Breaking news - The Epic Cake is in the oven.....

My father called. Dad does all the calling with mum suggesting the words to use in the background. The exciting news was that our Cape Epic fruit cake that mum is making had gone in the oven!

Mum's cakes are immense and have got me through 2 ironman races. They are packed full of fruit and energy. So we'll be well fed during the days out in the hills and the cake will make a nice change from the gels and banana's. It will be fantastic.

The posse consisted of the Cape Town 2 and no one else. The Cape Town 2 had been celebrating the birth of Budgie, Mr and Mrs Wingman's new family addition so the start had been delayed until 9.30am - a late start!

I couldn't find a hat and texted Bigman to say I was running late. He was itching to get out on his new Trek bike.

For a change I collected him at his house and having had a quick review of the conditions it was agreed that we should keep the ride on main roads and at low level. His bike was sparkling in the winter's sun. It looked stunning.

So we set off to Kelty. It was baltic. The wind was blowing off the north west and it was very cold. I was glad I was wearing a couple of layers. Kinross is turning into a scary place - we had a brief incident in Kelty where a bus pulled out on us unsighted by the low sun but Kinross takes the prize. So firstly an old dear decided to pull out on us, a sharp call from the Bigman ensured safety. Next a small dog ran out on the road and it took skilled bike handling to avoid the mad mutt!

I spend the day on the Bigman's back wheel and my mind wandered to warmer climbs and sunny days. I would look up and the Bigman was heading off in the distance - it was one of those days. We hardly talked. Not because we didn't want to but because we wanted to get the training done. We were motoring along nicely. It felt slow and yet we were actually going quite fast.

The blast down to Dollar was a joy and I took the opportunity to pop into one of the hotels to use the facilities. As we got started I asked what the Bigman wanted to do. It was agreed that we wouldn't stop again. So we were off again and just ground it out and did it.

The route took us through Alloa and onto the cycle track. A roadie appeared in the distance. The target was too much and we wound the speed up and reeled him him. He jumped on our wheel and shared a few stories of his cycling trips to Italy. He also mentioned a 6 day road bike race in Oregon. One for next year I wonder......

So I left the boys at Oakley to go and buy a roll for lunch. 60 miles 4 hours a good average of 15mph. I was pleased to see the house!

It had been done. The cold seemed to have penetrated every part of me but it was done.

4 weeks today we'll be going through race registration. I can't wait. Talking of wait I'm at my lowest weight since I was 30 - on target to be around 13 stone ish by race day.