Adam's bike challenge. Stage 10: Cycle 500 miles in 6 days - it's a breeze

Adam Bradbury

05 January 2012

A crash of thunder woke me this morning. With temperatures plunging to around 9 degrees and winds approaching 19 mph, I squeezed into fashion-repellant plastic-lined trousers and headed south into some of London's toughest tree-lined cycle lanes.

Fortune favours the brave. As I powered through the first set of traffic lights the skies cleared and the wind eased. An incredible 25 minutes later I made the summit, the office. The sense of achievement is hard to put into words.

Also hard to put into words is how much wetter the trousers had become on the inside than outside.

At work two pieces of news greeted me:

Yesterday Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton set out to cycle a specially built bike 500 miles to the South Pole. When she gets bored pedaling she'll do a spot of kite-surfing across the white powder. 

Next Monday Polar explorer Mark Wood expects to arrive at the South Pole having walked for 50 days pulling a sledge across some of the planet's most penguin-friendly terrain. Today's temperature is a balmy 18 degrees below zero.

Notes to self:

• Stop worrying - how hard can it be to cycle from London to Edinburgh through some of the UK's least hostile terrain?
• Start training - Mark and Helen were well prepared. Time for me to do a bit more cycling.
• Keep learning - get hold of waterproof gear that lets the sweat out.

Adam Bradbury, Publishing & New Media team

Why not join us on the Big Green Bike Ride?
Please sponsor me to cycle the 500 miles from London to Edinburgh in 6 days.
Or text: BALE 66 £[amount] to 70070. Thank you.