A week on - and £4000 is within touching distance

I've had a week back at work now and time to reflect. (Well, some time - it has been one of those hectic weeks at work, fighting corrupted UTF-8 data.) So the question arises as to what the future may hold.

Of course, the future is in God's hands - I know that. But the question that just about everyone keeps asking is 'What next?'

On Friday, I had a letter from MNDA which contained a nice Certificate of Acheievement for this last ride. I had a similar one two years ago for the London/Paris ride. And somehow the two together don't look quite complete. There looks to be a gap at the end and I would dearly love to get the gap filled.

But there are a lot of factors. One that has been firmly blown sky high is the fact that that, in just over a year, the front digit of my age will roll over to 6. Having met and cycled with George, who is 76 and has done the whole 1000 mile trip, this factor seems to be a little less significant than it was before.

Another factor is that I have had Ruth's support throughout this venture and she has put up with the amount of time I have spent on the bike, at the gym etc. I would need that support again.

And another factor is sponsorship. There has been so much support on this front this year and I don't want to make everyone think 'Not again!'

So we will see how these factors look in a year's time and then work out whether it is going to be possible to fit in the last leg.

In the meantime, that £4000 mark is tantalisingly close. If you still haven't made a donation, your support would meen so much to me to get over the line.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

Job done. Here's the story ..

So what can I say? In summary, I got there. In fact, I feel that I more than "got there" - I could certainly have gone further and I am somewhat envious of the seven people who were doing the full route from London, via Paris and Geneva to Nice. So we will see what the future holds in that direction ..

9th September. Meeting up and getting to Paris.

We turned up at St Pancras, consulted the joining instructions and went to M&S. There was a distinct lack of other cyclists and Discover Adventure personnel and we were a little worried. Fortunately, someone else also turned up - he had a friend who he knew was doing the ride and he phoned him. There are two M&S shops at St Pancras. So we tracked the other one down and, sure enough, there was the van waiting for lost cyclists who had failed the first initiative test. Just Time for John to give us the first two bars of the Grieg piano concerto and also down a full English before boarding the Eurostar. Arrival in Paris was followed by a tour of the Metro and it turned out that the hotel where we were staying was the one where we had stayed on the last night of the London/Paris ride two years ago. That added to the feeling of this being a continuation of the previous ride.

6 pm - here come the bikes. No way out now - we have to do the ride. Just time to put them together (having packed them in the bike bags for the journey), before time for dinner where we all met for the first time. Also there were seven who had done the London/Paris ride over the previous 4 days with just a day to recover.

10th September. Paris to Sens. 84 miles, cycling time 5h 32m.

It is 5:30 in the morning and the alarm goes off. Tempted to throw it out of the window. Temptation resisted! Just one hour to get up and ready for the off at 6:30. At 6:31, two things happened. 1) It started to rain and 2) someone's tube exploded. I sounded like a shot a couple of streets away. At least that gave us a good excuse to go back inside while the puncture was fixed. But after another 10 minutes, there was no more excuse. So it was a case of on the bikes to the Eiffel Tower (cue the first of many puns from John - 'That's a bit of an eye-full'). We posed for numerous photos in the dark and the set off, dodging the Paris rush hour, which was not as bad as the London rush hour. And after about an hour, we were beginning to be clear of the traffic. Each day had a water stop after about 20 miles, lunch after about 40-50 miles, another water stop in the afternoon around 60-70 miles. And lunch was always welcome. Today, the sun was out by then and the sun-cream was needed in some quantity.

Everyone was making good time. Indeed, at the end of the trip, The Discover Adventure staff said that they had never known a group that had finished so early every day. So even with a lengthy extra stop at a cafe in the town before going the hotel, we were still completed by 16:00.

11th September. Sens to Semur-en-Auxois. 84 miles, cycling time 5h 10m.

When asked what the forecast was, Paddy just said, "Rain". So we expected the worst. But as it turned out, there was only an hour of light drizzle in the afternoon. So the morning was very pleasant - somewhat overcast which kept the temperature very pleasant for cycling. By now, Alex was demonstrating that the personal training session with Mr Wiggins had paid off and was way ahead. So John and I were enjoying a more leisurely ride with the chance to take photos. Lunch was just short of Chablis. There were a couple of more interesting hills in the day, but nothing too strenuous.

