The cycling has been going very well, with my record distance now 40 miles with the boy on the back.

Try to get out on the bike most days now.

One problem I had was an encounter with a swarm of bees which were between me and my destination on a narrow bridge, luckily I had my yellow jacket on and they thought I was one of them and let me pass unharmed.

Only weeks away from the actual ride!

First entry for some time , sorry but my excuse is that I have eloped to Gretna green with my bike, it certainly feels that way as that’s all I appear to be doing in my spare time.

Not really cracked the 3O mile mark yet in one single ride, but I can notice the difference in my leg strength.

Trips I undertook on the one day i had off. I got me, the bike and the ballast out of the house by 0625 to cycle to the train station to join the 0714 service to Alfreton and then cycled back to Sheffield from there. No major problems on the trip.

I have decided to practice changing tires/mending Punctures etc.. to get my speed up should this happen, so every other night I change the tyre, sad or what, against the stop watch. My best time so far is 58 minutes.

I AM MINDFUL OF THE FACT ONLY WEEKS REMAIN TO THE BIG DAY.

Sorry, time to go put the bike to bed now.

Windy day , having picked up the bike from repairs the crank clicking has gone yahooooo.

Todays objective - Worksop. Met son number one(the big one) and off we set , until we got to Wales (not 'the' Wales but a village near the motorway ) and then son number 1 has a fit in case his mates see him and I convince him he will not be spotted as the route quickly turns cross country. Uneventful relaxed ride apart from a detour caused by road works. The road that was shut was about 1 mile long, the detour was about 3 miles long.

On the way back we discovered why the ride was so relaxed on the way out. On the way back we were now sailing(cycling) into the force of nature the wind, even the down hill stretches you needed to peddle!

Out with the other boy, the big one. Quick nip to chesterfield and detour around Sheffield, the longest ride I have done to date about 25 MILES. GOOD but day one of the actual charty ride is 60 odd miles.

Think , would I be able to do 25 mles and go straight back and do it again.........errr no!

Went for a quick spin, finished off with a ride up Handsworth hill. I was really pleased with my efforts, puffing my way up the hill, until an old lady on a bike over took me and started to hold a conversation with me and she wasn't even out of breath! She then dropped a gear and sped of into the distance, kicking gravel up as she accelerated!

Went for a quick cycle ride to Elsecar, blimey those Sheffield hills are bad.

Up towards Wentworth the Hill beat me and I had to Push the bike.

Bigger Trip, with the weather fair I agree to meet the eldest son and crack the 20 mile mark.
We plan to meet at Rother Valley , which will then leave us with a fairly flat ride to Chesterfield, the down side to me is that that leaves me a big hill to get home.
We meet at Rother Valle , the Eldest Son then says have you got a Pump, and a spanner ( talk about prepared).
We then have a somewhat uneventful ride to Chesterfield, apart from the Eldest Sons bike is mud guard less and he is some what muddie in is designer label clothes.
We turn round and set off back, then there was trouble (as they say on Thomas the Tank Engine).
The Eldest Sons back wheel seized hard on.
We had to slacken a nut which moved the wheel to one side,this caused the wheel to rub the frame and the nut would unscrew its self every mile or so.
We then limped home , stopping to fix the nut every mile or so, and at one point the Eldest Son was given a lift in a land rover for a couple of miles by rangers.
2 miles from home the bike gave up completely leaving him to walk home, morale was low as we argued about the merits of his back wheel.
Over view, despite the events of the day , my morale is some what bigger as I went above 22 miles and still had more in me, saddle sore was not evident , I feel that I can do the ride confidently.