I only started cycling in earnest a year or so ago. It helped keep me focused on the things I loved and on putting my life back together after years of alcohol and other substance abuse. I'm probably not the first, or the last, person with addictive/compulsive tendencies to discover the release that cycling offers.

I'm riding it for a charity called Get Kids Going, which offers mobility to disabled young people in the form of custom-built wheelchairs and trikes for sport and everyday use. I've said I want to raise at least 1,500 GBP for them. Actually I want to raise a lot more, but that's my minimum.

At the moment I'm getting out for about one ride of 30-40 miles (40-65km) per week plus another 30 or so in commuting and other riding. That's a generous estimation; I probably do less in reality. By June I'll need to be able to sit in the saddle for around 116.2 miles to finish the Etape. Oh and I'll need to do so while going up proper alpine climbs of 10% and more in some places.

So what do I need to sort out? Well here's a basic list:

• A training plan
  
• Stop smoking at some point
  
• Find a training partner
  
• Fund raising, once everyone's wallet's have recovered from Christmas
  
• Possibly a new bike
  

There's a whole load of other things I'll have to pick up along the way too: eating while riding, finding an energy drink that is bearable, learning how to pace myself up long climbs, riding in a group and most important of all developing the mental toughness and confidence to do it.

I've been off the bike since before Christmas due to weather and laziness but I can't wait to get back on it and get out there again. Not so much itchy feet as an itch in the thighs and calves to get pedalling and start building up to it. To start focusing on the goal and fguring out how I'm going to get there. It's not that I don't want to, more that I don't quite know how to.

So from tomorrow it's time to start finding time and going out, even if it is for just an hour's burst of riding as hard as I can, or just turning the pedals over. The most important thing is going to be developing the power I need for climbing and finding a nice rhythm to my riding.

I just tried the vanilla-flavoured Science in Sport Rego in my trial pack I bought and, good god! It was down the sink faster than it took to make it. I'm going to have to find something more palatable for after my rides.

Went out for my first ride of the year in the constant drizzle of central London to pick up a pair of Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase 7000x23 tyres to replace my 700x28 ones. I need to get used to a better quality of tyre and one that fits under my Race Blades mudguards. the 28s were rubbing at the back, something I didn't notice when I fitted them. In theory this means I'm on "racing" tyres, albeit training/durable ones.

What difference this will make is anyone's guess but it will probably see me skittering around corners like a giraffe on ice until I get used to them and pluck up the courage to find out how much grip they have.

I had to hose the bike down in the shower as it was filthy from a 1.5 hour ride during which I seem to have collected as much grime and dirt as is physically possible. Felt quite easy on the bike and I was fair clipping along (but remembering to adhere to the highway code as far as possible).

Part of me says I should forget about investing in a new bike and instead get this one sorted out properly. That said I wouldn't mind some carbon forks on it and given the amount I could spend I might be as well to get myself a newer bike at the next price point up, or perhaps the big splash out on a Specialized Roubaix Elite (subject to being able to get one with a triple) or Trek 5000.

Time for a shower and replenishment with pizza or something. It's not like I'm not using up the excess calories.

This sort of lack of motivation is just what I don't need if I'm going to start putting the hours in. A more hopeful view would be that it is stopping me overtraining and attempting too much too soon.

From next week I'll be making time in my schedule to get out and ride with a club or a group of fellow Etape riders round my area. For reference that's Chiswick in West London and we'll probably be putting the miles in around Richmond Park until the weather improves and it's lighter in the evening.

Perhaps it's the dark and the riding alone that seems so uneviable. Let's hope it is just that.

From home to East Dulwich in South East London, in the morning - mappy.co.uk says around 18km, I say further as it always goes for the shortest/quickest way to get anywhere. Actually I joined together a couple of routes that I know well enough to simplify the amounth of concentrating on directions I would need to do. So the first part followed my old route from Hammersmith to Westminister, as far a Vauxhall Bridge via Barons Court, Northend Road, Fulham Broadway, battersea Bridge Road and then flat out down Cheyne Walk. The second part followed the 185 bus route all the way to East Dulwich via Oval, Camberwell (I think) and Denmark Hill. All in about 45 minutes with a bit of a bump up the rise round Denmark Hill.

Then in the evening from East Dulwich to Spitalfields/Brick Lane via Elephant and Castle, Tower Bridge and Hackney/Whitechapel. Having consulted my A to Z before setting off I had a rough plan but once I had missed a turning in Peckham High Street somewhere it became a bit of a case of following my nose and looking out for signs to point me in the direction of landmarks, like Tower Bridge, and using a bit of common sense.

