Ready to ride?

The weekend is finally here. When I say the weekend I mean THE weekend - it's the Southern Sportive on Sunday and I am ready to ride. Well, when I say ready I mean sort of ready. I'm trying hard not to think about the sore throat, the twinge in my right knee and, as of today, the niggling little pain in my right hand when I pull on the brakes. The funny thing is that up until the start of the week I had been feeling absolutely fine. I hadn't given the ride that much thought (after all, surely a Dragon Rider can take on anything I smugly thought) but then the e-mails started coming 'Here are final instructions...', 'Your race number is...' (it's 1111 which is actually quite cool but even that seemed to add pressure) and, worst of all 'We're aiming to set off at 8.30am...' (I live a good hour and a half from the start!). Is it just me or do we all get a touch of hypochondria in the face of a physical challenge? I am self diagnosing a good dose of Procycling (the best of all) whilst lying on the sofa followed by a shot of Tour of Britain highlights and rounded of by a pre-race massage from the beloved. Physician, heal thyself

Picture - Steffen Jensen