At the top of the last of these, three things happened. 1) Rain, 2) water stop in the middle of nowhere (but the DA people had provided a gazebo that kept the cakes etc dry) and 3) a message from the office about a small problem. 3) was soon fixed. 2) provided shelter and fortunately 1) disappeared as well. So onwards to Semur. And as we came down the little hill towards the main road, there was a superb view across the village where everyone, to a man (or women - forgot to say - 32 men and 3 ladies on this ride) stopped for a photo.

12th September. Semur-en-Auxois to Lons-le-Saunier. 98 miles, cycling time 6h 29m.

So this is where the hills start. Still not too bad - only one that was long - about 4 miles, all around 6-7%. As most people stopped at the cafe at the bottom (at the recommendation of the organisers), I think I had the pleaure of being first up. Apart from being the day with the highest altitude so far, it was also the longest ride. In the afternoon, John wanted to stretch his legs a bit and went on with Alex and the fastest group. I had the real pleasure of cycling with George and Steve - a father and son pairing from Bath who were two of those who had come from London and were going to Nice. They are amazing. George is 76 and Steve is 50.

After the climb up to about 580 metres, there was a long descent down to 200 metres. Enjoy descents while you can. As John has pointed out in the past, there is always a pay-back time for it. Lunch was after the descent and then there was an afternoon of more-or-less flat riding to the overnight stop at Lons. The dinner was excellent - buffet starter which, in essence, means "All you can eat". Just what was needed for the final day. Paddy's breifing for this was ominous - "Hills, hills hill".

13th September. Lons-le-Saunier to Gevena. 75 miles, cycling time 5h 56m.

This is the day we have been looking forward to for the last year. Of course, there are two ways of looking forward to something 1) excitement and 2) trepidation. This was a mixture of large chunks of both and I'm sure that this contributed to the rather sleepless night. The first hill was after 2 miles. So there was no warm up time - the approach was down a slight incline and then the hill loomed with warnings of slow lorries. It was probably only about 14%, but it was a about a mile long over the steep part with a less steep section following. I cycled it, but will confess to a couple quick stops to let the heart rate come down. Then it was a bit undulating to the water break and beyond before a 7k downhill at 6%. I spent most of the 7k working out the altitude loss. This may seem a bit geeky, but there is was a practical side as well. I knew that every metre downwards, whilst very pleasurable, meant an extra metre upwards when the mountain climbs started.

And there wasn't long to wait. The town of St. Claude marked the start of the 20k hill. John decided to take a break with some who had already arrived at a cafe just at the bottom of the hill. I decided to try to get a start up the hill. Again, I will confess to a couple of stops to get the heart rate down. But I cycled without walking. 10k up the hill was the lunch break, just after the road markings that showed the Tour de France had had the end of a timed section on this hill in the past. After lunch, the hill continued. I had the pleasure again of George and Steve's company and after what seemed like a long time, we came across the summit, marked by a statue of a bike, about 15/20 feet high.

Then there was another lengthy downhill before the road went up again. What I didn't realise was that this was now the beginning of the col de la faucile which had formed the subject of so much conversation over the last 12 months. In effect, this was what this ride was all about in cycling terms.

Of course, it was pretty clear that the road was going upwards and maybe there was one place at the start where I needed one gear lower. And, as on the previous hill, I took a couple of stops to let the heart rate come down. But it didn't seem to be too long before the road joined another one and the gradient lessened and I found myself going up the hill at around 16 miles an hour. Then there loomed up a sign announcing that the best view in Europe was about to appear on the right hand side of the road. I was, by now, riding with another participant and we turned off to look at the view. And as we did so, Paddy appeared to make sure we were alright and telling us that we had reached the top of the col. I can tell you that I almost cried - mainly with disbelief that the top had come already. It signalled the end of the uphill. I had spend the previous 12 months preparing for this moment - all the gym work and the tough rides in Richmond, Sheffield and the Peak district had paid off. OK - we still had to get to Geneva, but this was a simple task of sitting on the bike and letting gravity do the job. So perhaps you can forgive the emotion.