Finally, blasted home on late night streets - which were relatively quiet - down Old Street, Clerkenwell Road, Kingsway, Strand, Mall, Hyde Park, back up Kensington Church Street for some uphill, then down Holland Park Avenue, stop for bagels in Shepherds Bush and finally down Goldhawk Road and home.

One slight problem - it was very cold and quite damp yesterday which means I have developed a bit of a cold on my chest from all that hard breathing. hopefully it will shift soon enough. I have decided that I'm going to try and train three times a week and aim for a day on/day off routine so that i can fit things more easily around my other commitments.

It has dawned on me that I wasn't making much use of two out of the three rings on my chainset so I've been trying to get used to riding on the big ring and the small 'granny' ring when I can. In my slight haze this morning I didn't really notice that I hadn't dropped down off the big one as I was making my way up the incline from Highgate to Spaniards Way in North London. In fact I made it all the way to work without dropping down off it so now feel confident that I can turn a bigger gear more often. It also helps me get used to the useful habit of turning the pedals over to build up to the right cadence which seems to be easier to do when you've got something to push against.

I've decided to start wearing my glasses when I'm on the bike as much as possible so that I can actually see clearly where I'm going. I have, up until now, been quite happy to zoom around with blurred, astigmatic vision on the grounds that i can see most things but not detail. With my glasses on I do find it easier as I'm not straining to focus and so can concentrate more on what's going on around me. On the other hand they are a pain and I live in fear of them bouncing off the road in front of me. Contact lenses are the obvious solution but someone like me is bound to end up repeatedly stabbing myself in the eye with my finger trying to put them in.

I'm still suffering from a light cold from the constant damp at the moment. So the heavy rain on my way there and on my journey to work this morning were most unwelcome. It's difficult to enjoy it when you are being assaulted by sharp rain from all sides and you are feeling the chill. It's also rather difficult to see where you are going and hazards on the road. Of course the rain stopped shortly after I got to work and by lunchtime the skies were that lovely, clear wintery blue.

The bike needs a good hose down before I take it out again, which may be at the weekend to get some new blocks as I seem to have worn the current set quite heavily since they were fitted in the summer. I may even attempt to fit them myself in my ongoing quest to master bike maintenance. It'll also give me a chance to drop into Sigma sports in Kingston and consider a new bike and getting a 'bikefit' consultation to set up the existing one properly for my body.

So I finished the second lap then went and sat in the cafe for 20 minutes with a coffee and flapjack before I met up with another couple of guys who are doing the folly that is the Etape as well. I got back at 1:30pm after another three or four laps with them which were more to my liking. I'm now a bit knackered and need a lie down. I hurt a bit and keep on getting cramp attacks just behind the knee of my right leg.

I usually get passed by the groups when I'm out as they fly past. It's not that they're going much faster, just they are keeping the same even pace and working in a group is easier. I think I'll try and go out with them again at some point once I've got a few more miles under my belt, or just start in the slower group instead and keep a moderate gear while sticking in the middle of the bunch. My mistake was probably to hang on the back of the group rather than nearerr the front so, when the pace went up, there was nowhere for me to go other than out of the back.

It's a start though. By contrast I get a bit out of breath if I even attempt to jog from here to my mate's place, which is only round the corner, about 300 metres at most.

One thing I was reminded of as I struggled round is that what I do love is, when I'm in the mountains in summer, spotting a cyclist carving their lonesome way up the side of some monstrous climb. There is something deeply heroic and almost perfect about watching a man and machine working together like that against an immovable object and then overcoming it by force of will and through their own power.

It's not the longest ride in the world but it is one that I do frequently. Zipping up Holland Park Avenue, I found myself pondering why I struggled with the hills in Richmond Park on Saturday: up the hill from Ham gate towards Broomfield Drive at 12kph at times with no sense of being able to dig in for a little more energy. Yet there I was going up the slopes of another rich London quartier at about 25kph.

Wrong gear, wrong preparation on Saturday? It's possible that I had toasted myself trying to keep with a group that was too fast for me on the flat and had nothing left for the inclines. I'm pretty sure riding on the big ring did wear me out more than I expected so I'm back to abusing the middle one as much as possible, apart from for the downhill bits and the steep uphills.

Otherwise my main problem at the moment is that my hack bike got stolen at the weekend so I am in the process of replacing it, meaning that I am having to ride my good bike everywhere at the moment. Truthfully, I'm quite enjoying getting better accustomed to it and the way it rides in all situations. Hopefully I should have the hack replaced within a week or so with something from Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op or a cheap second-hand from a local shop.

