June
Sun 22nd Did my final significant outdoor training ride today 60ish … the first since last weekend's series of rides.  Took a while to get into it, and had my first puncture on the new bike - needed to check I could get the tyres off easily anyway. Managed to get into it a bit more after the first hour and a half.  Was fortunate to be overtaken by a Verulum CC rider - Paul - who was doing a very similar route to me (though a bit quicker!), who was happy for me to tag along. This turned an otherwise dull and below average training ride, into an extremely good final sharpener. Also made me work really hard up the hills to keep up, but meant I could hide in his slipstream into the strong headwind:)  In the evening I managed to catch-up with Gary (our local long distance recumbent cyclist), who has recently returned from his 9-day jaunt down to Andalucia on his homemade recumbent. With tales of 9 consecutive tons, on his fully laden "touring" bike (apparently weighing in at about 65lbs!!!), and a couple of nights sleeping rough in the rain, it reminded me how grateful I will be that we've got such a well organised trip with full support along the way, and that it's only five days!!!
Sat 21st Another rest day … and just as well 'cos it's rainy and miserable outside!!!
Fri 20th More rest + "carbo-loading" - Ali's leaving do meant final big beers before the big ride.
Tue 17th - Thu 19th Enforced rest days today as work too busy. Didn't even manage to get to spinning on Wednesday!!!
Mon 16th Cycled in today, along an extended route - 45 mins or so. Also, did spinning and a run at lunch, so not a bad training day.  Legs are definitely sore now!!!
Sun 15th Didn’t quite manage to get out by 6am … a touch weary after yesterday!  Managed 50ish this morning, though, and didn’t feel too bad for it. Work pressures seem likely to limit my training plans for next week though.
Sat 14th Did my final big ride today before the real thing.  About 145 miles, half of which was around the Surrey hills with e and Frase (my old tri training partner).  Was going well until I had to head home from Dorking … then I realised I wasn't feeling quite so fresh. After leaving home around 6:30am, I finally got home around 5pm. Not bad, but my plan of doing 60 miles on each of the next four days feels challenging.
Fri 13th Just went for a run today, to help ease back into training.
Thu 12th Enforced rest day today as too much work to complete.
Wed 11th Golf day, so no training.
Tue 10th Managed another hour's bike ride in the evening, but could go fast as I got a stitch … had only eaten dinner an hour or so earlier.
Mon 9th Cycled in today … first time in ages.  No training at lunch time though as too busy at work.
Sun 8th Quite tired, but went for an hour and a half's bike ride today to get yesterday's journey out of my legs.  Felt reasaonbly good … and well rested after holiday.
Sat 31st - Sat 7th Holiday in Turkey … so lots of rest and no training.  Could have done with Jacob sleeping longer though:)
May
Mon 19th - Fri 30th Managed to squeeze in a few bits and bobs of training, but not much due to heavy workloads.  Also didn't manage to cycle in at all.
Sun 18th Not feeling quite as fresh now and knee still sore, so just went for a short 45 miler today at a much slower pace … what they call active recovery.  Knee started to improve too.  Can see the real thing is going to be quite some challenge … and will hurt!!!
Sat 17th Joined e and Paul for a 145 miler today … unfortunately the others who were due to join us had to drop out, Simon due to severe saddle soreness and John due to a bad knee. Went reasonably well, though felt a bit weak for the first couple of hours until the others slowed up a bit.  However, then developed a sore knee, and we all crashed about 10 miles from home as Paul hit an expansion joint on a bridge. Not pleasant lying in the middle of a busy dual carriageway!!!  All more or else unscathed though.  Extremely achey after today's ride though, and no one is planning on doing anything on Sunday (except me of course!)
Fri 16th Managed to complete 90 miles this morning,  Headed in John's direction - a pleasant changes of scenery - and did the return journey with him. He then joined the rest who came up from Guildford.  Felt rubbish for the last hour or so as still seem to be recovering from a cold.  Felt better quite soon afterwards though, so perhaps mostly recovered.
Tue 6th - Thu 15th Managed to keep training ticking over reasonably well these two weeks, though work pressures did make it more difficult.  Didn’t manage to cycle in much.
Fri 2nd - Mon 5th Enjoyed a great half a rugby tour and returned unscathed.  Would have been great to do the whole thing, but there's a limit to how much time I can have away with the big ride in only two month's time.  Managed to survive unscathed, but didn't get a whole lot of sleep and drank a fair amount of beer. All good fun though!!! Rested for most of the rest of the weekend.