There was a wonderful view on the way down. Despite the overcast conditions, there was the lake and the city of Geneva 800 metres below us in height. With a clear day, Mont Blanc would have been visible. And after not too many minutes, we were able to have our photos taken by the lakeside.

14th September. Relaxing in Geneva

It was so good to see Thommy after 17 years. The happiest years of my working life were spent with him in Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Estonia and (of course) Bournemouth. There was a lot of catching up to do. And there was the bonus of being able to meet up with Maria and Terry for a leisurely lunch. If you have read this far, please remember that the reason for doing this ride is because of people like Maria suffering from MND. It was difficult saying goodbye to the others, especially those going on to Nice (the lucky ones). There was the bike to pack away and get to the airport - thank you to Alex for your help with this!. Easyjet were very efficient. They got us back to Luton five minutes early and don't appear to have destroyed the bikes.

I've done my part. the total distance was 341 miles. Yes, I enjoyed it. As I said to one or two people, I can't say that I "enjoyed" every single moment - there were some very tough moments. But despite that, it was enjoyable. Very enjoyable. Now can you do your part and spare a few pounds to help a few other people like Maria? Click this link to sponsor me.

2 days to go

Well, that is pretty final. Last night, I packed the bike up in the new bike bag and this morning I took it up to Coombe Bissett to be put on the van heading for Paris.So if I want to see it again, I'll have to go at least as far as Paris to get it back. So there seems no alternative to the original plan to head all the way to Geneva.

And I think I have just about finished what is necessary at work as well with two projects both being completed today. So I am ready for a complete change from the daily routine.

Just a word about the support I have received. It has exceeded all my dreams - thank you to eveyone who has contributed. Today I had another huge surprise and I know that those who will benefit will be so grateful.

Of course, there is always the hope that there might be a few more contributions - perhaps after I get back? One person has asked for photographic proof of completion, with a detailed log of mileage and times etc. I'm hoping to do this and will try to update either facebook or this blog as we go along. But I'll also aim to give fuller details here as soon as possible.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

4 days until we start pedalling ..

This week is whizzing past. Wednesday already which means it is only 3 days until we travel to Paris and 4 days until we start cycling. So it is a case of 'coming, ready or not.'

Yesterday evening was the last gym session. I was hoping that Amy would agree that it should be a fairly gentle session and I'm glad to report that this was the case. There was a fair bit on the TRX bands and some basic press-ups - none of the dreadful asymmetric ones or one using the a beach ball to make it unstable. Even the warm-up was only an easy few minutes on the cross trainer.

This evening I've even cleaned the bike - degreased the chain (John, please note) and washed the muck off the frame. So I'm ready to pack it up in the bike bag. I'm grateful to Colin on Saturday giving me some advice on this one. I've got hold of spacers for the forks to make sure they don't get damaged in transit and I've got a roll of bubble wrap to help with the packing as well.

The sponsorship has also risen over the last couple of days and is now a whisker short of £2400. As long as I make it to Gevena, it will certainly be over £3000 - if you can spare anything, please help me to end up as far over the £3000 as possible.

So the big questions are 'What will the weather be like?' and 'Will I make it all the way?'and 'Will I recognised Thommy after 17 years?' and 'Will the col de la faucile be as bad as I expect' and 'What is the french for "Can I have a tow"?'. These will have to wait another week to get the full answers, but I hope to be able to use Alex's phone to at least put a few lines on facebook most days.

Roll on the weekend and let's get the show on the road.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

225 miles in the week ... and a puncture

I suppose it is inevitable that, if you cycle several thousand miles a year, then you are bound to get a puncture from time to time. I have to say that I have been very fortunate in the past. I can't remember having one more than a mile or two from home. So today was a first.

This was the last chance I had of a long ride before the 'real' event starting a week on Monday. The forecast was not too promising, but it did predict no rain. And that promise was kept. So an early start to get to Christchurch for the 8:30 departure to Sherfield English with the CTC group. 6 of us this week and we made a prompt start. With the benefit of a tail breeze and some of the more speedy members of the group, we quickly arrived at the bottom of Red Shoot hill. This hill goes up in a series of short climbs with little downhills in between. It always seems a waste that, having made some altitude gain, you then go down - but that is the way it works.

