DIARY OF A DERRIERE

Putting Derrieres Through Training... #dareyourderrieres

We catch up with Alice Newling on the final days of training before her epic Mongol Derby experience and learn how those Derrieres are holding up...

So, we are into the final few days of training and kit testing. It is slowly dawning on me that perhaps I have done far from enough training but realistically…how can you train for this?!

With much excitement my Derrieres arrived in the post last week. They were put to the test immediately with a full kit try out and I am proud to announce my behind felt thoroughly comfortable! However, I decided that an hour long hack was perhaps not a comprehensive enough test seeing as we will be riding for up to 12 hours a day. They were duly swapped for my cycling shorts and I went on a 35 mile cycle –surely this would uncover any weaknesses? However, I (and my bottom) are even more pleased and pleasantly surprised to report that they stood up to the test. Phew! This is at least one piece of kit which I no longer have to worry about.

The rest of my time has been spent wracking my brains and looking at lists to see what I have got and more importantly have forgotten. We are limited to 5kg of kit which we are allowed to carry throughout the race which is actually not all that much when you factor in vital things such as sleeping bag, GPS and a fairly substantial first aid kit. I am also trying to find enough allowance to pack a Go-pro as it is such a once in a lifetime experience it would be crazy not to try and document it, no matter how low the lows might be.

Back to the packing and the next update may well be from a very nervous Derbyist in Ulaanbaatar!