Roddy Graham's Blog: 19 June 2008

Date: 19 June 2008

Roddy Graham is chairman of the ICFM and commercial director of Leasedrive Velo

Permit me for feeling slightly smug on the eve of my epic 250-mile London to Paris Bike Ride in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. For four days, I will not be reliant on finding a forecourt with fuel or having to dig deeper in my pockets for every litre I use up on my travels.

In quite a unique experience for me since I was a teenager, I am going to be reliant on my own pedal power to get around. I'm not yet sure how it's all going to go but a sore backside is certainly guaranteed. I seem to be keeping up with the miles in training but saddles are a poor substitute for the comforts of a nice anatomically-designed leather driver's seat. After the first day, I guarantee I won't feel quite so smug!

The good news for all you drivers back home is that the second round of strikes by Shell tanker drivers has been called off. Agreement on future wages has now been reached so the 600 or so fuel stations that ran out of fuel should soon have their stocks replenished and everything return to "business as usual".

The bad news is that despite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announcing it was going to up oil production, a sure sign that Opec will follow suit in September, fuel speculators have driven the cost of a barrel of oil close to $140 at the last count. Maybe it'll have overtaken that record by the time you read this.

As I've said many times before in my blogs, we are going to have to change the habits of a lifetime in order to conserve this most precious of commodities. Whether the London to Paris Bike Ride puts me off cycling for life remains to be seen but I would hope that for short trips hopping on a saddle rather into the driver's seat becomes the norm for me in the future.

I should sure have the legs for it!

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