All-steel. Even the tyres are steel, the handlebar grips, saddle, everything. Men were tough back then, aye.

(This ace vintage advert for Raleigh is at the National Railway Museum, where they have absolutely loads of other incredible stuff also made out of steel. Like Mallard.)

I said I’d take some time off the bike after Relentless 24, but I didn’t think it would add up to four weeks. There are no excuses, I was just being lazy. It felt good once I had warmed up a bit, and we knocked out thirty road miles over a few decent hills and into a couple of stiff headwinds before breakfast without my feeling like I was dying. It’s good to be back.