Greetings from the capital (From York Press)

Greetings from the capital

10:48am Friday 20th November 2009

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I went to London and all I got was a lousy gale in my face for four days. I think that whichever route I'd chosen would have been tough, given that most of the country has been ravaged by south-westerly gales over the last week or so.

But in order to inject some variety into the up-down-up-down nature of following a team in a league with a heavy southern bias, I headed east.

When I was watching the sun set over the Humber estuary from atop its magnificent bridge, I was feeling pretty pleased with my choice. A few miles later, pedalling uphill in the dark into wind and rain, a certain amount of displeasure was creeping in. Isn't Lincolnshire supposed to be flat? Before I'd started this whole adventure, I thought I had a reasonable knowledge of English geography, but I genuinely didn't know anything about the Lincolnshire Wolds. I do now.

I stopped Sunday night in Caistor, cycling up onto the ridge between Caistor and Horncastle, an ancient thoroughfare which has been used since Roman times. It incorporates the highest point in Eastern England (a recurrent theme; I ended up at Nottinghamshire's highest point after a wrong turning on a previous leg) which affords a fantastic view of the Wolds to both sides. At least that's what an information board said; I couldn't see a thing for the surrounding clouds. Clouds which emptied themselves on me, copiously and relentlessly for the rest of the day.

I don't want to moan too much; I've been astonishingly fortunate with both the weather and fixture changes so far. Even the impending second round FA Cup match gives me the opportunity to have a planned birthday weekend in Cambridge, with the original Histon fixture to be rearranged for a later date.

No, I don't want to moan too much but at some points over the last four days I haven't really been enjoying what I was doing.

Even under more favourable conditions, I'm not the quickest of cyclists – averaging about 12mph over a day. Factor in a straight-down-my-throat gale force wind and that modest average was cut in half.

Six miles per hour is a dispiriting speed at which to crawl your way across the country. For four days in a row. With any luck, the weather will remain the same and I'll be spirited north for the Gateshead match without turning a pedal.

At least I can console myself with a fantastic first half of the season, an amazing turnaround since this time last year, for which Martin Foyle and his squad deserve a lot of credit.

I'm really looking forward to the AFC Wimbledon match on Saturday – it should be a good, open game with plenty of City fans in attendance. Let's hope we can snaffle three points to make the trip back north easier, whether it's wind-assisted or not.

A quick note to say thanks once again to everyone who has sponsored me so far. I've clocked up over 3000 miles now, and we've raised nearly £2,500 – half of my original target.

More than £700 of this has come directly from York City fans; thanks to each and every one of you. If anyone wishes to sponsor, they can do so using the related links provided (above right).