Altogether now: "Na na naaa naaaa, na na naa naa naaaaa....." Mad-haired Swedish rockers (who incidentally don't have such mad hair any more) aside, this enormously long bike ride thing is getting rather close now, isn't it? There are just three sleeps to go until kick off. Or, should I say, two and a half sleeps, given that my 6.30 am start time necessitates me getting up in the middle of the night - I knew all my early starts in the early days of my training would ultimately stand me in good stead!
I got on my bike today for the first time in a week. A spate of bad weather, plus the desire to start the bike ride on Sunday with fairly fresh legs, have meant that my Oyster card has had a bit of a bashing and I've left my wheels at home. My ride into work was quite pleasant (apart from the van driver who decided (a) that it was my fault that he was driving in the cycle lane and (b) to shout at me about it), and after James and I had gone our separate ways towards our respective offices, I gave a lift to a honeybee which landed on my handlebars and didn't get off until I reached my destination. I hope he didn't end up too far away from his hive or get lost, but I was pleased to save him some wing power. When I got to work I realised I'd left a particularly important item of clothing at home, so I had to rush to the shops to remedy this issue. I'll be riding home again this evening after the most inconveniently timed conference call ever (OK, so that's probably not true, but it is pretty inconvenient).
I tested out my "race shirt" today. It fits well, but the zip has sharp corners on it which dig into my neck, so that will need some adjustment. I also tested out my new panniers, which arrived on Tuesday. They are enormous. I could probably go on a three week holiday and just carry my things in them. Initially I had a few problems with them, because the front edge of the bags was fouling the pedals on one side, so I had to stop to adjust it. It was better afterwards, but not quite right, so I'll need to fiddle about with it a bit. I'm also at another breakthrough point: I need to raise my saddle another half inch or so, and I'll need to do that this evening so that it isn't a brand new development on Sunday - after the ride home tonight, I won't be getting on my bike again until the big day!
I mentioned in my previous post that this blog was very close to its thousandth page view, but that I was still a little way off my fundraising target. Well, since then, the blog has smashed through the 1,000 views barrier (1,014 and counting) and, thanks to a few very generous donors, I am now just £2 short of my fundraising target of £500. Could you be the person who takes me over the fundraising threshold? If so, click the link on the top right hand side of the page and follow the instructions.
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