Stage 10

Seems hard to believe that the ride is starting in under 3 weeks from now. My training has very definitely wound up a notch or 2 in the last few weeks.

80 mile plus rides now seem quite normal and I seem to be coping with fairly strenuous efforts on consecutive days. That said the most I have attempted is 60 miles one day and about 100 the next. It may sound trite but there is no doubt that it is the last 40 (or 30,20 or 10) of a 100 mile ride that is the hardest. Shame there is no training method that lets you go out for 2 hours and ride just the last 30 miles!

But it's getting too late to be concerned about my state of preparation. I'll just have pretend I'm a football manager and take one day at a time, Brian.

I'll be taking inspiration from the GB Olympic cycling team of course. Spoilt for choice there. Not that I profess to have anything like the speed of Jason Kenny, the thighs of Chris Hoy, the exuberance of Laura Trott or the sheer amazing talent of Bradley Wiggins. Hope I don't have the bad luck of Victoria Pendleton either. What was that all about, relegating her when she was simply trying to stay upright despite her opponent's best efforts to elbow her off the track?

And that inspiration won't just come from the 2012 squad. Today I had the privilege to find myself riding with Phil Baynton. If that name isn't immediately familiar it is probably because he comes from a era of British cycling when the science of "marginal gains" was unheard of as was celebrity (well, apart from Tom Simpson perhaps), money and advertising endorsements. Nonetheless Phil Baynton had a very successful career as a pro cyclist, both in the UK and on the super tough Belgian scene. The highlight of his career though was finishing 4th in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Today he was just another rider in the 100 mile sporttive I rode in the Cotswolds. About my age, but he looked a lot younger. A group of 4 of us formed on the road for no better reason than we had started in the same group of 50 and were riding at the same pace. We each take a turn on the front for a minute or so while the other 3 recover in the front man's slipstream. Then the pacemaker pulls over and drifts to the back of the impromptu 'team'.  It's called riding 'through and off' and has the dual benefit of being very efficient and also sociable.

Anyway, the 4 of us rode the last half of the ride together and as we talked it emerged that one of us had quite some history. He spoke about  his career of course and so very nearly getting to the Olympic podium, but also about the events which overshadowed the Games and everything that year. It will be recalled that these were the notorious Olympics where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were massacred by a group of Palestinian terrorists. Phil was still clearly affected by what he saw with vivid memories of the events, mainly centered around the person on the roof attempting vain to negotiate with the terrorists.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I love cycling. It is a huge leveller. It makes no difference who you are or what you do, or what you have done in your previous life. The person riding beside you could be a knight of the realm or an ex-con. You are in the moment and all that matters is getting up this steep climb, getting safely down a long twisting descent on potholed, gravelly roads, or sheltering in a large group as you batter against a horrible headwind on a long, flat exposed section. All you need is for the other guy to take his turn on the front for a few minutes more until it is your turn again to pull the group along.

Stage 9

The day of reckoning has dawned. Until now all I have known is that one month from now I will be riding the length of the country in 9 days. It doesn't sound too bad if you say it quickly.

A few hours ago the precise route maps were released by the organisers of the Ride Across Britain and I suspect that scattered around the country there are 600 rather stunned people at present.

Day 1 Lands End to Okehampton via Bodmin Moor. 108 miles with 4783 ft climbing.

Day 2 Okehampton to Bath via Dartmoor, Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips. 110 miles with 4284 ft of climbing.

Day 3 Bath to Ludlow via the Forest of Dean. Only 99 miles but 5439 ft of draggy climbing I know well from training rides.

Day 4 Ludlow to Manchester via Wenlock Edge and most of Cheshire, perilously close to the scenic East Lancs Road I fear, 106 miles and 3303 ft of ascent.

Day 5 Manchester to Penrith past Wigan pier. through Preston, Kendal then over (gulp) Shap Fell. 104 miles with 5252 ft of Pennine upness.

Day 6 Penrith to Glasgow through Carlisle, eloping to Gretna Green then past lots of places I only know from James Alexander Gordon reading the Scottish football results. 100 miles on the nail and och aye 3353 ft which will not be going doon.

Day 7 Glasgow to Fort William. I had to read this one twice. The queen stage indeed. A massive 127 hilly, desolate miles culminating with the oppressive Glen Coe and camping at the foot of Ben Nevis. The biggest climbing day at 6017 ft.

Day 8 Fort William to Kyle of Sutherland along the Great Glen, perhaps a sighting of Nessy? 111 miles and 5301 ft of grind. 

Day 9 Kyle of Sutherland to John O'Groats. So far away and I am sure so very tired. 104 miles, 4140 ft of which is upwards. 

Total 969 miles and 41,872 ft - 8 miles high

Will you excuse me - I'm just going for a little lie down...

