What with "Come Dine With Me" (which if you're wondering, I won), ordering mowers and barbeques, tidying the shed and having friends over for the bank holiday, I haven't exactly set the world alight with the cycling.

That said, I managed to put in 3 quick stints last week after work, the last one as follows ...

Time : 26 mins

Distance : 4.7 miles

Av. Speed : 10.9 mph.

Like I said, not exactly Lance Armstrong just yet, but taking it nice and slow ...

SPOILER ALERT! Don't read this if you still haven't watched the final episode of LOST.

It's time for another rant I'm afraid as I find myself cheated by the ending of my favourite TV show and the fact that Gemma feels the need to justify it.

Since 2004, like many people, I have been invested in the story of the mysterious island. The 6 series have been brilliantly confusing and left you wanting more. We've had flashbacks, flash forwards and now we discover, at the 11th hour that the the flash sideways were ... wait for it ... purgatory. We'll there's a surprise, if for no other reason that there was a huge belief after series one that the island was purgatory. It's as if the writers have gone, "Oh, that's buggered that up, we've been rumbled ... I know, we'll introduce a flash sideways ... in the very last series ... and make that purgatory. That'll fox 'em". And so it did.

Gemma accuses me of not being to suspend belief, something I happen to think I'm very good at, especially with LOST (the polar bears, time travel, immortality, need i go on) but this flash sideways lark is a complete get out. So they're in purgatory, right? I get that, but they can't remember each other ... OK, bit weird but I'll run with it. Oh no, hang on, Jin and Sun can remember each other, but can't remember anyone else, or little things like, oh i dunno, how to speak English? So they both drowned together, died ... arrived in Purgatoryland, and what were they doing then? Watching TV, wondering why they couldn't speak English any more. It's then explained that they didn't all die at the same time ... but baby Aaron must have done, cus he's still a baby and the others or still the same age as when they were on the island. Imagine Sawyer, dying at 70 only to arrive in purgatory the same age as he was when he was on the island. He might think that was just a little bit odd, but then again, maybe not, and decides just to be a cop instead. Lapidus is on the plane so I guess he won't be in purgatory with the others ... oh, but Miles is? John Locke dies and he can walk but then arrives in purgatory and is in a wheelchair again? Would he not have thought something weird was going on? Juliet falls down a well and dies, wakes up in purgatory to find she's a nurse in the same hospital as Jack ... not only that, married to him??!?! At the limits of my belief suspension I could perhaps con myself into believing all this was going on if they knew they were in purgatory and just getting on with this but that's just it, the whole 6th series is hinged around the fact that they are remembering stuff from when they were alive, remaking connections and wait for it ... don't actually know they're dead. Unbelievable! It's a total farce. I could go on but it's making me mad just writing this stuff. Utter TOSH!

After overindulging at Drew's wedding on Sunday, my diet has consisted of (very little) tuna, salmon, lentils, and low fat yoghurt ... and no alcohol. I've been out on my bike twice this week. Only half and hour each time, but as Tesco say, every little helps. Oh, and I've lost half a stone in 3 days. Not particularly healthy but needs must.

Looking forward to the 6th and FINAL (at last), Come Dine With Me on Sunday. No pressure Al but we're expecting you to cook up a storm ... and I'll probably put the half stone back on.

The Big Bowel Bike Bonanza
Challenge Ride - 51 Miles - Glasgow to Edinburgh

Following the success of the 3 Peaks Challenge in aid of Bowel Cancer UK last year, I've decided to compete in the Pedal for Scotland event in September 2010.
This time I'll be raising money for "Beating Bowel Cancer" and at the same time supporting Maggie's Cancer Care Centres, to which the entrance fee is donated.

Before we get into the details of the challenge, I should point out I'll be taking part on my old school mountain bike (a few of you might remember the red Diamondback) and I can honestly say my arse has barely touched the saddle since I passed my driving test ... nearly 20 years ago.
So apart from not having done any cycling for 2 decades and taking part on a mountain bike older than the average age of the cast of Glee, pedalling about on cycle paths for the equivalent distance of Bournemouth to Portsmouth should be a doddle.

The challenge is now in it's 12th year. The 51 mile Glasgow to Edinburgh ride is Scotland's biggest bike ride and attracted over 7000 participants last year.

A big thank you to everyone who supported us last year. Together we raised over £6000 for Bowel Cancer UK. Any donations this year for another fantastic cause would be gratefully received.