The Night Before the Morning After

This time tomorrow, I'll have done it.  I'll have cycled to Brighton.  Or at least I hope I will have, and if I haven't by this time, then I'll probably be lost or injured (more likely lost, because they have systems to deal with injured people).

In order to even start this majestic feat, I'll have to be in a taxi at 5.15 am tomorrow.  I can hear some of you pondering why I'm not cycling to the start - Clapham Common, where the start line is, is just about diametrically opposite my house if you draw a line through the centre of London on a map and about a 10 mile journey, so I would have cycled almost a fifth of the distance from London to Brighton before I'd even started.  I'll be meeting up with the rest of my work team for a picture at 6.15, before we set off on our merry way at 6.30.

Needless to say, I'll be getting an early night tonight.  I'll need to make sure my tires are pumped up, pack my pyjamas, teddy bear and associated accoutrements (we're staying overnight in Brighton) and lay out my kit for the morning.  I'm stocked up on jelly babies, so I must be ready!

I have absolutely no idea how long it's going to take me to get to Brighton, but I don't really care as long as I get there.  Just arriving in Brighton will represent a huge life-changing journey for me; I can't quite believe that I couldn't ride a bike two months ago and now I'm about to cycle 56 miles in one day.  I also know that this change is for life - I can now cycle to and from work whenever I want to (which is probably going to prove invaluable during the Olympics) and James has grand plans for cycling holidays around most of Europe - he was even trying to persuade me last night that doing a 190km race in a few weeks would be a great idea (I'm thinking perhaps not).

I also hope that my journey can help change some other people's lives too.  So far I've raised £543 online and another £80 or so on my traditional paper sponsor form for British Heart Foundation.  There's still plenty of time to sponsor me using the link on the right hand side of the page, and don't worry if you want to wait to see if I do it first - the page will be open for three months after the event.

Thank you all for your support, good wishes and for reading this blog throughout my training.  I'll write a full account of the day early next week, but for now, wish me luck!