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An unforeseen side-effect of dealing with my son's cancer treatment over the last 14 months is that I now believe I can take on anything. So when the phone rang and Willie Gray asked me if I'd take his place in the Strathpuffer, I said "Sure". After all, how hard can it be?

The "Puffer" is a 24 hour endurance mountain bike race that takes place in the Highlands of Scotland in the middle of winter. It is possibly the only 24 hour winter mountain bike race. It's tomorrow. I'm 47 next week and I've never done a mountain bike race but at least I've had plenty of time to train and prepare for it - um, 5 days... I've never used the tyres I'm going to use, the brakes I'm going to use, the lights I'm going to use (17 hours of the race is in darkness). I am part of a team of 4 so my share is "only" 6 hours.

I didn't get 5 days to prepare for my wife arriving home and telling me, ashen-faced, that "They found a lump" in my son's pelvis. Given the choice back then of doing the Puffer on my own or spending a year dealing with my child's cancer, the choice wouldn't have taken a nanosecond of thought. I had a team there too - a team of fantastic doctors and nurses and a brilliant facility provided by Teenage Cancer Trust, that helped my son, family and I through the 365-day endurance that is cancer treatment.

How hard can it be?

POST-EVENT UPDATE

Well, we survived. The team managed 23 gruelling laps in the 24 hours in strong winds, spells of rain, and the seemingly endless dark. I did 5 of them (5 hours) including a double running up to midnight. In fact, the longer it went on, the more I enjoyed it, I think. I set off far too hard on the first lap (adrenalin - my heart rate averaged 170bpm) but settled into the subsequent laps and gained confidence on the rocks. The mud was like nothing I've ever seen and gave me real issues with the bike - jamming the chain on steep ascents. The dark (only 1 of my laps was in the light) added a whole new dimension.

Thanks to Willie and Stuart for supporting us all night. Thanks to Kenny Riddle for popping up to check out and service our bikes. Thanks to everyone who catered for us (we had enough food for a week!) Thanks to the organisers and fellow competitors for the good spirit in which it was run.

It's Monday - I'm tired, battered and a bit stiff but happy - I really enjoyed doing it.

And, before you ask, the answer's No!

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