Notes to self: Truth and dare

By the time you read this, I will be mere days away from setting off on my three week bike ride from Bangkok to Singapore. It will be the biggest fitness challenge I've ever done. In some ways I'm excited; I get to spend three weeks with my friend Brock, riding in the days, seeing more of the world and eating and partying.

In other ways I'm scared. Petrified. People think we're crazy (in fact, I think everyone who knows us thought this was all an elaborate joke until about last week). People think we can't do it (we have reputations for being party animals, not fitness challenge kind of people). People are worried about how casual we are about a) our preparations (we haven't really got a clue how to change an inner tube which, I'm told, is part of the tyre) and b) our route, which involves cycling through three fairly dangerous provinces in the south of Thailand that people are advised against travelling through.

But we've decided not to listen to the advice of anyone who hasn't done a big cycling challenge like this before. Which is virtually everyone we know.

Okay, all the things I just mentioned are certainly big considerations, but I must admit my main worry is the mental and physical side of the challenge. I know I'm the most physically fit I've ever been, but I still worry that this is a few steps too far. It's one thing to be able to breeze through a one-hour spin class, and quite another to cycle five hours a day, every day for three weeks.

But the real challenge, I think, will be mental preparation. I did a walking marathon a couple of years ago and, while I was certainly physically fit enough, I hadn't worn the right shoes and my feet hurt so much that every step was a challenge towards the end. In the last few miles, I was so close to crying it took all my willpower to keep going and make it over the finishing line. After that, I didn't exercise for a good few weeks. The thought was chilling. I don't ever want to be so ill-prepared again.

So that's my main concern. I want to be focused on the part where you wake up in the morning after four days of cycling, aching all over, and knowing you have to do it again and again and again for another few weeks. We will wake up sore, having dreamt all night about cycling, then we will have to get up and cycle some more. We will be together day and night, run out of things to say and probably get tetchy with one another. We've spoken about it; we know it's likely to happen — particularly if Brock hasn't had his coffee and I haven't had some stodgy carbs. I don't want it to become a living nightmare. Instead, I want it to be the best thing I ever did in my life. I want to look back and remember meeting interesting people, seeing incredible places I'd otherwise not have the chance to and building some incredible memories with one of my best friends. That's why, this time, I've spent every day in the gym building up my fitness and spent virtually every dirham I have on the best shoes, padded-bottom cycling shorts and equipment I have so that when I look back, I can remember the fun we had, rather than the chafing we experienced.

Follow our preparations and journey on www.pedalharderfools.com