Another year, another cycling challenge! This time it's the Allianz Guildford to Paris cycle - about 200 miles of riding.

About 24 of us will start with a fairly short day across the North and South Downs to Portsmouth. Short, but hilly - and there's time pressure to contend with too, because we have to get to the port in good time for a ferry.

Then there are two days across the corrugations of Northern France - high plateaux interrupted by deep, steep river valleys. Our mid-way stop is at Evreux, memorable for its modern cathedral organ case, its Roman walls and its location at the bottom of some very nasty hills.

Finally, we ride to Versailles and Paris, heading up the Champs Elysées a few weeks after Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish at about a quarter of the speed, and with motorised rather than cycling traffic.

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