I managed a lap and a half before I found the cold was getting to me and I ran out of drink in my bottle. I still haven't got it into my head that, when I say I'm going out for an hour in Richmond Park, I need to factor in getting there and back which adds on a good 30 or 40 minutes to the ride.

Bar the joggers and other cyclists there's nobody else in there so you get full use of the road and can take the most aggressive line you like on the downhills and the shortest one on the uphills. And the deer; who it seems they are culling again in February. They are one of the main attractions for visitors to the park and are a fine sight to behold. Except when you are hurtling down the biggest hill in the park at over 50kph and one is running alongside you on the grassy verge, both of you with a look of utter terror in your eyes and not quite sure who is going to go which way.

Here's a picture of them that I took just before Christmas when I was out for one of my Tuesday afternoon rides.

I encountered a poor chap carrying his bike back along the stretch from Ham Gate to Broomfield Drive. Apparently his chain had started jumping and bent his rear mech out of shape. I felt rather sorry for him having to walk all the way back round in his cleats but he seemed to be resigned to his walk with good grace and did thank me for stopping to see if he was alright.

Yet again the cold and my innate propensity to defy any material known to wick away the amount of sweat that pours out of me on a ride meant that after one full lap I was ready for home. I had a bit of an existential crisis at the end of the lap coming up the slope (well it's not enough to call a hill) towards Richmond Gate. My ability to go up hills in the park seems to have gone and I once again found myself going backwards on the hills to a slow trundle regardless of how many gears I dropped down.

If anyone has any advice as to why this is happening, and only really happening in the park, then please feel free to add your comments. I don't get the same when I'm riding up any other hills that I encounter and it is starting to rile me in my head.

I'm going to try and get out again with London Dynamo on Saturday morning so i shall probably report back on my progress after that. Hopefully it will be a more successful outing than last week's.

It was an enjoyable 3 laps of the park for me with a bit of extra mileage today. The highlight of today's ride, with headphones in, was screaming down the big hill with Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a place on earth" blaring out. Through the sunlight, along the racing line; that's what cycling should be all about.

There were some interesting riders out today, some of whom are worth mentioning. First, the woman on her tourer or old-fashioned racer who I've seen the last few weeks. She is silver-haired and I would guess at least in her sixties. She goes round clockwise at her own very even pace and must do at least 5 or more laps i reckon. Sometimes her expression is one of fixed determination, otherwise she has slight smile and seems to be thoroughly enjoying it.

Then there was the girl on a nice-looking racer who was wearing what I though was a parka type jacket in blue and one of those big woven scarves that are popular with the sort of woman you see a lot of in the home counties and west London. I could have sworn she was doing laps in a skirt and tights. Although I am willing to admit it may have been shorts over tights.

The other person worth a mention is the chap on the "fixed" which I think was a cannibalised Specialized of some sort. For those of you who haven't dived into the world of cycling, a "fixed" or is pretty much what it sounds like. The back wheel is fixed so that you can't freewheel - you only go as fast as you can manage to turn the pedals and, if you stop turning the pedals, you stop pretty abruptly and messily. It's hard work but he kept up a pretty strong pace on the flat and the only time I felt I had the edge was on the downhill. We did a lap together and it was nice to have someone to tow round and to keep me honest. Sometimes it's very easy to not push yourself when you are out on your own and just work within your limits.

I popped down to Kingston-on-Thames afterwards to get some new brake pads from Sigma Sport which is one of the best bike shops around. A lot of places these days the staff don't really seem to know their bikes and don't carry an evident passion to enthuse the customer with. The couple of times I've been in to Sigma they have been unfailingly helpful and chatty. They've never tried to sell me something I don't need and always listened carefully. I can thoroughly recommend them and will be going to them for my next bike some time later this year.

Got home and threw the kit in the wash as I'd managed to sweat through my base layer and windproof jersey. Once I'm on a bike it really is like turning on a tap and I've yet to find a solution. No amount of technical fabric or wicking properties can cope. Roll on the warmer weather when getting a sweat on doesn't mean that you very quickly end up as cold as a bag of frozen peas.

Sadly I must report that I have yet to beat it. Again I found myself blowing up and having to stop just before the final bend. Admittedly, I had my rucksack on, with my heavy lock and dead weight of clothes, but that shouldn't excuse my lack of ability to climb something which is pretty basic compared with what I am going to face in July. I guess I need to go out and keep on attacking it until I master it. That's the proven way to master climbing - keep on trying until you gain some level of proficiency.

