Less then a month to go now!!! Big gulp!! 29 days to be exact. Getting the last minute preparations under way Insurance, spares, food energy drinks, what clothing to take the list seems endless.....

Cramming as much training in as possible, it seems I am spending my life on the saddle of the bike. I must admit I did take the weekend off what with Olivia's sports day, speech day and the Caterham School ball on Saturday. I even had two glasses of red wine on Saturday night....... admittedly I did go for a run and a quick visit to the gym on Sunday but not for long though.

The British Airways saga continues we have been told we will get a refund of £116 for the tax and charges, the rest of the fare will hopefully come from the insurance policy Markie took out. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. Admittedly to get that far I did spend over 2 hours on the phone to their call centre listening to tacky Spanish on hold music and some announcer going on how wonderful BA. What a load of C**P !"£?"$?

Lots of training coming up over the next week when Brian gets back for Scotland. I will update you all on that front in my next entry.

Have a good week. Enjoy the weather......

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly News!

First the bad news, my Trans Rockies partner Markie, who as you can remember had a major fall in March, breaking his humerus and dislocating his left shoulder, when we were training in Wales, has had the news from his consultant at East Surrey Hospital, that he is unable to ride for about three months and will possibly need another operation on his shoulder to correct its alignment. This was a devastating shock for him and everyone. We had held out so much hope that he would be going to Canada. I know how much this had meant to him and how grateful I was of his support from the word go. It is a real shame! On the brighter side I have said to him once he is ship shape again we will attempt some other gruelling feat a bit closer to home. We will keep you posted on that one!

To the good news!! My friend Brian Trill has very kindly offered to take Markie's place on the Trans Rockies ride and I am very honoured to have him along as my team mate. Brian lives for his mountain bike, spending many many hours in the saddle and riding all over the country at some of the best venues Britain has to offer. He recently did a fantastic ride in Peru for a charity in memory of his mother who sadly passed away, riding over 500km up through the mountains at high altitude, finishing in Machu Picchu some 2,500m above sea level. A fantastic feat. I look forward to continuing the training over the coming weeks with him.

After the devastating news about Markie a bit of ugly news this time on the ticket front. British Airways - what a disappointment. What we thought would be a simple change of the name on the ticket turned out to cost £850. The miserable sods would not transfer the ticket, into Brian's name so it now becomes null and void. Therefore, we had to buy another in Brian's name, even after explaining the reasons - The injury - the charity - no budging. Well all I can say is 'Thanks British Airways' The world's favourite airline!!! Puff to that!!!!! I will take my bookings elsewhere next time.

Had a slightly easier training week this week just recharging the batteries. We had a good road ride yesterday. Brian, Ben and I took part in a charity ride for the British heart Foundation, 45 miles of Surrey's finest countryside in the rain. Brian had a near miss as he skid off on a sharp corner on the first fast descent. He's now got a bit of a bruised butt I think!! The ride was good training and we were home in about 2 and half hours which was not bad.

At last we have also decided a team name and what could be more appropriate then

'Team Milo'

Have a good week take it easy.

What happened to the Summer??,

Gosh it's so Wintery, the week started with good intention, even managed to get sun burnt on my shoulders on Tuesday when I went out for a ride with Markie, then suddenly Winter appears to have arrived and it has not stopped raining.

Tough week on the training front, but encouraged along with all the kind donations that have been coming in from friends and family - A big thank you to all of you for your kind support!! With Sundays London to Brighton and back ride I managed to clock up nearly 250 miles of cycling this week, amazingly that's just two thirds of the distance expected in the rocks and only about a third of the climbing expected - Gulp!!

With only 44 days to go now I have been looking at the final preparation's of items needed to be taken, the spare room looks like a shop at the moment full of energy bars, isotonic drink mixes, lotions and potions for all manor of possible situations that may arise.

Tested the bike box out on Sunday and phew!!! The bike does fit with a bit of room to spare, had to take a few bits of to squeeze it in though but on the whole its going to protect the bike extremely well.

That's all really at the moment, off to the office now, as I have not been there all of last week as I have been spending as much time as possible training and been very busy on the personal training front.

Have a pleasant week.

Caterham to Brighton and back 85 miles

Check it out: Caterham to Brighton and back

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Caterham to Brighton & Back

Father's days went off with a bang this Sunday when myself, Ian and Roland left Merstham just before 7 am for our annual dash to Brighton and back. Battling with the roadies and giving them a good run for their money. We tagged along with the lead pack for a bit which was fun and very fast! We made good time arriving in Brighton at the finish line at just under 2hrs and 15 minutes had a quick snack then headed back up the old A23 route and arrived back at home just in time for lunch and a surprise box of Father's day goodies from my wonderful daughter, which I managed to consume that afternoon. The weather could have been better but the sun managed to came out a few times at least the wind was in our favour on the way back though that helped.

We had a laugh when we managed to activate the speed cameras as we shot through them at over 40 miles an hour in a 30 limit - Speeding ticket in the post Ha! Ha!

Topped over 180 mile this week, the longest and hardest yet covering over 10,000 feet of climbs. Roll on next week. Gulp!!!!!

Markie is back from the States so we are getting some rides in during the coming week. Decision time. I will report back on this next week.

Have a good week !!! Pictured Ian and Roland Discussing the ride and me looking well I'm not sure!!

Update & Charity Sale at Caterham School

Time is moving faster then ever now and the training is starting to take a new level. The minor injury I got last week has healed up nicely, luckily with very little problem. Managed to get a few extra miles in during the week. Thursday clocked up 40 plus miles travelling to the club on my bike, taking the spinning class, then shooting out for a 15 mile blast for the biking class I take at the club, then cycling home as fast as I could. Started out nice and early on Saturday and managed to get a 48 plus mile ride and topped 6,000 feet of climb the most yet and equivalent to a days ride in the Rockies. Amazingly, I felt fine when I got back.

Next big session coming up is 17th June the London to Brighton and back ride. Currently, it looks like it's me and Ian, taking on the roadies on a blast to the coast and then back, just in time for lunch what, what!!

Had our last charity fund raising sale on Sunday at the Caterham School fayre. It was a beautiful, hot and sunny day and we were kept very busy on the charity stall. We managed to sell lots of items that were very kindly donated to our fund from lots of Companies and Celebrities - a big thank you to all of them and a very big thank you to Caterham School for allowing us to take part. We managed to raise in excess of £400 - which was not bad at all.

Take care and have a good week.

Auch!!!!............That stings!!!

I can not believe what happened this week, following bucket loads of training - Beating Natalie home on Tuesday on a Car Versus Bike race from Sutton to Caterham - I only won by about 5 minutes. A fantastic ride out on Wednesday with Brain over to Westcott, the other side of Dorking. Where we went up to Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill with a load of guys from Nirvana bike shop. Thursdays ride when Tread and Markie joined in at the club, Saturday Long one with Ben, Martin, Ian, Markie and Dee plus two spinning classes and numerous visits to the gym. It all nearly ended in disaster I bloody fell off going about 5 miles an hour up a bank. Crazy thing was I was actually doing a favour for Dee's Brother who wanted a couple of shots of a mountain biker in action. Action he certainly got. What a TWIT!!! Luckily nothing too major just a very sore cut up elbow, a stiff hip and a swollen ankle. Hopefully the pictures Dee's brother took come out well!!

That's great the weather has just changed it's pouring with rain. By the way pictured is the sore elbow ........ Lovely!!!

Have a good week.