I haven't owned or ridden a bike in nearly 20 years, and am very unfit.

I therefore think it's only right that I take part in the Grand Fondo Mont Ventoux in early June, which is a 90 kilometre ride up a socking great mountain in France.

This ride is part of this year's Tour De France, and the pro riders will be riding up it like they have been shot out of a catapult, but for me it will be an enormous feat of teeth-gritting, buttock-clenching, lung-bursting endurance. I've been in training for 6 weeks now, and am under no illusion that this will be quite a test for an exercise-averse, slothful lard-arse like me.

So, if anybody is feeling particularly generous I'd be very grateful if you could find it in your hearts (let's face it, I mean wallets) to give a small (large) amount to my chosen charity, which is SANDS - a UK-based charity supporting anybody affected by the death of a baby, and promotes research to reduce the loss of babies' lives.

Anybody who has experienced this, or knows anyone who has gone through such a situation will be aware of just how devastating and heartbreaking this can be. So giz yer money !