And finally

Just under two weeks to go before I get to spend four days intimately connected with my bike.  This weekend will be the last long cycle and then it's time to get spare tyres, tubes and assorted accessories together.

Last weekend I was organised enough to take a trip through the Chilterns with my support crew, aka my wife, and spend the night in a lovely country hotel before coming back to London in the reverse direction. 

Total distance was just short of 125 km and, being naive and not used to hills, I thought I'd probably make this in about 6 hours, including breaks.  This didn't quite go to plan as I reached the 50 km mark about 3 hours and the first of five big climbs into the journey.  After a rough estimate that 75km averaging 20 km/h would take just under 4 hours I merrily headed up the next big climb heading towards Oxford.

After another hour I'd kept my pace up at 20 km/h and felt that I'd still be on track to finish well within the time I'd set myself.

Country roads are quite narrow, especially when you have cars lurking on your shoulder and champing at the bit to get around.  The A roads are alright as there's enough room to get past and the surfaces are reasonably good.  Being without suspension, you do notice that there are all kinds of dips, missing bits of tarmac and some alarmingly large holes that you blithely clump over in your car.  Most alarming in Britain is the placement of drainage grills about 50 cm in from the road side.  These are lethal for cyclists.  The road around them tends to crumble and when it's wet, later in the journey, they are like steel plated ice rinks.

Onto the B roads around Uffington, which has a famous "White Horse" cut into the hill side that dates back around 3,000 years, the road gets narrower and the quality deteriorates into a bumpy ride.  Taking into account that I'd reached the 90km mark, it also meant a more cautious approach was required to ensure that I was able to avoid damage to myself or the bike.

About 10km later, and getting towards 4:30pm, the support crew informed me that pubs in Wiltshire usually stop serving food around 5pm.  This was not good news as I was feeling pretty knackered and very hungry by this time, even after eating energy bars every hour.

4:45pm and it rained.  Lots.  And then more.  At one point I had to stop as the rain was splattering my face so had it was hurting my eyes, forcing them closed and making it difficult for me to feel safe if I continue to ride.  The rain also caused the sunscreen on my forehead to wash down into my right, with the subsequent chemical and sweat induced stinging of my eyeball.  Another stop and a desperate attempt to rinse my eye and I was able to get back on the road.

After the final 2 climbs of 60 metres over 2km, I reached the hotel at 5:45 pm, about 7 1/2 hours after I set off.  Dinner, bath and straight to sleep.

Next day, I picked up the trail in Henly-On-Thames and headed for home.  50km of mostly downhill travel took me just on 2 hours.

I'm ready for the four days of travel, certainly mentally prepared now, and know that physically I'm able to just get back on the bike and keep going.