The main reason to spend so long in the saddle is of course to do with fitness gains, however there are very often some not so positive additions! As well as getting soaking wet many times over, I also developed a rather horrid and painful “saddle sore”! Having gone months with no problems whatsoever and never needing chamois cream to alleviate chafing, I suddenly developed a huge boil on my “undercarriage”. Treatment with TCP, hot compresses and latterly Hibiclens and Rubbing Alcohol eventually cleared the skin problem, which took quite a while as training (which of course still had to go ahead!) naturally exacerbated the issue! I have however been left with a small hard lump under the surface of the skin, which the doctor describes as scar tissue, and which still makes cycling a touch painful, but should improve over time. Just one more thing to put up with, along with an aching hamstring and feet! They do say getting to the start line is often harder than getting to the end…..let’s hope that’s true and nothing else goes wrong before Sunday 13th!