It's about time I got back on the bike

I must get back on the bike this week but to be honest, I am dreading it.

And not because I have just had a slight break from training while I enjoyed a week on holiday.

More because just before, a friend of mine I was riding with came crashing down at about 20mph. And it wasn’t pretty.

Thankfully, there were no broken bones.

And I am glad, as I think I might have caused his crash!

Hurtling down the Five Pits trail, my mate Phil had dropped a good 20 metres behind after we had finished an uphill sprint.

Thinking he was taking a breather, I carried on pushing a little harder believing he was well back on the gravelled track.

That was until I slowed down, inadvertently drifted to my right only to hear some kind of warning scream and than a buckling of my back tyre.

He had been racing up behind, going past me when I wondered into his path and I heard the screeching of brakes, a slight tug on my back wheel and then the noise of Phil and his bike careering across the gravel into a hedge bottom.

Blood from head to toe, some pretty bad cuts but as he jumped up quickly, it appeared nothing broken.

With a bridge and steep drop just a few more metres up the track, it could have been a lot more serious. But he found the heavily bramble-filled hedge to the side of the track.

A steady ride back to base, a clean up and soon he was feeling the full force of the crash, sore and struggling to walk.

He took it all in good spirits, but I think he was glad I was away soon after on holiday so we did not have to hit the trail again. He would be safer on his own.

And after I punctured his tyre on his road bike in the Macclesfield Triathlon a week or so earlier, I doubt whether he fancies coming out biking with me again!

Either way, I need to dust mine down and get some miles under my belt this week, after all, the London Triathlon is just seven weeks away.

But after seeing a crash at those speeds first hand, I am a little bit daunted about getting back on two wheels.

Well, I’ll have to be man about it. It’s time to up the training as time is running out.

To follow Stevie's progress on Twitter, click here or for the full story behind Stevie taking up the London Triathlon challenge, click here

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American-based sports giant Under Armour have backed Stevie in his quest to complete the London Triathlon and raise cash for When You Wish Upon A Star by agreeing to become his official sponsor.They have provided him with a whole range of their latest hi-tech training gear to help in all weathers, and a new tri-suit for the race itself. For more information visit http://www.underarmour.com/