What caused me to stop was that I had dropped down as many gears as I could to see if I could spin my way up the hill without coming out of the saddle. At some point habit kicked in and I sprung out of the saddle to give myself a quick jolt and to keep the momentum going. I must have been way down the sprocket as, as soon as I kicked down on the pedal, the bike shot foward and the pedal felt light under my foot.

It threw me totally off my cadence, which had been good and even up to that point, and I just couldn't settle back into the saddle as the bike lost its initial thrust and slowed under me. Perhaps hills in town aren't the best place to be learning these skills and that sort of trial and error should be reserved for somewhere a little less busy with traffic.

Which brings me to the next issue in my preparation - cadence. It's the rate at which you turn the pedals and is key to efficient cycling. The old wisdom was about 60 revolutions per minute but more modern opinion say that, post-Lance Armstrong era, the optimum rate is somewhere around 90. I actually find that an awkward rate and feel more comfortable at a lower cadence. But I have been trying to get used to the technique to give me a point of reference and so that I can start finding my own ideal compromise.

Day off this evening in part as I had a ride yesterday, as detailed, and in part due to the face that it is flesh-stripping cold out there.

The broom wagon is what happens to those who simply haven't got what it takes to reach the time-checks on the course. I desperately don't want to be one of them. I've been worrying about what sort of set up to take and what gearing is going to work for me. All a handy diversion from my day-to-day worries but not really getting me anywhere.

so I turned to Ron's etape site - http://www.etape.org.uk/. It's a very useful resource for anyone doing the Etape and has raised my spirits somewhat. He's reminded me that I don't need to be ready now, but in July and that when it's as bitingly cold as it is this week there is always the gym. So tomorrow evening I'll be popping down my old gym and sitting on the cycling machine for a couple of hours pounding out a hard session to make up for it.

I somehow feel like I'm riding within my limits at the moment and not really improving on my fitness level. I'm still struggling on actually getting up the roads that should be a doddle. Perhaps my recovery rate has improved and I haven't noticed that but I just don't feel like I'm developing the power to take on the mountains.

There's the urge to get out there and really push myself but it has to be tempered with the knowledge that the target is a long way off yet. In the meantime I suppose I can still keep wondering about which bike to buy next. The Focus Cayo from Wiggle is certainly tempting me, being lightweight carbon, with a 10-speed range on the sprocket and the new compact chainset which in theory gives me almost as many options as a triple. Otherwise, I'm looking at the trek 1400 or similar spec.

I feel like my best option, not necessarily in terms of price, is to go to a shop and get myself fitted properly on a bike that will fit rather than risking one that might fit off the internet. What I save in cost I may well lose in service and actually getting the right piece of equipment for the job.

They were showing off some of the new range and had the chaps from Cyclefit (www.cyclefit.co.uk) down to tell the 20 or so riders, who had been swift in replying to the invite, about their service and some of the issues for getting the right bike. I probably should have badgered them a bit more afterwards to find out what I can do about my nagging lower back problem which I need to get looked at.

Instead I spent most of my time discussing their new designs with the designer fella, whose name I have forgotten (rather embarassing how bad I am with names these days). We even had his pantone block out to check colours. We also discussed the Massif Central with me extolling what a great place it would be for a photoshoot. Their upcoming tricolore range looks very cool, especially the France one, and there are some really strong choices of colours that will look as good off the bike as on.

I still can't wait for their bib shorts to become available (probably March) as that's the one item I am still missing in my wardrobe. By the sounds of things they will fit perfectly with my aesthetic, having black-on-black logos rather than the annoying white-on-black that so many companies insist on. I just think that it ruins the line visually to have a blur of logo jumping up and down on the leg. On the jersey, fine.

I also spent some time discussing the Etape with a lady called Jo who reckons it's going to be a hot time on the ride this year, given how far south the course is and the time of year. I think she could well be right, but knowing my luck it'll be cloudy and grey. She's ridden it before and fired up my enthusiasm again - so I went flat out all the way home in the icy high winds which are rather torrid today.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the gym owing to the cold. I tried various things, including what it's like to output the 300 watts or so needed for an event like the Etape. I lasted about 5 minutes at most, struggling at a low cadence and sweating like a leaky showerhead. After much dithering and avoidance I put in a few sessions that can't amount to more than 20 or so miles but at a high work rate and heart rate. I feel alright today which is unusual.

Maybe my fitness is improving after all.

