Bring back Andy Roberts and Viv Richards, and then we’ll see how good our team isn’t!

I feel a little churlish in not being, shall we say, ecstatic regarding England’s 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies’ cricket team. I know our boys can do no more than beat whoever turns out in front of them, but who really cares when the opposition looked so… lame? Remember, just a few months ago the Aussies slammed us 5-0.

I’m old enough to remember the golden era when there were no weak teams in world cricket, and a test series victory over anyone was quite an achievement. (OK, allow me to use my rose-tinted viewing devices). For a time, the Windies were top of the tree. Grumpy old Clive Lloyd at the helm with those funny NHS specs, Kallicharan, Kanhai and the legend that is Viv Richards would score the runs. The attack was all about pace. Despite getting a few batterings from Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft, it was always a committed exciting game of cricket. If we beat that lot, we could be proud.
It’s sad to see how far the West Indies have fallen. Will they be back?
It wasn’t until Botham, Brearley and Bob willis came on song that we could stand up to them. I’m glad old Beefy has been honoured. There haven’t been too many Pakistani protests about his knighthood. You do wonder which muppet decided to give a gong to Rushdie? If ever there was a decision designed to inflame the situation in Pakistan/Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran etc then this was it. Well done to that idiot. Don’t get me started.

I’m still a bit disgruntled about my broken chain during the Circuit of the Cotswolds on Sunday. I was going really well, in a nice group, at a decent pace. Apart from that, it was great. The weather held up, the scenery was fabulous, and the roads and route suitably testing. Cleeve Hill was a 1in 4 climb out the back of a housing estate. Lots of grunting and groaning up that particular climb. By the way, how many people carry a chain-splitting device?

Everyone except me turned up early for the start (I had a 90 min-plus drive after the 6 am ferry) and then had to join a long queue before we were allowed off at 2 minute intervals. There was lots of chitchat about the usual bike equipment stuff, and I could hear a group discussing the Etape. One of them was doing it, and an opinion was voiced that it was too difficult this year and had put some off from entering. This may be so. With my inexperience, I feel like I’m entering a large void. I am doing everything I can to prepare myself, but until I get to Foix, it is all educated guesswork. The Rapha website preview is really good. I’ve had quite a few private emails from blogreaders offering advice, and I’m grateful to everyone who has taken the time to write. I have not underestimated the challenge. Don’t worry… I’m going to be drinking plenty.

I have to admit that the fact that people are saying this year’s route is super-tough makes me feel more motivated. It’s analogous to the cricket. If the route or opposition was ‘easy’ I guess most of the participants would not get a sense of achievement and satisfaction at the end of it. Maybe, our cricket team feel like they’ve done the job, but haven’t really proven themselves? I’m not being conceited to admit that the Circuit of the Cotswolds felt quite comfortable. So it should … if I think what I’ve got to get up,down and along in less than 4 weeks.

One feature of this week… I am dog-tired. No wonder. Last week was well over 250 miles of tough riding and only 2 hours of sleep on Saturday. Furthermore, the current Mrs C has gone away to The North Island for tennis camp, so I am in full time dad mode. I’ve struggled to juggle jobs, and 3 hours of driving to and fro ferrying daughter No.1 yesterday was no fun. Then there’s the washing, tidying, sandwiches, emptying dishwashers, finding clothes, money, towels, bus passes and so on which is incessant. I’m humbled by the amount of unseen chores that my wife obviously does all the time. Being a one-parent carer is almost as difficult as the Etape…… no…make that much more difficult than the Etape. The Etape only lasts for one day.

I made the local paper this week in an attempt to generate some more sponsorship. The IOW County Press is read by virtually everyone on the Island. I immediately got an email from a guy down the road who is doing the British Etape on 1st July. I’ll give him a ring tonight, but I guess we’ve left it almost too late to hook up together before his ride as he’ll be tapering now.

So, I’ve done one recovery ride this week and got to grips with my new HRM. My bike has a new chain and has had a general once over by Adrian, well known local bike-shop owner and king of the sarcastic put-down. He hates my bike.

With less than 4 weeks to kick-off I’m unsure of how to train. I’m thinking out loud here. Do I pack in another couple of long rides? My max so far is 104 miles or 6.5 hours. My weekends are fully booked with ’stuff’, gigs, weddings, on-call. I think I’m going to really push the 20 mile speed run, some intervals on the local steep hills, and a bit of weigh training. Diet wise… it’s quality all the way. If I can lose a few pounds that would be nice. The trouble is I am permanently starving hungry.

Hopefully I'll see some of you in The Anchor on Saturday night for a Riptide gig.