Phew, that was easy! I've set up this Bog thing to keep anyone who is interested in my ramblings about this Folding Bike Challenge that I am taking part in to raise money for British Heart Foundation.

I suppose I'd better start with the history of how I came to sign up for it and then you'll be up to date. I'll try to keep it up to date as things progress....

In my youth (I'm now 45) I used to cycle a bit... commuting to work, bit of touring and club runs and even dabbled with a bit of racing; although never really amounted to much and it was pretty much limited to time-trials. Anyway, since getting married and having children the cycling has fallen off although the basic interest has really only gone dormant.

Then in 2008, the fuel prices went all silly. My commute to work is just short of 18 miles, and it was costing me a fair bit in diesel so I thought I'd try public transport. Only the train station is about 3 - 4 miles away, which means a bus ride or taking the car anyway. Ok, I'll go to the station on my bike and then get the train. Then I found there is only one direct train between Wakefield and Halifax per hour; but there is another option to get the train to or from Dewsbury and again only one train per hour.

Then, on a trip to London, I saw loads of people on folding bikes. Yes! Eureka moment... get a folding bike and then it won't matter which train I get on the return trip as I'll have it with me.

Straight home and onto ebay and bought a folder for £50. Lovely red colour, single gear and folds up great. Really going to be the business... and then I rode it. Seat was way too low, gear stupidly small so the slightest downhill gradient meant my legs couldn't keep up... I obviously need a bike with gears. (Fortunately this one freewheels!)

The neatest fold seems to be a Brompton. There are LOADS of Bromptons on ebay and they tend to go for around £400+. New ones cost anything from about £800+ I didn't want to pay so much; because this is supposed to be an experiment, remember? After some searching, I found a Brompton copy (a Mission Space Genie) with 5 gears and a taller seat. Another 50 quid later and it was mine.

But then I rode it. Gears were bearable, and a big improvement on the last one, but I wouldn't want to ride it more than the 3 miles to the station. The seat height was still too low, but I solved that as a friend got one made for me. Only the new tube is stainless steel and it weighs almost as much as the rest of the bike! Still, as I don't have to carry the bike far it is now good enough for the ride to the station.

I bought a one month pass - another mistake. The first day, the train was cancelled with no explanation so I had to go to Leeds and then back out again - not hugely inconvenient, except the Leeds to Halifax train is often late/cancelled etc. The next three days were a nightmare of cancelled trains, delayed trains, missed trains....

As I'd bought the pass (£90), I toughed it out for the whole month. It was quite an experience - coaches instead of trains when they were cancelled... I admire you guys who put up with this sort of thing, but I decided I couldn't.

After my summer holiday I thought, 18 miles is not so far. I'll cycle from home to Halifax. That will just be easier. Just on the nice days, you understand. I don't like riding in the rain so when it does, I'll go in the car. Overall, I'll still save.

During August and September I rode on average 3 days per week and at the end of each week my legs were killing me - I still remember being able to average 20mph all day and mentally still can. But my legs can't. The first day took me 1 hour 3 mins to do 17 miles.

Anyway, I'm digressing.... this isn't about my personal battle against the wind.

The folding bike sat in the garage gathering dust and waiting for me to post it back on ebay. Until March; when my employer put a message on the intranet to say there were 20 places reserved for employees on the London to Paris Folding Bike Challenge in September - raising funds for the company's charity of the year The British Heart Foundation.

I thought, why not? I've got a folding bike in the garage and 240 miles doesn't seem too bad over 4 days. Of course, I'd have to sort those gears out... but hey, easy peasy.

So, I applied..... and have to raise at least £1200 to take part; more details to follow.