So we made the tea break in good time. Decision time. It had to be beans on toast. And when I say 'toast', don't imagine the thin sliced loaves from Sainsbury's - think of the doorstep slices that you migh expect on a farm holiday in the middle of the Yorkshire moors. Two 'slices', with butter and beans, all for £2.50. What more could you ask for after 32 miles of cycling? (Well a mug of coffee as it happens ..)

Too soon Mike is saying we ought to be on our way. Come on legs - start bending again. The route is through the villages towards the north of Hampshire along some roads that have hardly seen a car on them in years. Plaitford, Landford, Hamptworth, Lover, Woodgreen and Breamore where we cross the main road by the Bat and Ball pub.

And then down to Fordingbridge. This is where I noticed that rather distinctive wobble you get when the back tyre is going flat. The wheel starts to move sideways, slipping on the flat tyre. As usual, it was the back tyre. That is always the more tricky one to do because of having the chain and cassette and it makes for dirty hands as well. Good thing I'm not a fanatic about keeping the bike prestine. My nice new type had a tiny bit of flint stuck in it. We had come along a road that had a lot of gavel and stones on it and this one had got stuck in the rubber. So I had my first experience of a roadside puncture repair. Encouraged by two others, this was accomplished in pretty quick time. And thanks to the wonderful invention of CO2 canisters, 100lb pressure was acheived in about 2 seconds. So replace the wheel and on to banana break the other side of Fordingbridge.

No more hills to do after that. Just some long stretches where you can put your head down and do decent speeds for several miles at a time. So we were back pretty much on schedule. The mileage was just short of 70 miles, so the total for the week was 225 miles. No aches or pains afterwards - I'm beginning to feel that I might be ready for Paris.

At home, I found two friends waiting to give me a £40 donation! If you want to help me to the goal of £3000, £5 would help very much. After all, if you buy two cups of Costa coffee, it would set you back about that. And this is for a very good cause to help people who just need a little bit of help so that they can help themselves.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

8 days to go.

This has been a good week. Plenty of miles in the mornings and then afternoons as tourists around the area. And on Wednesday, my brother called in to see us while they are stying at Rockley Park for a few days.

All the miles have been done up and down the chines along the coast between Sandbanks and Hengistbury Head. So nothing long, but some pretty steep little climbs on some of these roads. The weather has been kind (except Wednesday) and so it has been possible to clock up nearly 160 miles so far. I'm rather hoping to add 70 miles to that tomorrow morning with the CTC group. That will be a good last week of training.

Next week will be relaxing a bit with a couple of gym visits to keep things ticking over and then the adventure really starts. It still seems a bit unreal but I have a feeling that will change fairly smartly when we set off. The first day looks pretty easy, but then it starts to hot up on the second day and that continues for the third and fourth days as well.

So we have enjoyed looking round Swanage, Wimborne, Lymington etc. in the afternoons. The model village at Wimborne is always worth a visit. And Lymington is particularly relaxing if you just sit and watch what is going on in the harbour and marina. You can almost fall asleep. Or maybe that is just our age.

Sponsorship is going well. The amount raised 2 years ago on the London/Paris ride has been exceeded already. With pledges and other donations that I know are yet to come in, I am quietly confident that we will reach £3000. I'm doing my part - if you can help with a few pounds, please do!

Here is the link to sponsor me.

How frustrating it must be ..

Just a short post. The paralympics have been opened by Stephen Hawking. He is probably the most high profile victim of MND. And although his body is clearly suffering, equally clearly, his mind is as alert and active as ever. This is the frustration that so many people find when they are struck down with MND. Slowly (in some cases more quickly), the body stops working and the body can't keep up.

This is why I'm raising money for both support and research. The support aspect will help to equip people with the the gadgets that make it possible for them to live a life that is as close to normal as possible. The money for research will help to find the cause and possible cures for this horrible condition.

