The 34-year-old man who crawled out of bed and very nearly cycled 100 miles

    Expecting to be able to cycle, run or swim great distances because you have a modicum of fitness is one of the mind's great deceits. It's a trick mine has played on me twice now: first before cycling 126 miles from Greenwich to some beach in Norfolk for charity a decade ago, and again in the build-up to last Sunday, when I attempted the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100. I wasn't prepared: I'd only purchased a bike three weeks prior to the event (£180, reduced but new), and the only ‘training' ride I'd been on before we set off from the Olympic Park in east London comprised of a 2...