When we started planning the 2020 Yorkshire Lass Sportive we were not expecting that it would be a virtual event! After the initial disappointment of having to cancel what would have been our 5th Yorkshire Lass Sportive we decided that the show must go on! Why not have everyone organise their own pre ride Pasta Party at home with family, get out and ride as many miles as they can or achieve as much elevation as possible - alone or with their bubble buddies, stop off or bake cakes themselves and post their amazing pictures up for us all to enjoy.
Lockdown life has been tough and keeping motivated sometimes very hard, we’ve all lost our mojo at some point. Luckily for us just when we were feeling a bit ‘meh’ along came the Smiling Tri Coach Challenge 19. We decided to accept the Challenge and entered a team – Team Yorkshire Cogs & Roses. 15 mostly mature ladies (ages from 42-64) and all complete fruit loops as it turned out, took on every task thrown at us. Inspired and cajoled by Captain Debbie aka Pocket Rocket!
The Challenge ran for 6 weeks, every week we had to complete 3 Challenges & 3 training sessions plus a Saturday bonus virtual Park Run/walk. All of which gained points for the team. One such Challenge was the retro mile – a 1 mile run done backwards. Its not pretty and it hurts …a lot! Team Cogs thought we’d put our own personal spin on this and did it in fancy dress – the bar was set!
More nuttiness ensued when we had to do dry land swim training and a throw away remark about doing it in the kitchen sink….yes someone tried! Baked bakes & bathing hats, snorkels & flippers – it was all going rather swimmingly for Team Cogs! More points bagged & reputations ruined or made depending on your point of view!
There was also some mega serious stuff, including 2 Time Trials, 6 hr bike rides, running/biking intervals and HIIT, Strength & Conditioning & tough yoga sessions all to be ticked off. We ran, biked, sweated, baked…did I mention cakes – there’s always cakes, turboed, Zwifted, walked, laughed, cried, videoed and even swore our way through the weeks as we prepared for the final ‘Race Day’. We decided to warm up for this in true Yorkshire style with our version of the Yorkshire Hakka and end with a celebration tasting all the wonderful cakes we’d baked.
Oh and just in case you wondered how well this bunch of Yorkshire Cogs & Roses, who entered for a bit of a laugh, did - we only went and won!!!!
Get yer flat caps & whippets ready…. the virtual Sportive is coming!