Hi there and welcome back if you are following the continuing adventures of a slightly disturbed individual....

For the last few years I have steadfastly plodded along the Great North Run, then when I moved to Spain in 2004, the seed of an idea germinated in my head making me think that I could, if focused enough, cycle back to Newcastle from Gibraltar to run the GNR. Having followed Jane Tomlinson's exploits, I decided it was an opportunity too good to pass on. 2,800 Kilometers, 11 days and a very sore perineum later, the job was done and you guys raised a serious amount of money for Jane's appeal. It wasn't enough to stop there though, and so I have signed up to the toughest endurance cycling race in the world, the Race Across America. First, I have to qualify, and to do this I am doing the concurrent Race Across the West (RAW) which starts with the RAAM but ends after 1044 miles at Taos. I have less than 3 days and 20 hours to cover this distance which means virtually no sleep for three days and very little rest. At least I have a team this time!

Enough prologue-you can visit the live site at www.raceacrossamerica.org for race tracking from the 17th June, and my team blog at http://rawteambrazen.blogspot.com/ for regular updates. For those of you who are also happy enough to sponsor, please also consider www.purplesalute.org which gets equal billing.

I have dedicated this ride to Paula Kilroy, my steadfast head of client management, who has been battling cancer since September last year. Good luck Paula-we are all with you.

Thanks to everyone who supports this continued saga....

Best wishes

Tim