Take all look at Pauline Hardy's blog which is very honest. Look at Maria's facebook page which gives day to day reflections. See what Liam Dwyer is doing with his web site. All three have been diagnosed with MND for various lengths of time. And then, maybe, you can visit my JustGiving page, if you have not already done so?

Life's little mysteries.

There many things in life that I don't really understand. In fact, as time goes by, I find that there are more and more things I don't understand. It was Bernard Lovell who (it is reported) said in recent years that we understood nothing. He was talking about the universe. My little conumdrums are somewhat more humdrum.

Today we have been to Wilton Shopping Village. This followed lunch at the Sticky Bun tea shop in the garden centre at Fordingbridge. The Sausages in Onion Gravy was just right for bank holiday Monday when it is wet and chilly.

Wilton Shopping Village has changed a lot since we were last there. At first sight it looked as though Pavers (shoe shop) had left. But they have in fact just moved into a different unit. When we went in, I was struck by the the notices on the wall. One of these said 'If you cannot see what you are looking for, please ask out staff'. I resisted the urge to ask where the Sellotape was. Then there was a pair of notices - a blue one reading 'Shoes for Him' and a red one reading 'Shoes for Her'. Since coming home, I have looked on Wikipedia (which does have some basis of fact) and have found that the ratio of male to female (human) population of the UK is 1.05:1. What this means is that in every 1000 births, you can expect that roughly 512 will be male and 488 female.

Of course, I am prepared to believe that there might be regional variations in this ratio. This is, for instance, the case in our household where the girls won 2-0. But I know of a compensating case where it was 2-0 the other way round and another case where the boys won 4-0. Overall, though it should be, apparently 512-488. But even allowing for regional variations (and the Wikipedia page gives a break-down by country) the ratio should not vary by much more than 1 or 2 percent. (I turns out that all over the world, in every country, the males win by a small margin.)

So here is the little mystery. Why was it that 'Shoes for Her' had about 70% of the floor space and 'Shoes for Him' had the other 30%? And in my experience, this seems to be the case in just about all shoe shops, and clothes shops. And on top of that, it seems that shops that cater specifically for ladies/men are in about the same proportion.

There are many mysteries like this. The standard cyclist's problem is why the wind is always in your face. Actually, this is easy. If you are going 20 mph into still air, you are effectively creating a 20 mph wind against you. So unless you are travelling in the same direction as the wind, and the wind is faster than you are, it feels as though you have a head wind. What was nice this morning was going up the hill in Haven Road where I was moving at about 12 mph and the wind was about 20 mph behind me. That will suit me fine if it happens on 13th Sept at the col de la faucile.

Also on the positive side, the new wheels are amazing. They feel about one gear better than the old ones. That is very good news. Just a short ride this morning, but I'm hoping to get a longer one tomorrow morning before we go out and become tourists - I hope this will be the pattern for the week.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

Expect the unexpected

I suppose last Saturday was a portent of things to come. This week has not worked out how I expected and hoped. I knew that I was due in London on Tuesday. But the meeting I went for didn't actually happen. Then on Wednesday I had work to do in the evening, and on Thursday as well. So no gym visits.

Then I took my bike in for its service on Thursday and it wasn't in the diary. So I left it anyway but it didn't get done until Friday. And even then, it needed a part that had to be ordered, so it wasn't ready until today. But the paper with my phone number on it was mislaid so I didn't know it was ready until I rang at 16:30 by which time it was raining heavily.

Before that, Simon (who was going to keep me company on a 60 mile ride) found out that he had a wedding to go to on Saturday and couldn't make if after all.

So the effect of all this has been considerably less miles than I wanted to do this week. However, I have a half new bike as it transpired that I had worn out the wheels to a dangerous extent, and the cassette had taken so much of a bashing on the hills that it needed changing etc., etc. So I'm looking forward to trying it out on Monday - except the forecast indicates that a boat would be more use than bike. But I'm off all week and Tuesday looks promising.

I have been to the gym this evening though and done the usual 12 km on maximum restistance. I'm not sure if it was the frustration or just the fact that I've had a week of nothing, but I took over 2 minutes off the time for this doing it in just under 40 minutes. That is encouraging. I hope I shall be able to repeat this on 13th of next month on the last day of the ride after the 260 miles of the first 3 days. (Ouch - is it really 260 miles in the first 3 days. Yes, in fact probably nearer 270.)

