Thanks for visiting my fundraising page, this how it went....

We probably had a more civilised start than the most, we had splashed out on two nights in the Stratford Ibis.  An alarm at 5:45, breakfast and a working lift to get the bike from our 3rd floor room. The start was well organised and apart from a mile walk and 3 mile ride to cross the start line everything was going great. We headed out on the Olympic routes that I had driven only a year before, through the Blackwall tunnel not a highlight of the route. We headed into the City and round Tower Hill; this was great, I knew where I was going. Richmond Park (lots more toilets here would have been a good idea), Kingston-upon-Thames barely recognisable without traffic. No time to stop and loaf at the first hub so pushing on towards the “rolling hills” and the 40 mile mark everything got a bit wobbly. Breakfast was not sitting well and I was too scared of the repercussions of eating anything, my stitch got bigger until I could barely peddle so I stopped at the 2nd hub (Newlands Corner 45 mile mark before the KOM sections) and had a little chat with the lovely St John’s people.

 They prescribed banana, rest and warm fluids. Lucky all the fluid I was carrying was nice and warm from the sunshine and my exertions. A comfort break, one and a half bananas, a Hobnob Medley Bar, new to me as race day fuel, but 30% sugar sounds comforting. So I was off again feeling much better. Leith Hill went on (and on) a bit, a lot of people were walking. My heavy old bike  (just  under16kg and 20 years  old) was getting a lot of comments which helped to keep me peddling away until I finally got to the top, then down the other side. With gravity on my side now I was really moving a lot quicker than those around me (my course maximum speed of 36.5 mph was either here or down Box Hill).
 Box Hill was a bit easier, except we had all now cycled nearly 70 miles but no time to rest. I needed to push on to Wimbledon as quickly as possible to avoid the 4pm cut off for being allowed to finish in the Mall. So off to Cobham and Esher, sometimes the little hills can be worse than the big ones, then Kingston Hill and Gypsy Hill (not marked as challenging on our route), but the clue is in the title.
We went through Raynes Park, I lived there for a year and I did not even notice! Wimbledon at last, in good time for the cut off, celebrating with a comfort break, more pills, electrolytes and sugary bars. Now for the best bit, I could see Putney Bridge! Familiar landmarks followed shinning in the afternoon sun. On to the sprint finish in the Mall, what was left in the tank? Not a lot, I tried thinking fast thoughts. So in 7 hours and 50 minutes with the aid too many pills, I had completed the 100 miles, 15 minutes quicker than Boris and team. I did not really feel too bad was able to walk back to the Willis building. That evening my inability to drink beer was a clue to how exhausted and dehydrated I was; by Monday I was just an mess - but I recommend it as a great day out.