April
Mon 28th - Thu 1 May Tailored my training this week more to track sprinting and weights so that I could survive rugby tour at the weekend. Felt reasonably strong by the end of the week, so should be ok. Praying that I make it through with no injuries.
Sun 27th Another "rest" day … if you can call it that. Spent about two hours sorted out the back garden lawn … quite tough work in itself.
Sat 26th took the new bike out for a gentle jaunt in the afternoon.  Surprisingly comfortable, especially once I got the seat position sorted. Not going particularly quick.  Need to get a bike computer for it so I can check speed and distance, etc.
Thu 24th - Fri 25th Much needed rest days.
Wed 23rd Usual lunchtime training … spin session followed by a run.  Now my legs are really tired! Going to take a few days rest … and maybe gently test out the new bike at the weekend.
Tues 22nd Drove to work today as I wanted to do some track training in preparation for rugby tour in a couple of weekends time.  A bit on the slow side sprint-wise … though hardly surprising as it was the first time at the track in months … not to mention my recent training. Still ... a good start back.  Hopefully one more session of this next week before tour.
Mon 21st Feeling quite good considering yesterday's bike ride. Cycled to work and did a run at lunch time, followed by some weights - need to get some upper body strength in place for rugby tour in a couple of weeks. Now I don’t feel quite as fresh as I thought.  The run was particularly tough. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep, maybe my legs were tired, or maybe it's 'cos I haven't run for a while? Maybe all three!!!
Sun 20th Another 5am wake-up to get some real miles in the saddle. Didn’t feel too tired this time. Met with the Guildford-based guys at our usual Maindenhead rendez-vous for this morning's ride. The weather seemed to hold out … relatively still and no rain:)  Managed nearly 70 miles in 4 hours 7 mins cycling (about 4 and a half hour's elapsed time.  Felt quite good ... no ill effects. Plenty more in the tank. Hope to use the new bike in the next few weeks to get used to it.
Sat 19th Went to pick up my new bike.  Quite pleased with it … just need to get some dry weather and a bit of spare time to get practicing on it.
Sun 13th - Fri 18th Not too much soreness from Saturday's ride.  Mum visiting from New York this week, so had time off work and training:) A very pleasant break too!
Sat 12th 5am wake-up to get out on the road for a long ride. Met Paul and e near Maidenhead before heading down for some serious Surrey Hills riding.  Did a hill or two too many … felt totally knackered about 20 miles from Paul's place where we were due to finish ... made it though.  106 miles for the day in just over six and a half hours pedaling time - over seven hours elapsed time. Didn't feel to bad once after finishing though..
Thu 10th - Fri 11th Rest days … aiming to get a good ride in on Saturday … lots of hills planned.
Wed 9th As per Monday. Knee was a touch tender though after the run.  Need to keep an eye on that sort of thing.
Tue 8thRest day. Cycled to work though.
Mon 7th Cycled to work and managed a decent spin session at the gym followed by a 5 mile run at lunchtime. So far so good on the training, but going to get really busy at work soon - it'll be interesting to see whether I can maintain some of this good work.
Sat 5th - Sun 6th A generally restful weekend with a turbo session at home on the Sunday followed by a couple of laps running round the block.
Mon 31st - Fri 4th A busy week, but managed to cycle to work every day except Friday and get good spin sessions followed by a run on Monday and Wednesday … back in the routine proper.  Also managed to do lots of e-mailing / leg work for CHASE to drum up more support.  Hopefully got NHBC sponsorship sorted.  Went to see new Osteo on Friday ... mostly sorted a long-standing issue with my hip that was becoming quite a nuisance.
March
Sat 29th - Sun 30th Had hoped to play rugby on Saturday, but game was called off.  Just did a hour's turbo session at home in the garage followed by a mile trot round the block.
Fri 28th Was due to cycle to Surbiton and back to see our Nutritionist this morning, but the weather was grim. (Legs a touch tired too!). So ended up driving. Pleased I did too - think the rest did me good.  Got plenty of good tips for improving my diet … just need to put it into practice!!!
Thu 27th Finally managed to get a long ride in.  Left home about 6:45am and arrived at Gatwick about 5 hours and 80 miles later … only 20 miles more than planned?!?!  A few wrong turns.  Bike fitting sorted though + managed to pick out a new bike - carbon fibre Trek.  Must be cheaper to lose weight by sorting out a healthier diet than buying a lighter bike!!! However, nice to have a new bike for the big ride. Managed 63 miles of the return journey before the light faded and I needed collecting - 143 total in about 9 hours cycling time, with lots of stops, including two hours at the bike shop and a coffee stop in Dorking with a mate.
