Part of the preparation for such a tour is of course training by cycling long distances. I’ve done some long rides in the English countryside, but nothing as long as London to Brighton. So I though if I manage to cycle there and back next day, I’ll be able to go all the way to Greece. Of course that didn’t happen. I was confident at the time, because all the other rides were around 50km and quite slow pace. I did London to Brighton with a friend from work Micheal who had already done it in the past and he is a lot fitter and faster than me. Even if he didn’t have a problem waiting for me, I was putting extra effort trying to catch up with him. This along with the few hills that we had to climb on the way, really exhausted me. 20km before Brighton Michael had to catch the train back to London as it was already late in the afternoon, but I decided to finish off the ride alone. I got a little lost on the way, which in the end proved to be a good thing since I avoided the Ditchling Beacon hill at the end of the ride which apparently is a killer. At around 5pm and after cycling for around 7 hours I got to Jun’s house in Brighton, where I begged for a shower and loads of food!
Of course next morning I didn’t cycled back, but I took the train. Even if many people tell me that I will get fitter on the way to Greece, I realized I should put some effort and do some training until I depart. Since then, I try to cycle in London as much as possible, but most of all I cycle up and down the High Gate hill several times a week to build my fitness.