Goodness me - I feel depleted. I managed 109km on the bike yesterday. I arrived in Shoeburyness easily enough after a mix of road and off-road needing my hybrid bike, although Leigh Hill caused me a problem yesterday. I'd lost momentum I guess. In Shoeburyness, I had a pint and cycled with my nephew and brother for a couple of kilometres. After a coffee, I resumed my route through Rochford. It was around 80km I began to have trouble. I stopped for a quick break and then 10km later found myself in Rayleigh at the Wimpy. With 20km to go, I had to stop in Stanford halfway and have an isotonic drink. Still, I got home.

The ride in theory burnt of over 3000 calories. I had a full English for breakfast and a Wimpy, with a couple of snack bars on the ride. In the evening, I rehydrated with orange juice and water, had two beers and a large bag of crisps. My weight is up a bit today, but that is to be expected given the diet. But imagine what those figures would look like if I hadn't gone on the ride...

The fact is I'm not used to doing those distances anymore. It took me a long time to get ready for London to Paris in 2013 and on that ride, I had to get off the bike on some of the hills. By the following year, I'd conquered Brighton and done London to Brussels in much better shape. Unfortunately and unintentionally I gave up cycling when I moved back to the UK in 2015. I need to build up my stamina again.