Les Ferdinand's Blog by Les_Ferdinand

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.