The first time I speak to Fatima Ahmed, it is by phone and she is walking into a bike shop. I can hear muffled shouts and metal clanking in the background, Ahmed hurriedly explaining that her road bike needs looking at. Does she mean her race bike, I wonder. There isn’t a moment to ask. “Can I call you back?” Yes, yes, I assure her I’ll call at a quieter moment. But quiet moments are few and far between in the life of the 51-year-old road safety manager who is in the process of turning herself into a long-distance adventure cyclist.
Ahmed is in the thick of preparing for the Pan Celtic Ultra, a self-supported, ultra-endurance bicycle adventure starting on 6 July. She is aiming to
