So about 20 of us turned up at 7pm tonight for rehearsal, guys of all ages and shapes and two (stunner) girls. We got our yellow jerseys and told to wait till 8.15 ... it was drizzling and cold so we went to Starbucks for a coffee.
Then we were told what to do - basically ride round the circular centre stage for a couple minutes until the signal which is some Queen song (think it involves a bicycle
) when we are meant to exit the stage. All very simple if it hadn't been so wet! The stage itself, wooden, wasn't so bad, but at the back we were riding on corrugated iron with an added two big bumps covering the cabling ... everyone was not so confident and sure enough there were a couple falls.
That was it and we should be on around 8.45pm tomorrow. I think our bikes will be next to the Pros' who will be presented on stage before our finale.
Two of my clubmates happened to be out for a ride today when they bumped into the Caisse d'Epargne team near the hotel where they are staying, so they took them out for a 90km ride on the Surrey lanes
. Back up Box Hill and (as you would expect) the Pros were flying uphill effortlessly.