking forward to meeting my fellow Cycle Zambia Challenge participants at Heathrow on Friday evening.

The summer is gone and it is starting to feel a lot more autumnal with some recent rides in almost full winter gear and temperatures down to below 5C in the early morning.  However, looking back over the past few months I don't think I could have wished for a better summer with all those lovely, hot summer days for getting out on the bike and really enjoying putting in a few miles in.  

Looking back on my Strava feed I managed 700-800km each month from May to August and have done about 400 already this month (most of it in a single week).  That doesn't sound like that much given we will be riding 500km in 5 days in Zambia, but it does include a lot of climbing - 9,000 to 10,000 meters (or more than the height of Mt Everest) per month, which I am hoping we won't be facing next week.  I have also been building up time on the MTB recently as that is what we will be riding in Zambia.  

Importantly, I have also lost about 16 lbs in weight since April which definitely helps going uphill!  Let's hope I can keep it off as one positive side effect is that I have stopped snoring (almost completely!).  That will be something both Sue and my  Zambia tentmate will be happy about.

All that is left now is to get a bit more used to the heat we are going to have in Zambia so intend to do a few gentle (non-cycling) workouts at the gym, followed by a good hot steam/sauna this week.

I will be posting updates from the road when we start cycling on Sunday morning so look out on the Powerfully Semple Blog, Facebook page, Instagram, @innovate360 Twitter feed (and if you work with me, the Slack and Flock channels).

In the meantime, thank you once again to all my corporate and individual sponsors.  Without your support, Transaid would not be able to continue to provide its superb services to the rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and many more adults and children would die due to lack of access to healthcare services.

If you would still like to donate, please visit my Fundriasing page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bryan-semple1