Have you heard the one about the Englishman, the Texan and the Aussie who cycle to Brighton?

.....it sounds like a joke but it isn't. We made it.

And if you want to see the route we took you can see a detailed map here, provided by Jeff the Texan.

Lots happened on the trip. For starters, we met a guy outside the Foundry before we set-off who had too much to drink and was attempting to impress us - unsuccessfully - with his Star-Trek inspired hand gestures. I then fell off my bike leaving Tooting. Those damn new shoes! And we met a crazy old guy in Woodmansterne (though he clearly was from Nutfield) who wouldn't leave us alone despite ending each sentence with "I will let you go" before proceeding seamlessly to the next non-sequitur. Poor Jeff got stuck with him while James and I backed-away slowly.

We saw lots of wildlife too. Mostly of the cute variety: foxes, bunnies, lambs, and a rottweiler puppy. A Husky in a sidecar even overtook us (he wasn't driving though, he was a passenger). I had a lovely golden retriever run alongside me for awhile too. I'm not sure what charity-run he was training for.

Ditchling beacon was gruelling but I felt stronger on it than last year.

Sunday was fun too. James and the band put on a crackin gig at Victor's House, which explains why he didn't join me on the ride home.

So after 4 hours sleep, I found myself jumping on my bike at 6:30am Monday morning and setting off on the trip back to London all on my lonesome. It all went smoothly, despite an early wrong turn, a technical problem with my speedo, and losing my maps half way through. Made it back to London in just over 4 hours.

So now I'm exhausted, but glad. And feeling positive about my ride to Paris. Can't wait.