Bike preparation

Took a look yesterday at the bike. Reality has suddenly hit home. It needs new tyres. I need a cycle helmet. I have visions of lithe, lycra clad folk kicking up the dust in front of me whilst I try to maintain a lttle dignity in a baggy t-shirt and some shorts - thank God I've given myself a year to get ready for this.

Most of the people I've interviewed that have already done ride seem pretty down to Earth (although some are evidently super-fit). last week I interviewed a lady with chronic asthma who's riding this year - if she can do it, i should be able to.

Shouldn't I?

Declaration of intent!

Having helped the Action 100 team with some of their PR efforts over the past two years, I have made the decision to ride myself in their 2006 jubilee ride.

As I am currently hugely unfit and haven't ridden a bike for 20 years (apart, that is, from one night a few years back when I borrowed my brother in laws bike after a drink or two on the empty roads at midnight).

The ride is for a brilliant cause - Action Medical Research has helped find the polio and rubella vaccines, the artificial hip operation, ultrasound scanning in pregnancy, new treatments for epilepsy, and discovering the link between taking folic acid and preventing spina bifida. ( www.action.org.uk). This year's campaign 'Touching Tiny Lives' is close to my own heart, having had a miscarriage and as the mother of two little pickles.

So now my first two steps are taken. My mother in law's old bike is sat in the garage waiting for me to dust it down and get cycling, and I've publicly committed to the ride. What have I done?

They say 'publish and be damned'. This is more like publish and be committed.