And also on a positive note, I'm looking forward to meeting up with Thommy Brolin (not the footballer, but his namesake, also from Sweden) who works in Zurich and is coming to Gevena to meet up again. He was the closest colleague I have ever had and who I haven't seen for nearly 17 years. We worked together in UK, Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Ireland over the course of about 5 years and he was not just a wonderful colleague but a very close friend. It will be so good to see him again.

Not only (but also, for those of us of a certain age), it turns out that Maria and Terry Watton will also be in Geneva at that time, so I will meet up with them as well. Which is fitting, because Maria (on the left of this photo) is one of those people for whom I am doing the fundraising. She has MND and is getting to the stage of having to use wheelchair far more now. She and Terry were recently married. Take a look at Maria's facebook page.

Here is the link to sponsor me.

17 days to go ..

Three weeks today I should be at the top of the col de la faucile. There is a fair chance that I'll be a bit out of breath, but we are told that there may be a glimpse of the Matterhorn in the distance. As log as there is not fog, of course. Or rain. Or snow.

What this means is that there are only 16 days until we set of for Paris - 17 days until we start cycling. At the moment, I feel unreasonably relaxed about it. Perhaps reality will hit home soon.

To encourage me on the way, please add to my sponsorship!. Click here to go to my JustGiving page.

The Art of Improvisation

It is difficult to know where to start with this. I suppose the beginning is the obvious place, but it is not entirely obvious where the beginning is. Let's start with the fact that we asked John to plan a tough route in the Peak District as this is the final get together before the Paris/Geneva ride. John did this admirably, using RideWithGPS.com. The profile of the route was horribly up and down and it was eagre anticipation (otherwise known as trepidation) that we met at 8:30 outside the Premier Inn at Chesterfield West. (If you are looking for a place to stay in that area I can recommend it.) There were four of us this time - Alex, Paddy, John and me.

Off we set. the magic number in my mind was 19. This was the number of miles until the first big test. The weather was a little overcast, but that didn't dampen our spirits. It was not long until we missed a turn. No problem - IMPROVISE! GPS is a wonderful thing and we found that there was another turn just a hundred metres further on. The minor snag was that this road started off OK, but then turned into a stony path with muddy puddles, suitable only for horses (I know this because two horses - with riders attached - came up the path as we went down it). So we had the first taste of walking, rather than riding. This was only half a mile so not too bad.

Then came THE HILL. I can report that this was suitably bad and I will admit to stopping a couple of times to get the heart rate back down to sensible levels before continuing. But we all made it to the top without any walking. On to Chapel-en-le-Frith. The day was already turning into something a bit unusual. We came across a cafe which was run by the Methodist Church across the road. It was a nice little place and had toasted tea cakes so we sat down. Shortly afterwards, an older couple came in and the lady commented on Alex's jersey which was the one we had done for the London/Paris ride 2 years ago. It turned out her brother-in-law in Australia had recently been diagnosed with MND and she gave us £20 by way of sponsorship. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary that day.

The next piece of improvisation came about 8 miles further on when the decision was taken to change the route slightly to cut out Macclesfield. Having never been there, I can't comment on whether this was a good move or not, although I always feel the name suggests a visit is not of the essence. But it is always a risk changing things when you are not too sure about what the new arrangement means. The gizmos all said straight on. But the sign said 'Dead End'. Luckily, there was a lady doing the flowers at a tiny church (we hadn't seen any houses for miles, so I'm not sure why the church was there in the first place). She was local and seemed to have been local all her life so she was able to give us good advice and pointed at gap in the hills where the road went. She said something about 'a bit of a hill'. What we didn't know (yet) was that this change of route was leading us to another absolute stinker of a hill, slightly steeper that the first one. It is perhaps as well that the sign saying 22% was at the top, after we had struggled up it, rather than at the bottom to advertise how bad it was going to be. It had cut out perhaps 4 miles of distance, but hadn't cut out any of the altitude gain. Roughly translated, that means STEEP.