Stage 8

My training has had to take a back seat this weekend in the name of patriotic duty.

A couple of months back, defying all the odds and despite several false starts courtesy of the truly appalling LOCOG on-line ticketing system, I managed to acquire 4 tickets for the Men's Cycling Road Race.

Road cycling is generally 'free to view' on the basis that public roads are just that and anyway it would be impossible to devise any mechanism for ticketing and policing an event over 100 miles long. It seems though that LOCOG may not have done all their homework before devising and announcing the cycling road route. The pivotal aspect of both races was going to be Box Hill in Surrey, the women doing 2 circuits and the men 9. Problem was that Box Hill is owned and maintained by the National Trust who were less than thrilled at the thought of hundreds of thousands of spectators trampling over this beautiful and protected area with its rare flora and fauna.

Eventually a compromise was reached. The iconic climb including the Zig Zags would be accessible to just 15,000, heavily marshalled fans. At least LOCOG could not be accused of pricing people out of the market for this event. My OAP concession ticket cost me a whole £5, only the second advantage I have found, after my rail travel card, of having been declared officially old having turned 60.

So I can say I was one of those who did my bit for Queen and country that glorious day, cheering on 'our boys', resplendent in National colours (me that is, not the riders who had to endure some fashion mistake dreamt up by Stella McCartney).

A great day although there was a palpable mood of disappointment when we realised that the huge, Olympian indeed, effort from Miller,Wiggins, Froome and Stannard had not been enough to deliver the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish to a sprint finish on The Mall where he would surely have won. GB paid the price for being the favorites. No other teams were willing to help chase down the breakaway, seeming to prefer to accept failure themselves rathe than risk a British victory.

At least I can say I was there. Indeed I have just had it pointed out to me that evidence of my presence by the roadside was captured for posterity in no less an august publication than the Daily Mail. I really don't know what to say about that but here it is. For those of you with less than hawk-like vision I have given a little assistance. Trust me, I'm a lawyer...

But let's hear it for Lizzie Armistead today for her brilliant silver medal ride in the women's road race!

Some other images from Saturday:

  

"Oy! Don't you know there's a 30 mph limit on Box Hill? You slow down Mr Wiggins or I'll have to to book you next time round!"

        The team protecting Cavendish (no 11)

 Team GB lead the chase

One rider needs on the fly medical treatment for a nasty saddle sore

No hills like this in Namibia then?

Stage 7

Not sure it gets very much better than this:

• Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France, first British rider to do so ever.
• Chris Froome is second; that has never happened before either.
• Mark Cavendish wins the final sprint stage on the Champs Elysees; in doing so he takes the record for the most sprint stages won by any rider ever.
• The sun shone all weekend.
• I managed 2 hard rides this weekend - 100 ks on Saturday and 100 miles on Sunday and don't feel I need to sleep for a week.
• Perhaps best of all, at my coffee stop today I overheard 2 non-cyclists discussing Team Sky's acheivements with an air of authority that suggested a familial love of cycling going back several generations. I strongly suspected the reality was 3 weeks maximum. Perhaps this is the breakthrough we have been waiting for and those of us who enjoy pedal power can emerge from the gutter of public opinion and ride with pride rather than being labelled as lycra-louts worthy only of derision and ASBOs? Or perhaps not quite yet...

Actually, it could get one little bit better - by Cavendish winning Olympic Gold in the Men's Road Race next weekend.

I'll be there on Box Hill to cheer him on!

Stage 6

The question is often asked about charities "How much of the money raised is actually spent on the charitable purpose and how much is swallowed up in overheads?" A very good question. When setting up the Sam Keen Foundation the family resolved that all donations would go directly to the Royal Marsden Hospital so that every penny would be used in the battle against the cancer malignant melanoma.

A fundraising dinner was held on 2nd July. There was particluar poignancy both in the chosen date as it would have been Sam's 28th birthday and in the venue as it took place where Sam and Ali were married. The proceeds of that eveing brought the grand total raised to date to an amazing £130,000.

The guest speaker that night was Professor Martin Gore, the medical director of the Royal Marsden and the consultant who had cared for Sam. He was able to announce that the money raised will be used to set up The Sam Keen Fellowship. Working in conjunction with leading oncology centres in Amsterdam and Los Angeles, there will be enough money to pay for 18 months of research into the next generation of cancer immunotherapy treatment. Professor Gore explained that there had been very encouraging results already in some patients, but that it was vital to ascertain why this worked for some but not for others, including Sam. He went on to say that really they need funds to appoint a research doctor for a full 2 years. The SKF is up for that challenge certainly and, perhaps with the help of you, dear reader, we can raise the extra £40,000 needed!

