PREPARATION for two hours of pedal-powered madness around the streets of Ringwood is progressing well with just four weeks left until the British Pedal Car Grand Prix.

A further visit to the New Milton headquarters of race director, Cliff Polton, last Tuesday (June 10) was followed by a mountain bike ride through the glorious scenery of the New Forest.

Cliff’s familiarity with the forest is almost as impressive as his knowledge of the intricacies of bearing mechanisms.

Oliver Pilley, leader of the Crazy Frog pedal car team and three times a winner of the junior race, accompanied us on the ride and showed a worrying turn of speed through the tight woodland trails.

A ride of about 13 miles through Ossemsley, Brockenhurst, and Hinchelsea ended back at New Milton in the comfortable surroundings of the Rising Sun, where a healthy draft of orange juice and lemonade completed a productive evening.

The weekend brought a stiffer challenge with a visit to a mountain bike trail centre in Afan Forest Park, South Wales.

Over 100km of trails in the valley have proved enormously popular with the UK’s mountain biking fraternity, attracting thousands of visitors every year.

My day began on White’s Level, a 15km route of rocky single-track trails, which zig-zag their way 400 metres up the side of a mountain.

My arrival at the summit left my legs burning with lactic acid, my lungs working like a pair of industrial bellows, and my heart attempting escape through my breastbone.

Further threat of cardiac arrest was presented by the descent, an upsurge in adrenaline replacing exertion as the principle cause of the strain on my aorta.

A narrow ribbon of trail, barely wider than my handlebars in places, hurled me around banked, hairpin bends, over giant stone drop-offs, and through bone-shaking "rock gardens" at light speed.

Two of the centre’s four world class trails ridden back-to-back delivered me back at the wonderful Skyline café ready to consume their entire menu.

With four weeks to go until the race, I’m hoping to put in some miles on the road bike in a vain attempt to build some stamina and avoid humiliation in front of an estimated 10,000 people on July 13.