The first century

With the time for departure drawing near, it was decided that we should have some kind of 'dress rehearsal' to make sure of a few things. Firstly, that we knew what kit we were going to be taking with us. Secondly, that we were had said kit in our possession and could fit it into our panniers. Thirdly, that we were then able to actually lift the panniers, strap them onto our bikes and cycle an equivalent distance to our longest day - planned to be 96 miles.

The early steps of this process passed pleasingly well - not only did we already have everything we'd planned to take (barring maybe a can of deodorant, but hey, we can probably make do without that anyway, right?), but it fitted into our panniers with space to spare. Then came the moment of truth - the weight. It was a huge relief to discover that in fact, a collection of lycra, bike tools and bananas weighs in at considerably less than the dumbells and house bricks that we had been packing our panniers with in order to simulate the extra effort required to carry luggage. Suitably bouyed, we kitted up, fixed the map holder (read air brake) to Phil's bike, and had our first experience of chamois cream. Less said about that the better.

On the alloted morning, it was immediately clear that we would be battling the elements as well as the mileage, since the weather was drizzly with 28mph winds from the west. Here, then, was the punishment ride that had thus far eluded us. We set off from Dan's at about 0745, mixing it with rush hour traffic and various cycle commuters - mostly it has to be said going the other way, and dressed more for the conditions than the mugs in the lycra shorts. After half an hour or so we had started to get into our stride, although the experience of navigating with an unfamiliar map scale meant that we had certain 'positional ambiguity' even within 5 miles of home. Not an ideal start.

By the time we'd got down towards the southern tip of the ride, at Lepe, we had at least warmed up, and the rain was less persistent. A quick stretch of the legs there gave us time to gather our strength for the next spell towards Brockenhurst, starting along the coast and all very much into the blustering headwind. Along the seashore it became apparent just how friendly a well placed hedge can be when battling the wind. Don't recall seeing many of those on the pictures of Northern Scotland...

We progressed towards lunch at a fairly steady pace, trying our best to conserve energy into the wind and allow our average speed to drop rather than end up killing ourselves at what was still an early stage of one long day - one of theoretically many more...

Dan's luminous Leukemia T shirt helped distract slightly from the fact that we were having lunch in a - fairly smart - country pub dressed in some pretty revealing outfits, and in the end the staff were keen to chat about where we were going and our plans for the ride. This gave us the perfect excuse to linger for another 5 minutes - at least I think it was this and not the fact that it was absolutely lashing down just as we finished eating.

The afternoon was very much a plod, gradually eating up the miles, the bananas, the energy gels, the chocolate, and pretty much anything else we could lay our hands on. Having surprised ourselves by getting up into Wiltshire, it was good to start seeing signs for Southampton again, even though we were returning by pretty much the least direct route possible. The closer we got to home, the more we began to feel that actually, we might just get through this marathon day, and if we could do that, then maybe the whole thing wasn't just a crazy plan dreamt up over a couple of beers a long time ago...

The sun came out as we made our last food stop outside Romsey, and the sense grew that this was going to be a success, and one which would do wonders for our confidence. When the hundred came up on the home straight it was truly an amazing feeling, both of us riding further than ever before in a single day, and carrying the bags to boot.

We'd managed to surpass our target distance, ending up with 105 miles for the day, and even though the longest day of the ride is going to be up in the Lakes we've got a pretty good grounding now - and plus Phil won't keep going on about making sure one of the days is over 100...