A big week this week as the three of us take on the challenge of a road ride to Brighton and then to ride back too.

Norton that rode with Cas and I to Brighton last year is leaving from Clapham at circa 8-30 too with a couple of mates and we have a loose arrangement to see each other en route although from past experience the others will be riding too slowly for us so we only plan on saying hello.

So its up to Woodmansterne and joining the official route and from thereonin its pretty good going all the way to Brighton. The weather is bright but with the cloud cover there's a lovely cool breeze as we race along at an average of 25kph although for some reason I have Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire going round in my head which Felix recognises as I mutter the words to myself "and it burns, burns, burns, the Ring of Fire".

A quick stop for water and a can of Red Bull in Hayward's Heath and it doesn't seem long before we see the South Downs looming in the distance with the promise of the climb up Ditchling Beacon. I'm rather perversely looking forward to it. The only time I have ridden this before was last July and that was on my old 853 steel Raleigh which was much heavier than my sleek Bianchi Via Nirone (no, I will avoid the use of the word 'steed') with worse gearing.

As we start ridng the lower slopes I nod to a couple of mountain bikers who are waiting at a junction on the right. The road starts to kick up steeply and I click down the gears but it's steep, very steep as I grind my way up. Then you know how you get that sixth sense that someone is close behind you? I glance round and the two mtb'ers are drafting me up the hill although they have an easier ride in the granny ring. Just then the hill kicks up again and I have no choice but to stand on the pedals trying to keep them spinning. Up to the hairpin and a quick glance round sees the mtb'ers in the distance as they are in bed with granny, spinning away and getting nowhere but there's no further time to worry about them as it's just me against the Beacon.

Lots of mind games are going on and I am promising myself I can't tell you what if I get to the top but the climb goes on and on until I finally reach the top where we pause for our first photo stop.

From there it's time to savour a great final few miles into Brighton even if there is another lesser climb over the dual carriageway and then down to the seafront for a very genteel lunch of tuna sandwich, coffee and listening to a very good pair of buskers. A quick call to Norton confirms that they are miles behind, way off course and have stopped at a pub for lunch.

Right, now it's time to go into the unknown as we turn around and head for home. We decide to simply reverse our route here and that means a long steep climb back up the hill out of Brighton. Cas is moaning as we stop at the traffic lights as he doesn't want our average speed to drop, uh-oh, looks like we will be pushing it on the way back too. Up to the top of the Beacon before flying down it and screaming encouragement at another group of mtb'ers grinding their way up.

From there it's just push, push and push again as the road stretches away in front of us and Cas and Felix are about a quarter of a mile ahead of me and I'm gobbling down power bars trying to keep the dreaded bonk away; it's just over the next hill, I can feel it coming on. But the road up to Turner's Hill is a really nice ride even if it is up hill and thankfully the other's have paused at a shop and we have a chance for a rest and knowing that it's just 25 miles until we reach home.

Partly recovered, we draft each other for the next ten miles, again carrying a good average speed and before long we are at Woodmansterne, virtually back where we started. Felix has to get home but Cas and I stop for a couple fo Guinesses and soon become the focus of a group of blokes on the next table although thankfully it's because they are interested in bikes rather than our lycra gear!

A quick call to Norton reveals they are 'about five miles outside Brighton'. Now that makes me feel good, we got there and back (100 miles) in the time that they completed circa 57 miles from Clapham Common and hey, we all know the first 12 miles is easy cos it's dead flat!