The other weekend saw Martin, Hermione and I heading down to do the Hever Castle Triathlon, as a team relay. So how did I get on?

When I was standing there clutching my bike, waiting for Hermione to finish her swim, and send me on my 20k cycle; I was pretty nervous. I think it’s fair to say that I was pretty unprepared, having only cycled a handful of times since buying my new bike in July. The furthest being around 13k.

So when I saw Hermione running towards me and I realized that I had to get going, the only thing stopping me from running and hiding was thinking of all the people who had pledged in support of us.

The first 8k were probably the hardest. I’ll admit that I had to hop off my bike and walk quite a few times, with all the more athletic cyclists passing me kindly shouting words of encouragement to keep me motivated. I remember this one particular woman who even offered me some chocolate. But I spent most of the time by myself with the stewards enthusiastic support keeping me going at every turn. And after that first hill, the whole thing seemed to fly by, and I was soon sending Martin off on his run. The best part though, was when we were able to cheekily join Martin in crossing the finish line.

While agreeing to take part in Hever Castle Triathlon might have been a slight judgment lapse on my part. I still managed to make it out (mostly) in one piece, and I’m glad I did it. The people who pledged in support got me on my bike. While the stewards and other cyclists helped me to the end. Next year, I hope to do the whole thing.

You can still make a pledge to support the team here.