Blood, Sunglasses and Rain

Only a few days to go now, but my plan is to keep cycling until I fly on Wednesday evening, as I will then have a few days rest before the actual ride starts on the Saturday. One slight challenge is that now, as we get nearer to Winter it is not the best time to buy things for riding in hot weather. I popped into the Ben Haywards cycle shop in Cambridge to buy some new sunglasses and found they were in short supply with only three types available. The ones I currently use are around 10 years old and are quite scratched. The main advantage is they are light and so very comfortable when cycling. The new ones are similarly light but come with three different sets of lenses for different conditions. Cyclists often use "sun"glasses in the evening with yellow lenses that can help improve vision in the twilight, at least that's the theory.

Whilst in the shop I also picked up some new winter gloves, having used them today I am glad I did. They are definitely waterproof and thin which makes it easier to change gears and brake. Now I'll be able to wash my old gloves, which unfortunately are getting a bit smelly.

There has been a lot of hoo-hah about Tour de France cyclists and drug-testing. One drug that cyclist use illegally, called EPO, helps to increase the oxygen carrying capability of the blood. They were not able to directly test for the drug so instead they tested the thickness of the blood as an indirect test - too thick and the cyclist had to rest until it returned to safe levels. Blood can thicken for other reasons, which is why cyclists weren't then banned. So whilst shopping I tested the thickness of the blood in my leg, courtesy of a very sharp shelving corner. Of course I was wearing shorts and I can report that judging from the way the blood ran freely down my leg it is thin enough. But, as a one-time scientist I knew a sample of one is not enough, so when I got home I stabbed a fingertip with a pair of scissors, and yes, the blood in my fingers is pretty runny too.

I went back to my usual cycle route today, the weather started dull and with an hour to go before getting home it starting raining quite hard. At the start of the ride I passed a dog being "walked" by a car driver, as soon as they saw me the car stopped and the door opened and they called the dog which ignored them for a while before jumping in. It is the second day running I have seen this, although it was a different driver and dog yesterday.

It got dark quickly today, I was not sure what the lights were in the distance on the left of the horizon. There were four of them visible from where I was cycling. After a while it started raining, but as I was warm and dry it wasn't too unpleasant - my yellow cycling jacket did a lot of dripping when I hung it up though.

Last night after we sorted the pumpkin we went out for a meal, partly because it was the end of half-term and partly as an early good luck send-off for me. My wife and daughter had a card and good-luck present for me. When I cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats my daughter tied a small teddy bear to my bike (with a blue ribbon as it happens). This time around they have gotten me a new mascot, any suggestions for names. Here he is having his passport picture taken.