29 February 2008: 5 weeks left
Again, an excellent week of training has been overshadowed by internal wrangling amongst the Team. In much the same way as Monkeygate suddenly erupted (please click here for further details), Diarygate's origins are not entirely clear but the arguments over editorial rights and privileges were fierce, boundaries were blurred and, as a result, morale within the Team (well, between John P and Seb at least) hit rock bottom.
Wednesday's training run was cancelled due to the attempts made the previous week by Giles and Pat to "psychologically ruin" the slower members of the Team. To make matters worse, the Craghopper Relaxation Trousers, so often the soothing balm to our troubled souls, are still being embroidered.
However, Nell McAndrew's message of support and the mentions in the Mail on Sunday and City AM have lifted us back to our pre-Diarygate high. A message of thanks to Debbie from the Cancer Research UK Team for organising the photo of Nell McAndrew in Seb's (or was that John D's) jacket. The photo was taken after Nell's photoshoot at 6.30am on Sunday morning in one of London's parks.
In addition, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Will has now finalised the route from Paris to London with a full 300 miles. Almost all of us are in favour of this route and believe Will has done an excellent job. Rhys, however, has been spotted sobbing and rocking to and fro in his office while muttering obscenities about the route. Good to see that his mental condition has caught up with his physical one.
Angus has finally managed to organise a London to Brighton cycle ride on Saturday - if you happen to see 7 or 8 people in red jackets pushing bicycles up a hill outside Brighton, you will know that the Team finally found their way out of London.
As for the rest of the Team, Pat continues to lead the way and was allegedly seen running around Regent's Park at 6.30am on Sunday morning.
Seb and Giles had their first ever sports massages from the Team's masseur, Roberto (to be clear, they were not together at the time!). Seb described the meeting between Roberto's elbow and his concrete thighs as "the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life" and is, bizarrely, looking forward to next week's session. Giles put Seb's description down to a lack of training and mental weakness - his own screams were subsequently heard some fifty miles away.
John P bore the brunt of the decision to once again move the auction date. In a decision-making process reminiscent of the cycle route/choice of Craghopper relaxation trouser/Monkeygate saga, we somehow managed to pick a date falling in the Easter holidays for the Charity Auction. The new date will be circulated shortly once we move our blackberry diaries into 2008.
Leon has become famous for being the first member of the Team to be quoted in the Sunday press. "We hope to raise £100,000 for Cancer Research UK" he told the Financial Mail on Sunday. Cracking quote Leon, cracking.
John D continues to dream about having Chris Hollins (from BBC Breakfast) along for a leg of the cycle ride between Paris and London. He seems to know too much about Chris for comfort but we will continue in our efforts.
Conrad remains large... apologies... at large. No-one has seen him since he signed up to the Challenge although you can click here to some recent footage of him singing in the hills of Austria.
Rob seems to be wholly responsible for the Team's latest surge in fundraising. The pressure is on him to deliver.
Neil has had the van sprayed. Unlike the Team, it is now ready to take on the Challenge.
Wednesday's training run was cancelled due to the attempts made the previous week by Giles and Pat to "psychologically ruin" the slower members of the Team. To make matters worse, the Craghopper Relaxation Trousers, so often the soothing balm to our troubled souls, are still being embroidered.
However, Nell McAndrew's message of support and the mentions in the Mail on Sunday and City AM have lifted us back to our pre-Diarygate high. A message of thanks to Debbie from the Cancer Research UK Team for organising the photo of Nell McAndrew in Seb's (or was that John D's) jacket. The photo was taken after Nell's photoshoot at 6.30am on Sunday morning in one of London's parks.
In addition, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Will has now finalised the route from Paris to London with a full 300 miles. Almost all of us are in favour of this route and believe Will has done an excellent job. Rhys, however, has been spotted sobbing and rocking to and fro in his office while muttering obscenities about the route. Good to see that his mental condition has caught up with his physical one.
Angus has finally managed to organise a London to Brighton cycle ride on Saturday - if you happen to see 7 or 8 people in red jackets pushing bicycles up a hill outside Brighton, you will know that the Team finally found their way out of London.
As for the rest of the Team, Pat continues to lead the way and was allegedly seen running around Regent's Park at 6.30am on Sunday morning.
Seb and Giles had their first ever sports massages from the Team's masseur, Roberto (to be clear, they were not together at the time!). Seb described the meeting between Roberto's elbow and his concrete thighs as "the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life" and is, bizarrely, looking forward to next week's session. Giles put Seb's description down to a lack of training and mental weakness - his own screams were subsequently heard some fifty miles away.
John P bore the brunt of the decision to once again move the auction date. In a decision-making process reminiscent of the cycle route/choice of Craghopper relaxation trouser/Monkeygate saga, we somehow managed to pick a date falling in the Easter holidays for the Charity Auction. The new date will be circulated shortly once we move our blackberry diaries into 2008.
Leon has become famous for being the first member of the Team to be quoted in the Sunday press. "We hope to raise £100,000 for Cancer Research UK" he told the Financial Mail on Sunday. Cracking quote Leon, cracking.
John D continues to dream about having Chris Hollins (from BBC Breakfast) along for a leg of the cycle ride between Paris and London. He seems to know too much about Chris for comfort but we will continue in our efforts.
Conrad remains large... apologies... at large. No-one has seen him since he signed up to the Challenge although you can click here to some recent footage of him singing in the hills of Austria.
Rob seems to be wholly responsible for the Team's latest surge in fundraising. The pressure is on him to deliver.
Neil has had the van sprayed. Unlike the Team, it is now ready to take on the Challenge.