Les Ferdinand's Blog by Les_Ferdinand

We'd like to let you know that due to Les' jam packed schedule (it's all that cycling and football watching) he won't be able to continue writing his blog for us. However, if he finds time to crowbar us in the future you'll see this blog updated again. Thanks Les for your posts, and we look forward to reading future updates if you have any of those rare, spare moments.

Hello everyone! Its been a quiet week since returning from the Dallaglio Cycle Slam. I haven't managed to get back out on the bike because of the awful weather here (not an excuse I promise(!), although I think my bum is glad of the rest!) But I have enjoyed getting the updates from the rest of the gang on Stage 2. It seems like they had the same deal as us, one good day, one bad, but again they all achieved it, which is great.

I was looking forward to catching up on some sleep once I'd got rid of Dicko, but I had a restless night before heading back to training on Friday. The boys were in good shape and I joined in with training. I did expect I would feel tired, but actually I felt good. Saturday we headed up to Wigan and I thought it was a great result on a difficult pitch. Good to see Pav get on the scoresheet.

I planned to get out on Monday on the bike, but with snow on the ground I decided to give it a miss. I've decided I definitely want to go back out for Stage 5, so I do need to keep the legs ticking over and now I feel like I've got fit again I don't want to let it drop. Training again Tuesday morning and we prepared by doing a long warm up followed by a 9-a-side game, which didn't last too long ahead of the game against Bolton in the FA Cup. The games are coming thick and fast at the mo, and we're trying to keep the players as fresh as possible. But this time of the season is where the strength of the squad is tested. But we had a great result against Bolton 4-0, with another two goals for Pav again. Fingers crossed for us against Everton this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it, but it will be a real test.... See you next week.

Well then I’m back from the Dallaglio Cycle Slam and still alive to tell the tale..... just! 672 km later and I am back in London and even joined in training at Spurs. A few people said I looked in good shape again. So I said ‘what, did I look fat before?!’ My body is feeling surprisingly good considering. My legs feel OK., left knee is a bit sore, but aside from that I feel good. The most pain is from my a**e! Everyone said the saddle sore would be the worst part and they were right! I tried the chamois cream and every other cream available, but it was too little too late. Apart from that I absolutely loved it though.

Day one was a complete disaster – we had rain, snow, then the police escort decided they had an emergency (which I thought might be that someone had spilt a cup of coffee in a nice warm café…. ) Then the snow turned into a blizzard. At the time I was halfway up a hill by myself. The weather got so bad that we had to stop after 50km. I was freezing: the jackets weren’t waterproof, so I was soaked through to the skin and just had to sit in the cold for ages waiting for the bus to come to take us to the hotel.

Day two was much better and my first major challenge on a bike. It was cold but dry and we did 167kms, a total of 8 hours in the saddle. There was still some ice on the roads though and I slipped, fell and managed to break the handlebars on my lovely new Specialized bike! But I refused to give in even though my team suggested I stop, so I rode the rest of the way (about 70km) with wobbly handlebars on one side! And I still had to go up a 22km hill, which was tough! I must admit I had to get off the bike once because I was so tired, (I blamed it on the handlebars) but Team Armstrong (my team of ten) pulled me through. The good thing was my legs seemed to get stronger with every day.

Day three was a rest day so I had a massage from one of my teammates Kerry (who completed the ride even though she is 4 months pregnant – and I thought it was hard!). It made a big difference to my legs when we started on the epic 176km day four stretch. Definitely the best day – started with a 19 degree, 3km climb but then it was downhill all the way and that’s my cup of tea, coffee, Budweiser and whatever else you would like to drink! Along the way I was learning more and more cycling skills, especially in relation to how to manage the hills. It just felt like I got stronger as it went on which was lucky, because I must be honest, I hadn’t really done enough training before the event. I had to call on all my reserves and things I'd learnt as a professional footballer, to get me through.

The following day was King of the Mountains day. Looking back I can’t decide whether I didn’t get much sleep the night before because I was thinking about the ride, or because my roommate Lee Dixon was snoring so loudly! But despite my lack of sleep we conquered the mountain. What’s that saying? If Les won't go to the mountain, then the mountain will come to Les! The last day was a mere 130km, but torrential rain and wind spoiled what should have been a lovely cycle. The views would have been phenomenal and I will go back in the good weather to do it again. So we arrived in Nice soaking wet, but elated from our achievements. I had a great time with my team – special mention to Angus for making me laugh the whole time, James for his concern for his teammates and Dicko for being what a teammate is supposed to be and keeping me going through the whole thing. He gave with one hand and took away with the other (his snoring really was loud!)

Once I’d completed the stage, I felt a real sense of achievement. I never thought I could do something like that. I haven’t put my body through anything like that kind of physical and mental strain, since I was playing football and I was so happy that I could still do it! I’m now hooked and am already planning my next cycling challenge. I want a new, faster bike because now I’m officially a pro! Thanks for all your comments. They really have kept me and Dicko going. 

Hello again! It's been a busy last week in the run up to the Dallaglio Cycle Slam and I've been trying to fit in some last minute training and getting some little niggles sorted before I leave. In training last week I thought I'd tweaked my hamstring and so I’ve been seeing my physio Kevin Lidlow - he seems to think the issue is with my adductor. I have a long-standing groin problem and after the bike ride, I think I will have to finally go under the knife to get it sorted, which is going to affect my golf and tennis plans!

I did still manage to get out on the bike a couple of times though. Marcel at my local Specialized store was going to come out with me to give me some tips, as he is a pro rider, but he was busy, so I did an hour and half's hard ride on my own. I made sure my bike got the once over before it was packed off to Rome after the Grand Slam launch party last week. I got roped into a 500m race against Lawrence that I didn't want to do at all because of my hammy - but I won anyway :) Did I mention it was by 3 seconds?!

So last weekend I had to go out on my old bike. On Saturday we just did a 20-mile ride around St. Albans. I didn’t push it too hard because all the experts said we should just be doing some light work before setting off. I stayed on the small cog the whole way so it wasn't too heavy on my legs. Then it was off to the Lane for our match against Villa. I thought we were very unlucky not to win – we had all the possession and most of the chances, but we just couldn’t get the goal we needed.

I didn't manage to get a ride in on Sunday and so I’ve just done a bit of training at work instead. I joined in with the boys on Monday and Tuesday, but it was only light session as my groin was sore and I didn't want to aggravate it any further before the ride. I packed up my bag on Wednesday and then went to the game at Wolves – which was our worst performance of the season so far. It was even more disappointing because other results had gone our way again.

But anyway now it's off to Rome. It’s come around really quickly and I’m just ready to get going now - I can’t wait. The bags are all packed, I've got all my Lucozade bars and gels and my carbo drinks. I'll send you an update from the Rome to Nice leg and let you know how we're getting on. Wish me luck and if you can spare a couple of quid, sponsor Dicko and I! We will definitely earn every penny! www.justgiving.com/Mel-Ferdi-Nicky