Wed 26th Back into the lunchtime training routine. Did a spin session followed by a few weights.  No running though.  Planning to do a long ride tomorrow - Gatiwck and back. Heading for Evans bike shop to get properly measured for a new bike and see if I can buy one.
Tue 25th First day back at work proper ... no training.
Mon 24th More snow! Managed an hour on the turbo followed by a mile trot round the block to ease back into things.
Sun 23rd Was hoping for a long ride, but snow and freezing conditions on Easter Sunday put pay to that idea.  Managed a mountain bike ride to work in the hope of switching my morning's ride to the following week, and did an extended route home to get the day's cycling time up to an hour.
Sun 16th to Sat 22nd Aside from a few walks, no training this week. Will hopefully benefit from catching up on sleep though:)
Sat 15th Was due to cycle to Bristol en route to a week's holiday in Cornwall, but need to accompany Lucy in the car as Jacob has been suffering from a bit of a bug in recent days.  Disappointing as the condition were perfect albeit I would have got wet towards the end of the ride. Hopefully I can do a ride over Eater weekend to make up for this.
Thu/Fri 13th/14th  Busy days with lots going on at work and at home, including work social Thursday evening to give my liver a bit of "training".  No cycling to work though.  Hopefully the ride at the weekend will make up for a relatively light training week.
Wed 12th Managed to cycle to work today and do a spin session followed by a run.
Tue 11th Out of the office for a meeting all day today, so no training possible.
Mon 10th Was going to cycle in today, but saw some of the grimmest weather yet this year when I looked out of the window  cold and very strong wind driven rain.  Probably would still have biked in were it not for the fact that I needed to get my road bike to the shop for a very long overdue service. Hope we don't get weather like this on the big ride (or any of our long training rides for that matter) ... that'd make the whole thing really challenging and much less pleasant. Managed a decent spin session followed by an extremely wet and cold run at lunchtime.  Need to maintain these sort of sessions to keep the base fitness level intact.
Sun 9th  Finally managed to get some motivation for a turbo session at home. Think I did about an hour twenty, followed by a gentle trot around the block with Lucy & Jacob. Feel a bit more on track again now.
Sat 8th  No training, but went over to Paul & his family for some social time. Jacob seemed to play reasonably nicely with the kids which meant we could have a good catch up ... lots of talk about cycling ... maybe a bit too much for his wife! ooooppsss sorry:(  Looking forward to our next big training ride in a week's time.
Fri 7th  Cycled to work again. That makes three days this week, which is a bit more pleasing than recent weeks. Also, makes up for below par training levels a bit.
Thu 6th  In London today for meetings, so no cycling.  Needed the recovery after yesterday though.
Wed 5th  Quite a big day training wise.  Cycled in and managed a spin session at the gym followed by a run.  At least I've beaten off the cold now.
Tue 4th  Back to cycling into work ... every mile helps.
Mon 3rd  At Milton Keynes for work until lunchtime, so only managed a run today ... and not a great one at that ... still suffering a bit from the lergi.
Sat/Sun 1st/2nd March  Seem to have caught a mild cold of some kind ... not surprising ... nothing major, but a bit of a nuisance. Was going to do a turbo session at some point this weekend, but couldn't seem to get sufficient motivation.  Next week should be better ... and hopefully I'll feel a bit more up for it.
February
Wed 27th to Fri 29th Away on business, so lots of eating drinking, less sleep than normal and no cycle training ... all in all good fun, but not much help for preparing for the big ride. Managed to "cross train" with a hard day on the ski slopes though:)  That made up for it a bit!
Tue 26th No training today. But managed to arrange photo shoot for paper number two today. It'll be interesting to see what they print (and when)!!!
Mon 25th Back to cycling to work ... finally light out before 7am, which makes it seem so much more pleasant. Must have been a press release today as two local newspapers called to chat about the ride and arrange photos!  A bit unprepared for this ... haven't shaved for a couple of days.  Luckily I'm back in training at the gym, which made it easier to arrange the first photo session.  A good session today  spin followed by run.  Hopefully get more training in at the weekend, as I'm away most of this week again.
Sun 24th Managed an hour on the turbo at long last, followed by a slow trot round the block on foot with Jacob and Lucy!!!
Mon 18 to Sat 23rd Enforced rest week as overloaded with work commitments including too much time out of the office.  Didn't manage to cycle to work even once.  Hope to get in some training at the weekend.
Sun 17th Rest day as planned with a two hour walk up hill and down dales with Jacob in the backpack ... I guess this is what they call "active recovery"!
