Meet Selina, my bike. Please don't laugh, my bike rack is bigger than my car. I lurve my bike. She's cool - tough, forgiving, patient, and grey really suits her, don't you think? She's raring to go, but sometimes rolls her eyes heavenward. "Just pedal, for godsake, I'll do the rest," she says.

A small note about gel seats. WHATEVER they say about gel seats being less comfortable than the original, well-designed seat underneath, better off without it, etc. etc., ignore this advice. I tried it yesterday for 5 minutes.

Training with the mad Serb is like fishing. "Been thinking about what music to take on my iPod, Milos.Help power me up the mountains.  Hhmm. Rolling Stones. Beatles (let's go retro I think). Santana. Fleetwood Mac. T.Rex. And I have a rather nice collection of Croation folk music I'm thinking of taking." Explosion of insults (STRIKE!!!!). Vot is zeez rubbish???? (HOOK UP). We Serbs have zee best rock music in zee vorld, after US and UK. (REAL HIM IN).

Been doing more interval training. I go in half-asleep and knackered - my usual state these days - and I come out TOTALLY wired! Milos thinks it's just my wild enthusiasm. "I like zis attitude, bring it wiz you tomorrow." I think that was a compliment.

Catherine, who's coming with us, sent me a link to a beginners' cycling questions website, although she complained it didn't answer the most important' questions:

-          Why does my bum hurt?

-          Why is everyone else going faster than me?

-          When will my bum stop hurting?

-          Is there anything to eat other than bananas I hate bananas?

-          Why is this road surface so terrible?

-          Will my bum ever stop hurting?

-          Oh my God is that another hill?

-          Why didn’t I do more training before starting this trip?

-          How many more hills are there today?

-          Is it possible to have your bum amputated to stop the pain?

-          Can I get up this hill without being sick?

-          Why is my hotel still 20km away?

-          Can I get up this hill before dark?

-          Which moron invented cycling anyway?

-          Can I just die here?

-          Why did I ever think this was a good idea?

-          Can I go up this hill any more slowly before I come to a complete halt?

-          Aargh can I get my feet out of the clips as I am toppling sideways aargh no crunch ouch.

-          Will anyone give me a lift home?