SPECIAL REPORT

1 March 2008: London to Brighton 

Saturday saw the long awaited cycle to Brighton. If it went well, we had a chance. If it was a disaster, the psychological scars could never heal in time.

Cycle specialists Angus and Will met up with novices Rhys, Rob, Pat and the two Johns at Clapham South tube at the ludicrous time of 8.00am. Rhys and John P showed a certain sense of style by arriving in a black cab (albeit perhaps revealing a lack of confidence in their "ultra-endurance athlete" credentials).

Will got things off to a terrible start by giving John P a flat when giving his back tyre a little pump. The start was delayed by 40 minutes as Will replaced the inner tube and put it all back together, ably assisted by Angus. These boys are going to work so hard in France as the rest of us shrug our shoulders helplessly when any thing goes wrong with the bikes.

John D fell at the second set of traffic lights but was, incredibly, the day's only faller.

We crawled out of London covering 25k in 1 hour 45 minutes (Pat runs 21k in 1 hour 29) and the North London contingent were reminded yet again why they had not chosen to live in the god forsaken waste land that is South London. As we found ourselves lost in an industrial estate next to the M25, the chances of getting the cycling part of the Challenge done before the start of the London Marathon seemed remote.

Once we were out in the countryside it was fantastic. The first big challenge was Turner's Hill. We all made it to the top without too much damage although blood sugar levels were now all over the place. Suddenly there were desperate cravings for chocolate and fizzy cola. Rhys was particularly distressed, fearing he was having a hyperglycemic attack after too many carbohydrate drinks and power bars. The Red Lion pub at the top of the hill will live long in the memory but we are all such clean living athletes now that the thought of an ice cold pint of lager did not occur to one of us (ha!).

In a picture postcard village outside Haywards Heath, Angus bumped into the film director Nick Broomfield in a flower shop. Mr Broomfield, the director of The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife and Kurt and Courtney and the inspiration for people like Michael Moore, Morgan Spurlock and Louis Theroux, was delightful, as the picture shows. We now had two celebrity supporters so Nell was no longer alone.

By now there was only one thought on our minds - the legendary Ditchling Beacon. This hill is the highest point in East Sussex and the climb was brutal. We have to go over this on day 4 of the Challenge cycle and we'll be having nightmares about it until then. Please click here for video footage of the evil climb and the day in general.

We split up at the top of the Beacon with Will, John P and Rob - still cheerful despite a flat tyre and his gears being knackered- taking the train straight back. The others stayed in Brighton for fish and chips on the beach (photo below) and more celebrity excitement. Pete Bennett, the Tourettes suffering winner of Big Brother 7 told us "the universe loves you (for what you're doing)." Pete and his band The Love Dogs have a new single out on Monday and we wished him well with it.

All in all a fantastic day. 60 miles in about 4 and a half hours with a top speed of 38 mph. A big thank you to Will for his amazing job on the route and to him and Angus for looking after us all. Our buttocks may be sore but our spirits are high.