A super furry state

... which isn't a reference to having hairy legs but a nod to one of the bands that got me through yesterday's riding.

I listened to the whole of the Super Furries' Dark Days/Light Years album and very much enjoyed it. I didn't rate the album when I bought it last year but listening to it on yesterday's ride to Clevedon gave it a new lease of life.

I even stopped to replay Inaugural Trams, which has a great German spoken word section by Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand. It seemed quite apt after my weekend in Germany (where I barely spoke a word of German).

My flight from Berlin came in at 11.30pm on Sunday, which meant that I didn't get to sleep until 2am on Monday. On top of three days of heavy drinking and going to bed no earlier than 5am, Monday's riding was a real struggle.

In the morning I rode 10 miles to pick up a new steering wheel for my van and it was incredibly tough. I felt so sick with tiredness! After a lot of water and food I rode 38 miles in the afternoon, including two killer hills (Wraxall Hill and Naish Hill). By the 25 mile mark I knew I was on a recovery ride so I coasted home the final 13, spinning fast up the hills and pedalling gently on the flats.

Today (Tuesday) I rode 11 miles after work but still didn't feel right. My legs and body felt tired and mentally I was shattered too. My average speed was horrible (16.4mph) and I think my riding will all be at that pace this week. I'm looking at two 100 mile rides on Saturday and Sunday so there's no point trying to prove anything with fast sprints this week.

This is my final weekend of long distances before my training tapers off, which means that my start date is now only two weeks away (gulp!).

Almost all my accommodation is booked, all my maps are printed, my bike is working well and hopefully the van will be sorted at its MOT tomorrow. All that's left now is to pack my things and draw attention to the ride with a press release... which reminds me. Yesterday I asked Helen to take a few pics of me in my Cancer Research t-shirt (see right). Watch out for this appearing in a newspaper near you soon...