Wakey Wakey Rise and Ride

5.20am: occasionally when lucky I can wake up at this hour and fall sleep again for another two more. Today however, "The Sleep Mummy" left me stranded, troubled and restless. I'd been awake for at least 30 minutes so there was only one thing to do!

6.00am: I had most of my cycling gear on except for my cleats. I was sitting with Steph's' Mum in the living room trying to decide whether I could squeeze in yet another spoonful of Quaker oats. Even for two early risers conversation was fairly muted; Jade Goody was on the TV but I couldn't really take in or hear what was being said.

6.30am: The beginning of a 3 hour round trip to Richmond Park began. An ETA of 9.30am had been assured. I think Steph's Mum thought I was a little crazy to be riding my bike so early in the morning but she didn't say. After all with crazy types its often best not to say nothing.

6.40am: I was soon cruising through Peckham at a speed that was not gonna be sustainable for 180 minutes, so I knew there would be a pay back. There were a few young people rocking from side to side near taxi ranks. I couldn't tell if it was the music they'd heard or whether they were simply trying to stay warm

6.45am: I had stopped outside a set of traffic light and two Nigerian cleaners outside a chain of Tesco were speaking in voluble Yoruba. My recent trip to Nigeria means my Yoruba has improved greatly and even in that brief moment at the traffic lights I caught every word they said. I'm not convinced the fat bloke will have a girlfriend for very long once he reveals his big secret to her.

7.00am: I met the first cyclist of the day riding in the opposite direction. He's bike was very dirty. I bet he wishes he'd cleaned his chain the night before just like I did

7.05am: I was doing my LA impression dancing across Putney Bridge

7.15am: I entered Richmond Park for the first lap. As always my pacing was slightly off and when I began the second anti clockwise lap up the main hill my paced dropped off significantly.

8.12am: I began the 4th lap clockwise. There were a number of slower cyclists plodding up the main drag and I ticked them off one by one. At the top I caught a lone roadie and he stuck it out with me up on the steep climb. We took a couple of turns each but I finally pulled away from him on the descent

8.45am: I left the Richmond Park area and heading back to where I had been was elite rider Warrick Spence Feeling quite fatigued I nodded; with a confident smile he nodded back coolly.

9.45: after a trip to Tesco's to pick up some lunchtime goodies I arrived back at Stephs...