Glad you have made the decision to wait til after the big ride... and a great bonus that you can take an extra with you for extra blood

Enjoy your first metric! I have only ridden that distance once as a training ride - took me 4 hours even but three hours of that was on flat roads.

Its a loooong time on a bike and I admire all of you who attempt cemtruies - metric or imperial.

Let us know how you get on