So today i did the London bikeathon 26 mile charity ride and my first comment was that it was incredible,its got to be by far the best thing ive ever done,Not just for the cause I was doing it for but for the great sense of achievement that it has left me with afterwards.

I woke about 6am and had cereal and gave the bike a once over check to make sure all was in order,Left around 7.30 and got to the Royal Chelsea Hospital at around 8am,By that time the 13 mile riders had already gathered and were ready to depart,Sat around until about 8.45 in the car and then i went into the hospital grounds and had a chat with some of the riders on my route and on the City route and there was a chance to use the Evans Cycles Dr Bike stations and use the facilities if necessary too.

At around 10.00am we started to line up in our starting grids City route riders on the left of the centre divider and Scenic route riders on the right of it (Pics to follow soon) and over the course of the next 25 minutes a air horn was signed to let the riders know when to depart,We were sent off in groups of around 15 at a time to avoid clogging up the main roads,

When we left the hospital we turned out onto Chelsea embankment and then followed that all the way down into Chelsea Harbour which took us to Putney and over the bridges etc and eventually connecting us to the Thames Towpath which would take us swiftly out of London,

After the towpath section which was rather rugged indeed we set out onto B roads leading towards the town of Richmond and Richmond park,I started to pick it up here taking a more aero stance and kicking up into max gear and really letting the hammer down as we went through road after road winding through the steep forestry but it had its consequences,

I had managed to catch up the lead pack on this section who had left somewhat 15 minutes before myself mainly roadies and we had been moving in a group on these roads,Which was all downhill at a steep 70% angle turn after turn all downhill,The route guide had told us that this was a extremely fast section where at one point we managed to get up to and hold a constant 28mph,What the route guide had also said if we had read it carefully enough was that around a blind corner there was a set of traffic lights right on the middle of the hill..Which to our suprise decided to turn red as we came steaming around the bend at 28mph,The marshall was at the lights with his sign waving at us to alert us of the lights and thankfully nothing was coming through the junction at the time as to be frank we didnt have a chance in hell of stopping,Near enough simultaneously all 6 of us applied the rear brake to full then the front but the bikes just kept going,we had let rip so hard on the hill that we were still running with both brakes on it just couldnt hold the rims and stop with that short notice so we thought oh well and just sped through the lights hoping nothing was coming letting out a few cheers when we made it to the other side in one piece!

Eventually after crossing a level crossing which had a big tail back of bikes mostly the challenge group riders that we had caught on the descent into the town we arrived at Richmond park and there we faced our biggest challenge yet,After a couple of miles into the park we faced what the route guide had classes as a "hill",Now let me tell you this ive cycled many of hills but this was more like Everest,We shifted down to lowest and had to apply about 10 times more revolutions of the pedals to get about 1 foot up the hill,It was the equivalent angle of cycling up the stairs in your house,This was by far the hardest part of the whole ride so far and the heat of the day added to the challenge sapping every ounce of energy out of you as you tried to make some headway,With the encouragement of the 6 of us cycling end to end on the climb we somehow managed to gather enough energy to make it to the top,

After we had travelled through Richmond park we headed out onto the roads again and eventually arrived at Ham Common which marked the halfway point for our journey and hosted a welcomed refreshment station with a rather nice group of cheerleaders cheering us on as we cycled into the grounds,They had live music and food stalls and banners and flags etc and lots of supporters,you could tell that they had really gone all out to make us feel appreciated.

I took a 10 min break to take on some more water before i headed out again and on to the journey back into London and to Chelsea,We had to pass through Richmond Park again on the way back and had to climb another hill which wasnt as bad as the first one but was still quite tough but we made it,We then picked up the pace and had a very fast section most of the way back into London with only minimal stopping and starting at the lights,

Once we got into London and reached the London Eye we hit some heavy traffic but the joys of 2 wheels allowed us to sneakilly zoom past in the gaps anywhere we could find,

On the arrival back towards the hospital and most of the way for that matter everyone who we passed in the streets was cheering us on wishing us well and even the drivers seemed to be somewhat considerate for the day so things were really good,

Turning into the Royal Hospital back to where we had started brought a great feeling as we passed through the finishing barrier with hundreds of people there cheering,On recieving my medal and getting my photo taken i couldnt help but feel extremely proud of myself for completing it and wanted to go again,We headed into the field that had been the staging area at the start and there was loads of staff hanging out bananas and people from Lucozade handing out refreshments which were greatly appreciated,

All in all it was a very sucessful day and im very pleased with my time,
The final time was 2 hour and 15 mins to cover the full 26 miles deducting a 10 minute rest break it was a 2 hour 5 minute journey which finished me in the top group,Amongst who were some great cyclists who I will be going back to Richmond park in the near future to do some more training with.

The organisers deserve a medal of their own for first of all giving up their time and for also arranging such a great event on such a wide scale as well and having it run as smoothly and as faultless as it did,Cant wait to get back there next year and as for now im just looking forward to my next challenge which is London to Southend on the 2nd of August,44.5 miles and i cant wait. :)