In January this year, at 40 and otherwise healthy, I had a stroke. I lost a chunk of my vision, my memory, and for a while, the word for what had happened to me (requiring me to summon a mental image of a cat). If I know you, I probably forgot your name for a while.

Investigation revealed a PFO (a small hole in the heart that usually closes at birth) It's more common than most people realise, and rarely causes problems, but in my case it was identified as the likely cause. In March I had an operation to close it, and since then I've been working to rebuild my fitness after a long, ride-free winter.

My place on this year's London to Brighton was already in the diary with my colleagues from MPB. I've decided to keep it.

I've been lucky, I haven't needed to lean on the British Heart Foundation directly, but they do extraordinary work for people who do. It seems only right to raise a bit of money for them while I'm at it.

If you can spare anything, I'd be really grateful. See you at the finish line.