14 days to - final week of training.

Well the big event is getting nearer and I'm feeling excited and scared.

Excited because it's been a long time since New Year when I decided to do this on a bit of a whim and it's nearly time to go but scared because I know it's going to hurt and potentially be quite grim.

Organisation wise I'm pretty much there. All the kit I'll be wearing is purchased and laundered and ready to go, all the energy food is boxed ready and the bike is booked in for next week for a service and a little bit of an upgrade. One of the main things I need to do now is program the sat nav in the car with all my rest points which will no doubt be fun.

The main things that are a bit of a concern of things I have no control over so I shouldn't really worry but they are fairly big things. What if it rains? What if it's windy. What if it's really hot?

If it rains it'll be a bit less fun and I'll have to put wet shoes on the next day as my cycling shoes take an age to dry. Wind is a bit more of an issue as if it's a strong head wind progress will be much slower and strong sidewinds can be quite scary on the bike. With regards to heat - the BBC said the weather was going to get very hot towards the end of July (so it'll rain) so I really need to make sure I stay hydrated and try not to over heat which may be easier said than done.

This week is the last week of hard training and will mainly involve local loops with a good portion of climbing and then next week will be a very easy week to give my body time to adapt.

Thank you to all that have sponsored me but to those that haven't please do. You can donate £5 by texting FLAB48 £5 to 70070 or you can donate via Just Giving.