That's how I explained it to the lady who I stopped to help at the bottom of the big hill. She was struggling with her brand-new Specialized Dolce and a jumpy chain. She said that it was coming off when shifting down on the hills so I suggested she try shifting down a chainring before the hill, rather than as she came onto the initial incline and then balancing it out on the sprocket by going up a couple of gears. It's a problem I had when I first started riding my current set-up. I'd try and drop down too late and end up with the chain jamming and bringing me to a grinding halt.

Despite the lovely sunshine it was still definitely winter out today. Popped on a nice thick jersey under the windproof top today to combat that cold Russian wind that has been sweeping in from the East. Still didn't stop the icy windchill creeping in along with the dampness of sweat.

Today it was a case of the usual three laps and home again which, all inclusive of getting there and back, amounts to about 50 kilometres. I recently figured out that there's about 8km between my house and the Richmond Gate, which counts as a pretty good warm up and a nice top-up to my training distances.

A quicker second lap on which I pushed a bit harder counts for trying to raise my fitness levels but I still don't feel like I'm improving as much as I would like. It feels like I've hit a bit of a plateau and unless I start working harder I worry I'll not be where I should be in the grand training scheme.

Tuesday I plan to go out and take on a good 50 miles plus just to guage where I am at in terms of being able to do the distance. I'll probably pelt down towards Dorking and the Surrey Hills and have a tilt at a few hills out that way.

The night before was spent tinkering with the bike to sort out my saddle position. It had been annoying me for a while that it wasn't quite level but I hadn't quite go round to unravelling the mystery of which bit was stuck and refusing to allow me to adjust it. A liberal dousing of WD40 and a bit of what is known as "twatting it hard with something heavy" revealed that it was one half of the clamping bit (I should know the name of it). Once released and adjusted my saddle position was far more comfortable, although it has led to a slight problem with a bit of chaffing towards the back of the inner thigh.

So from my house the route was relatively straightforward and as follows:

Over the Hogarth roundabout and Chiswick Bridge, up to the Richmond Gate, down through Ham and on to Kingston. From there following the A307 down to Esher and left towards Leatherhead via Oxshott. From Leatherhead (following a slight bit of dithering) pick up the road towards Mickelham and make use of the rather Surrey cycleway as far as the bottom of Box Hill then up the Zig Zag Lane side. Stop for coffee and flapjack and then make return journey, including a quick sprint through Richmond Park.

The most enjoyable part was probably discovering the Surrey cycleway which is reasonably wide and well maintained strip adjacent to the main road which I bombed along without having to worry about traffic. Sometimes a well maintained route like that is better than having to share to road and compared to many of the deeply compromised cycle lanes and routes I see around London it actually seemed to show some thought for cyclists of all persuasions.

Box Hill didn't prove as much of a challenge as I had expected. Or rather, it didn't at the speeds I went up it - a stately but consistent 15-16kph which may have dipped down to 11-12 until I found my climbing legs for the first time. I didn't particularly push myself though as, with the air temperature around the 6 degree mark, the windchill factor meant it wasn't much above freezing even at those low speeds.

When it came to descending, full of coffee and flapjack, I discovered that I had sweated my way through my breathable/waterproof layer. At 50kph this became rather painful as the cold goes through the damp bits and right to your core at this time of year. Not even the weak winter sun could help me out with warming up, making the ride back a determined effort to ride harder to warm myself up.

All in the ride took me roughly four hours, including coffee and flapjack, getting a little lost a couple of times, negotiating traffic and waiting at various sets of traffic lights. For a solo ride, averaging nearly 23kph according to my computer, in January conditions I'm fairly happy with that. In a group I'm sure I would have gone along quicker and in warmer weather I certainly wouldn't have held back for fear of freezing. If that reads as an average closer to 25-28kph by the end of March then I'll be happy.

Next on the list is to start with the fundraising which has been going pretty disastrously thus far with only Jon Richards having chipped in. This is probably because I haven't got round to asking everyone in my email address book, just a few. I suppose I'd better start soon.

Instead of the usual constitutional three laps of Richmond Park I thought I'd try something different. So after two and a half laps at a pretty average rate I decided to do some hill practice on Broomfield Drive, which is "the big hill" in the park and the one I usually enjoy thundering down. So I went up and down it five times in total trying to find a technique that suits me. It may have been four times as I got a bit confused after having followed a man on a push-scooter up it.

