Blog power: The LaPierre is finally comfortable, thanks to a borrowed saddle

Map reference: circuit of Richmond Park, followed by quick spin at home

Carbs and caffeine: toast with tuna, avocado and tomato, at home but worth the effort

Through the magic of blogging, my friend Lucy got to hear about my saddle difficulties and offered me her spare Specialized Lithia Comp gel. What bliss to settle into the curves I am used to. It is padded slightly more sparingly than my original saddle and comes in at 130g (yes, I weighed it myself on the kitchen scales). Although this is not super light, the bottom line (geddit?) is I need to be comfortable. And I was.

I only did one circuit of Richmond Park today is it was gusting horribly. In fact I nearly turned back before I got there as I was being driven into the middle of the road, despite gripping the bars. Luckily, in the park you can see the gust arriving, marked by a flurry of crispy brown leaves. Traffic was sparse but I kept the speed right down in deference to the wind, and enjoyed that lovely childish sense of flying that comes with a relaxed cycle.

I’ve realised today that it is only four and a half months until the Etape du Tour, and three and a half until the Dragon ride which, at 220k, will be at least as much of a test. There’s a slight training hitch as one of my riding partners, Neil, has gone AWOL for a month. Jacqui is also gone for two weeks but she is lending me her husband, which is only fair I think.

Note to self: hit the stationers, this definitely calls for a chart… maybe even some stickers