I'm stepping up a gear (pardon pun), as it's 3 weeks to go! Doing about 100m a week on the road and on a turbo.

I'm very thankful to Feilden + Mawson for agreeing to be my "Alloy sponsor". A massive £2000. I was out in the firm's new kit on Sunday for the Colchester Equaliser;

 It went well. 18th out of 367 riders. 60 miles in 3h20. The fixed stare is looking out for ice!

Thank you also to other sponsors; my sailing friend Clive, Ben Gummer friend and Ipswich MP, who showed us what constituency politics is all about by helping secure £1m for Red Rose Chain's studio (designed with Nick Jacob) and my mate Tim.

I am still some way off my target, so any help would be much appreciated.

I have been working out the actual miles i need to do and;

Stage 1: London–Folkestone 119.0km (73 miles) - we all do this.
Stage 2: Calais–Reims 320.9km (200 miles) - min 132 miles
Stage 3: Reims–Dijon 316.5km (200 miles) - min 132 miles
Stage 4: Dijon–Valence 314.4km (200 miles) - min 132 miles
Stage 5: Valence–Aix en Provence 234.5km (145 miles) - min 100 miles
Stage 6: Aix en Provence–Cannes 176.4km (109 miles) - min 72 miles

The minimum distance is 2/3 of the total which is the minimum each rider has to do to be a qualify as a finisher. 
oh dear! 

The training has been going well.

A highlight was a 100m ride with my brother and brother in law around South Suffolk. A very special day in all sorts of ways and got me thinking about Coram's great work with families.

My brother was just a little amused by setting out at 0 degC into snow as he lives in Sydney. He had a few layers on!

The ride was planned to take us past some good friends;

Matt, Rob and the crew at Lifecycle in Bildeston for example - the best cycle shop in the East who are making a pair of wheels for my long ride - H Plus Son Archetype rims with Aivee Hubs if you know about these things. Super cool, low bling to go with my titanium frame. I have worn out a hub since August 2014 having done more than 2,600 miles. 

And once again the best motivation for the effort has been;