He is an equal first for odd things I saw today. He was on one of those chunky-wheeled scooters that you see in the windows of skate shops and when the hill sharpened he'd hop off and jog up with it. But his competition is quite the oddest thing so far this year in the park - three girls wearing rucksacks and climbing harnesses, each dragging a tyre behind them around the park. I assume they are off on some sort of trek in one of the polar regions. If not, that's just plain odd behaviour, says the man attempting the Etape.

But back with my hill-climbing practice and the news is that I haven't quite got the hang of coming out of the saddle on the climbs. I'm far happier dropping down to the small "granny" ring on my chainset and turning that over than trying to power my way up on the middle ring, which I think is a 42. This will obviously annoy purists who think your bike should one be a 53/39 combination; mine's got something like 50/42/30. None of which makes much difference to the fact I'm still relatively slow and was down to less than 10kph on the steepest bit of what is no more than about 500 metres of climbing.

I find that when I get out of the saddle my breathing and power fade right away in a matter of pedal strokes but if I stay in the saddle, I can still generate the power but with much more control and over a longer period. This fits with the general wisdom in cycle training, so at least I'm not an abberant freak or complete disaster. But I'm going to have to be able to do both if I am to make it round the course in good time so I need to work on that area.

It was the usually disastrous situation of trying to balance warmth with breathability today meaning that once again I came in soaking wet all the way through. I can't wait for it to warm up enough so that I can go down to base layer/vest and my sportwool jersey with arm warmers. Perhaps then I can start to get in the longer distances without ending up with a chill or drenched in sweat. Or maybe I'm just a sweaty beast in all weathers.

I'm still quite tempted, if I can find time and money, to take off down to Murcia to visit my friend Alex and do a nice week of training in warmer climes in March just to get my fitness levels up. Then again, I might do just as well to go see my doctor and get some nicotine patches so I can lay off the cigarettes properly for a few months. Yes, I smoke which is probably not the brightest thing for someone doing an actvity demanding aerobic prowess. Perhaps I'll explain my weird and warped haemocrit level theory at some point soon. it's barmy but it migh just work.

I've gone for the 2005 Giant T-mobile Hybrid on the grounds that, at the price it's at, it represents incredible value and pretty much everything I need: a triple, a light part-carbon frame, Shimano 105 throughout. With the money I've saved on the list price I'll be able to afford a Specialized Alias saddle, some decent Look or Shimano SPD-SL pedals and some Specialized BG shoes to complete my kit. Here's a picture of the creature which I'll be picking up next weekend probably.

Yes there's those who will say that the colour scheme is a bit "strong" but I'm not going to be looking at it when I'm riding. It will probably go quite well with my black Rapha top which has a similar-coloured trim.

Back to my ride, I overslept and didn't get out until late due to a broken shower which needs fixing. The plan was to head out to Box Hill but plans went awry so I put in four laps of Richmond Park at about a 25 minute lap average. Not particularly quick but consistent. I'm still struggling with getting the miles in at the moment, at least in my head. I just don't feel like I am improving in terms of fitness, even if I possibly am.

Certainly I don't feel like I am getting any quicker up the hills. I'm still stuck on a fairly sedate 16kph or so up most things that are more than a bump. Nor have I mastered "honking" (riding out of the saddle) without finding that my heart rate races right up. As I've said before, sitting back and digging in are going to be crucial to my attempt at the mountains. On the flat I'm going a bit quicker so at least I can work on putting plenty of kilometres between me and the broom wagon before I hit the Izoard.

On the plus side a chat with my friend Olly, who is far more knowledgeable on cycling than me and whose father was a pro, revealed that Mario Cipollini was a smoker throughout his career. This would probably explain the annual ritual of him abandoning the Tour De France at the first sign of serious mountains.

Olly also told me that his dad used to train with lead weights on his wheels so that come the start of the season he would feel he was flying. I'm carrying enough extra weight as it is so have no need of the weights at present.

At the moment I've only really been getting out properly once a week, which I suppose is maintaining the level I've built up over the winter. 50 miles is a comfortable ride for me and 60 or 70 doesn't hold much fear. But that's on the relatively level surfaces of London and the South East. Now's the time I need to start thinking about hills and how to get up them quicker before March arrives and the big three month push begins towards the final goal.

My biggest problem is not motivation so much as time. My life off the bike is complicated by more things than I can throw a spanner at: very imminent redundancy and lack of job to go to, new flat/flatmate needed in June, finding time for my friends who hardly ever see me.

I guess as it is getting lighter - it was still light at 5pm today - the time factor should become easier to manage as I can ride in the evening after work or before work if I get up. In theory redundancy should give me more time for riding while I'm looking for a job but I'm finding the stress of it quite tiring. The flat problem should sort itself out somehow and is better than when I thought it was the week before the Etape.

