Sarah Odell is a former elite adventure racer and model. In 2002 she took a break and spent five years teaching yoga in centres all across Europe. A natural health expert, she now teaches yoga around London.
There are four weeks to go before the start of the L2P and I am daunted by the mileage.
I am on my bike everyday, putting in the hours commuting to jobs, but I worry that I’m not cranking out enough distance. With 300 odd miles to cover in three days I am expecting to be sore and will have to dig deep to see me through.
Although this is my first sportive, I’m no stranger to endurance events.
For ten years I competed in six-day non-stop adventure races. These involved running, biking, kayaking and climbing up to 800km across deserts, jungles and mountains in places like Borneo, Tibet and Patagonia. We had to navigate our way to different check points as a team, often foregoing sleep and vital equipment to be fast and light. I raced with many different nationalities and inspiring characters including the two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon and legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
But it’s been a while since I last did a serious adventure race and the L2P is the perfect challenge — endurance, great sights and a chance to meet some interesting people. I really miss the thrill of mass participation events and the camaraderie that exists between fellow competitors as we share the agony and elation.
My job keeps me fit as I cycle everywhere to get to work. Teaching yoga is quite a contrast to the fighter-bike personality I adopt on the battlefield of London’s streets. Red-alert riding is the norm around buses, pot holes and pedestrians but there is a sense of excitement on that ever present collision course. And because I teach a lot in gyms I have access to pools and gym equipment which is a bonus for cross-training, combating injury — and calming down!
My bike is a retro workhorse that’s on the wrong side of trendy which I picked up in South Africa for the ‘97 Cape Argus. It’s due for its MOT and hopefully will see me through.
But as someone once said: ‘It’s not about the bike!’