Sat 16th Managed to get down to Guildford reasonably early to grab a half hour jaunt before the main ride.  This was followed by a group tour and photo shoot around CHASE at Guildford ... what an amazingly well thought out facility. Met Andrew Castle (ex British #1 tennis star) and Mayor of Guildford thanks to jools' skills on the PR front. Also, extremely lucky jools has got the organising well in hand, so that we can all focus just on the riding.  Group ride went quite well, though it wasn't the type of rural, social ride I've previously been used to, heading down and back along the main roads to and from Chichester. Most of the group showed impressive levels of fitness / pace, especially given everyone's claimed lack of experience.  Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow!
Tue 12th to Fri 15th A busy week at work  not getting enough sleep, but did manage to get in some decent training on Wednesday  spin session followed by a run. Looking forward to a long ride with the group at the weekend ... finally getting my second outdoor day in the saddle!
Mon 11th Cycled to work, but missed Monday training at lunch for the first time this year.  Made up for it by doing a 75min turbo session at home followed by a quick mile lap on foot around the block.
Sun 10th Plenty of family time, but lacking motivation on the training front today. Got a big training week coming up, so not too fussed though. Didn't even manage to watch the rugby this weekend!  Don't think I missed much though.
Sat 9th  Family time today, so no training.  Hope to do a turbo session tomorrow.
Fri 8th  Fifth day in a row cycling to work ... first time in twelve years working at NHBC!  Reckon I've earned my curry tonight.  Need some sleep too as I only managed about 4 hours last night due to work social followed by very late night shopping!
Thu 7th  Cycled to work, but no other training today.  Just as well, as I need a bit of recovery time from yesterday's session.
Wed 6th  One of my better training days. Cycled to work (3rd day in a row), followed by spinning and a run at lunch.  Getting decent food in this week too!
Tue 5th  Cycled to work, but skipped the evening turbo session ... too many other things to sort + I know I've got a heavy training day tomorrow.
Mon 4th Cycled to work + spinning at lunch ... a decent start to a hopefully better training week.
Sat/Sun 2nd/3rd Managed an hour's turbo training each day 6 Nations watching rugby.  Also, finally managed to give the garage a bit of a tidy so that it's easier to get to the bike, telly and video:) I think I'm getting stronger, but only time will tell.
Fri 1st Only my second day cycling in this week ... and that was the total of my training for the day. Oh well ... bad weeks and good weeks.
January
Thu 31st Long day full of meetings ... no training ... and need to get more sleep ... not had anywhere near enough all week.
Wed 30th Had to drive in today to get gear for meetings tomorrow.  Only managed the lunchtime spin session ... no run again.
Tues 29th Back to cycling to work today. But that's about it on the training front. Too much to sort out at work.
Mon 28th Jan Decided not to bike to work today. Need the rest plus I have a tight deadline to meet at work.  Did spinning at lunch though. Didn't feel too fresh in the legs ... after a short burst of working hard with the rest of the class I realised I would be better off just spinning gently at my own pace to recover from yesterday.
Sun 27th Jan First proper outdoor bike ride.  Remember why I stopped doing Sunday morning cycle rides ... laying in is so much easier!!!  A great day for it though. Met up with e and Simon near Windsor ... managed 68 miles in 4hours 10 mins and felt surprisingly good.  I guess the cycling to work and lunchtime spin sessions are paying off.  Reading Jacob a story as soon as I walked in the front door was tough going, but managed to sneak away, get changed and get some food before reading another.  The afternoon's warm down was a gentle canal walk with Lucy (and Jacob in the backpack). Luckily no hills ... could tell I wouldn't have coped with a serious hill walk!!!
Sat 26th Jan Second lie in in a row.  Managed about an hour on the turbo today while Jacob was napping ... finished watching the rest of Terminator 3. Looks like I've got Great Expectations on the tape to watch next !?!?  Not sure it'll relieve the boredom in quite the same way
Thurs/Fri 24th/25th  Rest days ... and needed them.  A bit under the weather from work, training and too little sleep. Hopefully have my first outdoor ride lined up for Sunday.  Managed to get a bit of a lay in on Friday  'til about 8am.
Wed 23th Legs a bit weary from the last couple of days.  No excuses though ... cycle in, spin at lunch, followed by another run and a cycle home.  Felt a tad weaker on the bike today ... perhaps I'm not fully recovered.  The run was decent though (all things considered).  Doesn't help that my Christmas cough seems to have come back.
