A glimmer of hope

Just spoke to the organisers, they have said that if needs be they will take me to Dover on the back of the truck if I need an extra day to recover which is good news in that I can then to that leg at my leisure another time...still feeling a little better and am waiting for the docs to call me back with news on how serious the infection is.

In the balance.....

....I am starting to think that the antibiotics are kicking in, I feel a little better and don't feel like I need the loo every 5 mins...! Hopefully this isn't a false dawn and I will be ok to start at 7am prompt tomorrow. The way I look at it that's 2 more pills and a load of cranberries.....!

Not feeling any better.....

.....hoping the antibiotics are going to kick in overnight as I feel lousy at the moment. Have drunk enough Cranberry juice to turn red and enough water to last a lifetime...fingers crossed.

Cambridge United have very kindly run a story on my bike trip - which is exceptionally exciting...and I have even had some sponsorship already - thanks to Tom in the Habbin!

Right - well you could say the next 24 hours are crucial, fingers well and truly crossed that this time tomorrow night I will be holed up in a shit hotel in South London - you won't hear me say that often!

Unbelievable

So, 2 days before ths big off I get diagnosed with a UTI, nightmare. Feeling like I need to pee every 2 mins and feeling knackered etc...not good. Am on strong dose of antibiotics, hoping they will sort me out in 24 hours. I have not been ill for months - why now?

Last training trip...

...Well here we go then I guess. Went out and did around 28 miles (missed 2 off satnav again - d'oh)....cycled to Grafham, met J, B & D, had a picnic, went round Grafham water with B (just over 8 miles - she fell asleep after 3!) and then cycled back...for some reason my left knee is killing me tonight though and I have taken Ibuprofen and iced it...fingers crossed it'll be ok in the morning.

Can I do 3 of those in a day - I think I can if the hills aren't too severe. Working it out it's got to take a max of around 3 hours per 30 miles (including stops) and an hour for lunch = 10 hours (day one) - this means leaving at 6.30am and getting to Dover for 4.30 (ferry at 5.30 apparently). It is my biggest fear in the whole trip - not making the ferry...

Wish me luck!

Last practice ride tomorrow...

...think I will be heading up to Grafham water, do a lap and come back - about 26 miles. Want to do it in under 2 hours which would be a good run out. Jen is out with the girls tonight and I am sat at home so I won't be hungover tomorrow. I will get B up and giv eher a lie in and head out mid-morning I think. I can buy the bits I need (some deep heat and other cycle bits) from Grafham cycling at the same time. In other news my leg warmers arrived and my Mum posted my lightweight jacket which I left in Cornwall.

Not long to go now - I can't believe there will be anyone who's done as little training as me - or is as unfit as me....the fact the trip starts 9/9/9 worries me a little.....!!!

Cornwall - Hills, hills and more hills (apart from the Camel Trail)

OK, now let's get this straight. Cornwall has hills - and then some...I decided to cycle to Newquay (about 30 miles) but didn't expect the massive hills in and out of Redruth, Perranporth and the final climb into Newquay - all absolute killers...



I switched the GPS off with about 6 miles to go by accident so it looks like I stopped short of Newquay - I didn't! One of the beautiful things about t'internet is you get to communicate with people you'd never normally meet so I 'met' a guy via Twitter called Sean Maher who is cycling from Cornwall to Capetown!!! Check out his website here. We decided we would do the Camel Trail together and we did so today - a fairly brisk pace - details in picture below. The pic of both of us is in Padstow where we met up with Jen, B and Ken and had a decent lunch before setting off. Sean is trying to raise as much money as he can for various charities and is a thoroughly nice chap - I am going to help him out a little and hopefully some of my contacts could be of use to him.