And as for my friends who are peering into the internet abyss to find out what I am up to, you may find me on your doorstep with a bicycle at some point in the coming months. I apologise for the fact you will see me early morning and late evening looking exhausted. I thank you for putting me up and watching me head off into the wilds with my bike.

I have some plans for developing this blog over the coming months, so watch out for some exciting developments hopefully - like me actually putting a decent design on the place.

I am tending towards going with gels on the grounds that it seems like the lowest risk strategy: no fiddling with homemade batches of powder trying to get them into water bottles which will involve being stopped and which could just get blown in the breeze. Instead, If I can get six gels down each side of the top tube and secure them with a bit of gaffa tape, I will have them to hand and available while riding.

That means only having to negotiate getting water at the feed stations, and maybe solid foods, to refill bottles before getting under way again. It also means that I can keep my pockets free for additional gels or food and light items. I don't want to be weighing my body down with items that can bounce about, and even out of, pockets and which will bang against me. Given that I get quite sodden with sweat at the back, having things slapping against my lower back could be a real irritant and quite uncomfortable.

I've not found an energy drink that I like but I may pack a couple emergency sachets in my jersey. As accessible as the pockets usually are, I would rather not have to be fiddling around trying to fish stuff out of them in a big peleton or on a climb.

I would be very interested to hear from experienced Etapers as to whether they think this makes a sensible plan. I seem to remember reading one who went with gels for similar reasons, but I don't want to find myself out of energy halfway round having made a disastrous planning error.

Went out on Saturday morning with London Dynamo for an excellent ride. As there were quite a few new riders they put together a group for us and we got through four laps at a fair old clip. I quite enjoy the riding in a group element as it makes the training go faster and feels a bit more affirming. Also getting out at 9am in a mist coated Richmond Park and blasting through four laps in under two hours means that I don't use up the whole day on training.

The final lap when the pace went up killed me. An extra 3kph and I couldn't get through. I could get onto the wheel in front but couldn't get past. The group was a bit quicker, at that point, than I'm used to going and maybe I just need to dig a bit deeper but I could feel a bit of a bonk coming on so ducked it out and then spent the rest of the lap trying to get back to the group which was a nightmare.

I'm fairly certain I'll be trying to get out with them more often from now on, either on the Saturday ride or the Sunday one. It make sense for what I'm aiming at to get used to riding in a group and keeping with the pace. I met up with Rhyddid as well and we put in an extra lap afterwards discussing tactics and so on.

Like many Etapers the biggest challenge is the time management, or rather juggling, to fit in the hours on the bike around our everyday commitments of work, friends, domestic and all the other bits. As I don't have a long commute to work at the moment I can't use that as an easy source of mileage through the week, whereas others can find this their main source of training.

I guess I could ride more in the evenings once it gets lighter but, after a long day in the office, sometimes that's the last thing I want to do. Once I get out there though and start turning over the pedals my mood tends to change and I fancy it again. The biggest problem is actually persuading myself to get out and ride as I prefer to go on well lit roads than out into the quieter country lanes.

I probably should tell you about the new bike, but I'll save that for when I have ridden it more. Suffice to say my first impressions are that it's a vast step up in my cycling experience. It's far more responsive and I feel far more comfortable on it, even if I think I might need a slightly shorter stem fitted. Nigel at De Ver's has said I can pop back for that in a few weeks once I've given it a proper testing and settled into it a bit more.

Now about that sponsorship (I really need to start getting a shufty on with it)...

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, I've been having trouble with blogger.com and my hosting service. I'm trying to get it sorted but blogger aren't being particularly helpful, nor are my hosts. So if this post doesn't appear as soon as it should then you now know why.

Took the new bike out this morning and after three laps my back was killing me. This might be down to the stem being too long but I need to ride it a bit more to decide whether it was just the conditions or the bike. So far it is proving to be a lovely ride: the carbon rear and forks make everything so much smoother and there's no waiting for the bike to come into line with any extra kick on the pedals.

I'm feeling more confident about my fitness levels even though I'm possibly not putting in quite as many miles as I shuld be. The next couple of weeks I need to put in a couple of longer rides just to keep upping the distance. 60-70 miles shouldn't prove too much now but I need to make sure I keep the pace up. I'm recovering quicker off the little hills in the park and keeping a faster pace up them. I just need to start riding some longer hills to get used to pacing myself up them.