So to lunch at the Cat and Fiddle and a relatively uneventful leg onto Buxton for tea. Only two more hills to go - about 10 miles, surely no longer than about 45 minutes, even if the hills were steep. The first hill was nasty and needed one recovery stop. Then came the last hill. By this time I was beginning to feel a bit weary and I decided that I would walk 100 yeards at the bottom where it was steepest. The others shot ahead. The gradient slackened a little so I got back on the bike and was suprised to see everyone in a huddle another 400 yeards further up. The 'road' that showed up very clearly on Goole maps was not a road at all. It wasn't even a gravel path. It was moreorless a rock climb. After a little discussion, we agreed to head across a field pushing/carrying the bikes on the basis that the row of posts we could see a couple of hundred yards away looked like the road again. After two stiles and a couple of small streams, we were proved sort of right, except it was still not suitable for riding. To cut a long story short, there followed a 3 mile walk across rocks and fields populated by sheep making a silly noise before we eventually found a tarmac road. Fortunately, the GPS signal had been strong enough to help out and we came out on the main road, just about a mile from the Premier Inn. We are going to suggest to the Olympic committee that this should be considered as a new event for 2020.

So we finished at about 7pm. Alex and Paddy had the job of explaining to their respective wives why they were going to be late. John's wife Alison was waiting for us already, having spent the day in Sheffield. This was undoubtedly the toughest ride of the year (and probably my life). It was also the most unusual. John actually did a magnificent job arranging it. And it also went a long way towards justifying the description of 'flat' that he had used for the last 30 miles of the Chilterns ride in May. The pictures are also mainly John's - thank you.

So I'm as ready as I ever will be for the main event in 3 weeks time. It will be mainly 'maintenace' type training from now on. There will be some longish rides on Saturdays, I hope, but they won't have 20-25% gradients in them.

On the sponsorship side - I have just passed £2000. £3000 is possible and that would do so much good. Click here to go to my JustGiving page.

4 Weeks to go ..

There are times when you ask yourself why you have committed to doing something. It may have seemed like a good idea 11 months ago, but now that we are within 4 weeks of 'the off', reality is beginning to dawn. Clearly I should be ensconced in a straight-jacket and be escorted to the local mental hospital. OK - I like cycling and get out to do 70+ miles whenever I can. But this is 4 days on the trot. And the last day is the worst. My insanity is not in doubt - Ruth will confirm this.

4 weeks on Monday, about 30 people (presumably most of them also insane - and I can vouch for 2 of them) expect to be photographed under the Eiffel Tower at 6:30 in the morning, ready to start cycling in a south easterly direction. 4 weeks on Thursday we all hope to arrive safely in Geneva having raised varying amounts for various charities.

But, on the other hand, I know how much it will mean to those whose lives have been affected by MND to be able to have some of those extras that mean the difference between just fading away and being able to continue with life in a meaningful way. As an example, I think of Mike not being able really to speak for the last 2 years, but having plenty that he would like to say. He has his gimlet that allows him to type a sentence and have it spoken for him - this is such a help. Remember - MND affects the body, but the mind remains as good as ever. How frustrating it must be. Just a reminder that half the money raised will be used directly to help local people in the Bournemouth area who have MND. There are aound 35 of them.

More miles are needed to ensure the fitness levels are maintained. So the alarm was set for 6:30 (on a Saturday! - what more confirmation is needed of insanity) and out of the house at 7:45 to get to the start of the CTC ride at Wimborne. There were 6 this morning, including Mike Barrett who leads the rides - able to join in for the first time after breaking bones in his hand a few weeks ago. This was the ride to Compton Abbas airfield where egg on toast helped fuel the tanks for the return trip into the stiff breeze. There are some pretty villages on this ride, particularly after the refuelling stop, along the Chalke Valley. And there is also a particularly nasty little hill just after Broad Chalke - my 27 was needed for that - it has quite a lenthy section which must be 10% or worse.

A series of circumstances meant that we were rather late all along the ride so at Damerham, all those still with us decided to return via Wimborne while I stuck to the normal route via Fordingbridge to Ringwood and Christchurch. The mileage device reported 72 miles by the time I got home.