Tues 22nd A weary ride to work and back today. Managed about 45 mins on the turbo at home while watching the first half of Terminator 3 ... having the telly seems to help the time pass reasonably well.  Lucky I've got lots of things recorded:)
Mon 21st Cycled in ... kind of getting used to this. Another lunchtime spent on a bike going nowhere;) Felt strong today. The cycle home at the end of the day was a bit tiring though!
Sun 20th Finally got the TV and VCR rigged up in the garage to alleviate the boredom of turbo training.  Stuck on an old Tour video of Lance showing who's boss in the moutains!  Aside from some horizontal flicker that will need sorting later on it seemed to work. I can finally start wading through the boxes of old Star Trek videos I recorded a while ago and figure out which ones are on each tape ... how sad is my life getting!?!? Sorted the horizontal flicker, so (almost) looking forward to my next turbo session ... that should be Tuesday eve as Lucy is due to be out.  Might even try to cycle outdoors next weekend (weather permitting), though need to speak with my boss:)
Sat 19th Full rest day ... not that I needed it, aside from a slight lack of sleep.
Fri 18th Looks like another rest day as work's a bit busy. At least I cycled in!
Thu 17th Rest day ... plus at least half a bottle of wine!
Wed 16th A total change in conditions ... was actually able to see that it's getting lighter in the mornings! Spinning today too seems to be getting easier, which actually just means I can work harder, but end up just as fatigued!
Tues 15th  What joy ... another dark, rainy and this time windy cycle to work! ... and more of the same for the journey home. Sanity issues?
Mon 14th Perhaps I over did it a bit today  on top of yesterday's late eve turbo session. I seem to have somewhat tired legs after cycling to work followed by a spin session at lunch, immediately followed by a 4.5 mile run and then a cycle home at the end of the day:)  Feeling pleased though, because I've had a very swift response to my freecycle request for anyone throwing out a VCR that still works ... hope to collect it soon and rig it up with the telly in the garage so that I can watch stuff to alleviate the anticipated boredom of long turbo sessions.
Sun 13th Was looking like another rest day, but finally managed to complete a 45 min turbo session in the garage this eve.  It's a start I guess. Need to get a VCR and TV rigged up so that I can watch my old Tour videos.  ipods are great, but I need more input to avoid the boredom.  Looking forward, I'm hoping to plan two outdoor rides a month to get some real miles in the legs, though perhaps I'm being overly ambitious ... time will tell.
Sat 12th Rest day if you can call it that with little jumping bean Jacob bouncing around all day:) Was thinking about doing a turbo session, but Jacob napped at the wrong time.  Still need to overcome the inertia of lethargy to get the real bike back up and running.
Fri 11th Biked to work and back for the third time today. Absolutely torrential rain on the way in.  Could see better without my glasses than with that's a bit worrying.
Thu 10th Drove to work today, as track training this eve. Nothing like a bit of sprint training (if you can call it that) to break the monotony:)
Wed 9th  Getting used to this cycling to work in the dark lark.  It'll be interesting to see how long I can maintain the keenness though:) Second spin session at lunchtime today followed by another 4.5 mile run. Might need some recovery time after the last three days.
Tue 8th  Back to cycling to work.  Dug out my thermal cap to go under my helmet ... much warmer now:)  Can recommend this to anyone cycling in the winter.
Mon 7th  Didn't bike to work as I'd run out of shirts ... needed to take more shirts to work in the car ready for future rides.  Did first spin class of the year 45 mins of sweat time followed by a 4.5 mile (slow) run. Still not quite got round to dusting off the roady for a real ride ... even the turbo trainer lays dormant.  Just pacing myself:). Forgot to mention that when DRIVING home I got a flat tyre (apparently the seal had gone, rather than a puncture). So that means I've had two flats whilst driving to and from work in the last two years an none whilst cycling. Life is just full of surprises!
Sat / Sun 5th & 6th  rest days + carbo loading (aka stuffing my face and drinking beer!!!)
Fri 4th  More of the same, though no run at lunch and no snow ... just a bit of wind and rain. All in all a decent first week.
Thu 3rd  Same as Wed, but thankfully no run at lunchtime.  However, the snow on the return journey did sting my face a bit.  Also, it wasn't great for visibility as it stuck to my glasses!!!
Wed 2nd  Dusted off the MTB, put the new lights on that I got for Xmas and pootled off for a very chilly 20 min ride to work in the dark at 6:30am.  Managed a 4.5 mile run at lunch, followed by a similar return journey in the evening.  Having completed this for some strange reason I'm no longer daunted by the distances planned for the Summer!?!?