I was meant to make it out tomorrow for 60 miles with Rhyddid and his mate Nick but other commitments mean I can't. As March gets under way I think it's the time when Etaper riders across the globe start to focus on the goal and training can start to pick up a bit more intensity and the weather gets milder.

I'm hoping to get out to Spain some time in the next couple of months for a decent week's hard training. My best friend Alex lives in Murcia and has helped find a very useful resource which gives the full course for the Tour of Murcia route:

http://www.regmurcia.com/servlet/integra.servlets.ServletLink?cat=568

It's got all the routes for the stages, including very complete directions in Spanish. So the plan is to get out there and take on perhaps three of the longer stages in a week to gt some proper climbing in.

It's the one area of my riding that I need to practice. I have been trying to simulate the effort by riding hard on the flat to generate the power. What I feel I need to do now is working learning to pace myself and to deal with the psychological aspect of a long climb: not getting disheartened, setting markers to break up the climb, focusing on keeping my form and rythm on the bike and remembering to keep topped up with fluids and food.

One of the advantages of getting out early on a Saturday is that it gives me time to get other stuff done. So I'd better be off and do them before I have to cycle across town and up a few hills.

In my mind I've already thought out my strategy. So long as I can average 30kph for the first couple of hours and then keep it steady up Izoard at around 10-12kph, then I should be OK for avoiding the broom wagon and getting a reasonable time. Lauttaret is just sitting tight and finding a wheel to keep me around 16kph - I'm not scared by 4% for an hour plus but I suppose that climb will be all about keeping it together and fuelled. Then Alpe D'Huez is everything and the kitchen sink in a death or glory attempt at finishing.

Does that sound like I've cracked already and am dreaming or a realistic strategy? I'll be trying to increase my mileage and intensity once this bitingly cold patch has passed but have I left myself with too much to do?

I'm also still having problems with blogger which aren't looking likely to resolve themselves so I am looking at switching to Movable Type at some point soon as well as switching my hosting ISP. At the moment I'm publishing to blogspot's hosting and keeping the site in a frame, which is not ideal really.

Finally, I'm unemployed as of Friday due to redundancy so I may have a week or two during which I can get back on top of the training with a couple of long rides and maybe a trip north to the Peak District. I wonder if I'll bump into David Millar if I do: he's meant to be using it as his patch for training.

Went out with the slow/steady group which got a little too fast on the third lap but that's longer than I usually last. I feel so much better for having put in that longer ride today as now I'm not fretting so much about where I am up to in my training and know that I can get a good long ride in before the afternoon on a Saturday.

I got a few twinges of cramp on my way round, mostly in my right calf and quad. I suppose I might have been a little low on electrolytes so might have to ensure I remember to pack something in future that's a bit salty to deal with it or I could just give myself a lick - when I got home and wiped my brow it felt like I'd been attacked with a salt shaker.

I was quite pleasantly surprised that getting round that sort of distance on the relative flat of Richmond Park only took about 4 hours. I'm not feeling too sore despite ending up in a chain gang of sorts trying to stick with the "rather quick bloke with one leg", who is one of the cult figures among Park cyclists. As one of the more experienced riders who had been out with the steady group said "If he had two legs we'd all be fucked."

About five of us got round at about 30kph for a lap or so, even into the headwind down the Roehampton side, and the other three laps were of an equally steady pace. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with riding in group now although I still fret a bit about moving onto the front of a group for fear of clipping a wheel. As I understood it, it's up to the person behind to worry about what's in front in general but I do glance under my arm before I move in again.

Similarly I'm still nervous about reaching down for my water bottle in a group. We discussed this on our second lot of laps and it seems like the best thing to do is to grab a swig whenever you can, thirsty or not. So whenever the group is sorting itself out, eases up or is coasting. I live in fear of dropping it and taking down everyone behind me.

Rhyddid, who I've been riding with since January, reckons I'm doing stronger than I was at the beginning of the year but if he decides to attack he still leaves me for dead on Spankers Hill. I'm tryng to figure out whether I need to put in more leg strength work or whether I'm riding too hard on the flat and just don't have anything to spring out of the saddle with. But that can keep until April or when the longs come off. Next weekend it's probably the Surrey Hills on the Sunday after the regular Saturday morning.

And this week I might buy some bib shorts and a vest to complete my kit list. A pair of Lusso Coolmax bibs seems reasonable and Rapha may see more of my money for a sleeveless base layer.

This is how it always seems to go when I have time for training and a desire to get out there for the sheer pleasure of it. I might get out for an hour or two in the failing light now though.