So, insane or not, am I ready for Paris to Geneva? I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be and there is not really much time left to change anything.

I have been hugely encouraged by the dontaions already received. If you check my JustGiving page, you will see it reports 95% of the target reached. But my own real target is a bit more than is shown there. I think that £3000 is possible. So, if you haven't sponsored me yet, please do so now.

Oo-er. Only 5 weeks!

Just 5 weeks to go! And these 5 weeks will go very quickly, I'm sure, especially as there is a lot happening at work which is keeping me very busy.

So this week it is back to hitting the road as much as possible. I'm not sure if it is a sign of getting a (little) bit older, but it is increasingly difficult to get up in time to get as much in before work as I would like. Maybe it is connected with Neil (a colleague of longstanding) calling me 'old fella' on a regular basis. So I am relying more and more on the Saturday rides.

I was pleased to see the weather forecast at 4pm yesterday showing dry and partial sunshine. Excellent - plan formulated to join the CTC Saturday 60 ride to Sherfield English. By the time I got up this morning, it had changed. It is amazing how good the forecasts are a few minutes before it happens. The promised showers materialised right on cue the moment I stepped outside. But I have to say that was almost the last of the wet weather until about 12:30.

The first leg is up to Ringwood. It is always worrying when you see the trees bending over but you can't feel the wind. It means that you will be heading into it on the way back. But at least it gave us a help up the hill from Moyles Court towards Bolderwood. Only three of us were on this ride, which is unusual for the CTC rides - there are usually 8-12. Maybe they had all looked at the weather forecast ..

The tea break is at Gilberts garden centre. They had BREAD PUDDING! What else can be better for the hills (acutally, John Bush's wife's fruit cake, but Bread Pudding must come a close second.) After the half hour break, it is back via some pretty villages at the west end of Hampshire, just inside the New Forest Park boundary. One is called Lover (pronounced Lowver). This is where the only other real hill lies in wait for the unsuspecting cyclist.

Then it is back via Breamore (pronounced Bremmer - why don't they spell village names how they sound), Fordingbridge (banana break) and the back roads to Christchurch. This was all into the wind, but we still maintained a good average speed. Home before 2pm and 70 miles completed.

Then there were 5 fence panels to replace.

Finally, I am fascinated by the fact that there are people in Russia and China who seem to be following my story. I would love to hear from you - please leave a comment! And to everyone - please sponsor me if you haven't done so.

Castlepoint has happened.

The Castlepoint event has come and gone. It has brought in about £240 which is OK, but not as much as I would have liked to have raised. But a big thank you to everyone from the local MNDA branch who helped out.

The weather was good - mainly sunny but not too hot.So we arrived at 8am to set up and by 9 all was ready. I started pedalling and waited for the people to come along. And waited some more. The numbers of people passing did pick up a bit by 11am, but I think everyone was too busy with the shopping to stop. Thank you to everyone who did stop and paid the £2 to take a guess at the distance.

It was encouraging to see Mike and Michelle come along. Mike was in good spirits as usual and held a bucket for passing trade. Then he had a butterfly painted on his hand by the stall next to us. He was able to stay for a couple of hours.

We had one or two people who came along who had had recent experience of family or friends who have been affected by MND as well. They wanted help and advice so having some from the branch there was a real advantage.

I took a 5 minute break in the morning, 30 minutes at lunchtime and 20 minutes in the afternoon. So the pedalling time was just about 7 hours. And the distance? 115.9 miles. The turbo wasn't on a high setting, but I feel very happy to have completed a distance that is 15 miles further than any ride before. So it has been a good day combining fundraising with a day's training. I feel tired but not completed done in.

A number of friends come along to encourage me - that you. One of these was Amy who, I think, came to check up that I was working hard enough.

And the competition winners, in order of choosing their prizes are Des Allison, Susan Delaney, Clare Busst, Judith Mills, Mike Spittle, Derek Sercombe and Mike Hardy. I am in the process of contacting everyone which may take a couple of days or so but you will hear from me.

And here is the usual request - if you haven't sponsored me, please do so.