Prof. Gore announcing The Sam Keen Fellowship

So a great month for the SKF and pretty good for my training too. I rode my first cycle sportive since my hand op and clocked up just under 100 miles (well, 96 to be precise - I did think of riding round and round the block until the bike computer was showing 3 figures...but then decided that was silly and I was ready for a nice cup of tea.

Pretty good month for British sport too. No, I am not referring to the England football team's reasonably good showing at Euro 2012 before their inevitable exit or even Andy Murray making it to the final at Wimbledon. In case you haven't noticed, we have our very own Bradley Wiggins leading the toughest sporting event that exists, the Tour de France. If that wasn't enough, his team mate and fellow Brit Chris Froome is in second place. In the 99 year history of the Tour there has never been a British winner.

Only a few days to go - come on Wiggo!!!

Also, my Ride Across Britain cycling jersey has arrived which seems to underline the fact that this mega-ride is really happening in less than 2 months time.

Not so much "Done that, got the T-shirt" but more like "Got the T-shirt, now need to do THAT!"

By the way, my dog (Monty) is not joining me on the Ride Across Britain although he is a keen and accomplished cyclist in his own right....to be explained in due course. He just wanted to get in the picture.

Newsflash!

I can report that summer finally arrived in Bristol. To be precise it arrived at 10.00am on Sunday 8th July 2012 and stayed around for most of the day before it realised it was pushing its luck and skulked back to its home somewhere far beyond the white cloud cover. I use the word "summer" strictly in the Paul Simon sense you understand - "a good day ain't got no rain"- but it was a start. Sadly, it was probably a end too as it has gone walkabout ever since.

It did allow enough time though for a dry 50 miles or so without having to wear several layers of cycle gear. Bliss.

This photographic evidence is credited to my super-domestique riding partner Steve Page. Steve is a man of many talents. He is probably best known as a multi-talented musician and singer songwriter. But there is a lot more to Steve than just his artistry with words and guitars. 

I would never tell him this of course, but it is just that (what happened to the reference to 'quick sense of humour' and 'all-round good bloke' that was in the first draft? Ed.) which makes him such a great guy to ride with - the fact that there is a lot more to him. Or at least there is a lot more to him than there is of me.

Propelling a bicycle would be very easy if it were not for the laws of physics. The unseen barrier to every bike ride is quite simply air. Even on a perfectly still day you have to displace a lot of air to make any progress. If there is a headwind in an exposed flat area it can feel like you are trying to ride up a mountain on a road of treacle. But get yourself behind something ...or someone... to act as a mobile windbreak and it is said you will save about 30% of your effort.

Thanks for always being there for me Steve.

I am though working on trying to repay the favour and offering more drafting cover on those rare occasions I do take a turn on the front. Believe it or not this is what I was presented with when I made the mistake of ordering the large version of a calzone on Sunday night at the pizza place where Steve was playing with his (excellent) new band The Open Secrets. It also came with garlic bread.

Well, I have a long ride ahead of me and I heard that you have to carbo-load...

Stage 5

What is happening?!  My hand is getting better and now is the time I need to be getting in some good quality training rides. After all, the only way to prepare for a long bike ride is to do lots of long bike rides. It's July and this should be the perfect time to get out there and benefit from the hilly countryside with which the Bristol area is blessed - perfectly smooth, dry roads, birds singing in hedgerows, farmers doffing their caps as I freewheel by. You get the picture.

Instead it's chucking it down yet again. OK, I have all the right gear and technically speaking there would be nothing to stop me putting on the waterproofs and gritting my teeth. Except I know that with all the muck on the roads it will be more a case of de-gritting my teeth before I am 10 minutes into the ride. Also, the chances of puncturing are much higher when the weather is lousy and there is nothing more miserable than having to spend 15 minutes in the pouring rain changing an inner tube. But in truth I could cope with all that and there is only one real reason that stops me going out in this - New Bike Syndrome. I just can't bear the thought of my new beauty getting all mucky. I know it's sad.

So it is the turbo again and today a personal best. 3 hrs 12 mins and the equivalent of 50 mountainous miles to be precise. Normally I'd find an hour was the maximum I could tolerate before having to climb off with the sheer sweaty boredom and saddle soreness that can only be experienced on a bike indoors going nowhere fast. So thank goodness for computers as I have a setup that simulates proper riding with the help of "real life video" technology. Today people I was in the American Rockies. But Helen didn't have to worry what time I'll be home for lunch as I was right there in the kitchen all along.

However, there is really nothing quite like smelling the countryside smells and feeling the wind in where my hair used to be. Must check the weather forecast for tomorrow. Oh, what a surprise, more rain... I suppose I'll just have to stay home again and bag me some classic Alpine climbs...