Nine months after an operation at University College Hospital, London, I got a bit of my lower torso strength back, and managed to scale up this bastard of an S-shaped hill at Richmond Park without dismounting.

It took several attempts, about five weekends altogether, before I could cycle up all the way. The pain was excruciating. I failed in the first attempt on that one weekend in September, but did a lap anyway. In the second attempt, I had this mantra going on and on in my head: “Pain is weakness leaving the body”.

Ecstatic, I commissioned Holmes cc, aka the founder of GLUE, to design two jerseys to commemorate the event. This (pictured) is one of them.

I still do laps around the park. To be honest, it doesn’t get any less painful.

You just get used to the lactic acid, and learn to tell your legs to shut up.