Bad weather, ridiculous transfers, even risky tactics, it can only be the Tour of Britain. Flawed it may be, but after seven years I have learned to love our national tour, warts and all.

We'd all certainly miss it if it were gone. With the exception of a Tour de France stage once a decade it's still the only chance to see world-class riders racing on our roads.

OK, the record for world's longest transfer was broken on Wednesday with the drive from Glastonbury to King's Lynn but the positive here is that more of the population get to see the race. No other eight-day event covers so much ground and who says the starts and finishes need to be joined up?

Everyone who braved the elements to cheer the riders on Saturday's sodden opening stage deserves a medal. It certainly looked grim, particularly on Blackpool Promenade. But what happens as soon as the last rider has finished? Out comes the sun!

And only the ToB could clash with the Pope's first trip to the capital in 28 years. It's a bizarre coincidence that it just happens to be on the exact same day and on the exact same roads as those proposed for the final stage.

Robert Garbutt is editor of Cycling Weekly

It's day one in the Pyrenees where we're out to shoot riding shots for the mag and the weather's idyllic.

Our hosts at Thuy based Allons y Pyrenees, Keren and Chris welcome us with open arms to their stunning accommodation and we enjoy a hearty breakfast before living the glamorous lives of models. Well, it's all true up until that last point anyway...

We had a great group of riders out with us to make appearances on the
mag covers, and on its inside pages, including downhill rider Christian Fairclough, Cycle Premier's James Millard, MaxGear's Rohan Battison, triathlete Jo Smith and VCL's James Solly.

They joined the CW team of myself, Art ed Dan Baines, Fitness ed Hannah Reynolds and
photographers Roo Fowler and Chris Catchpole. We had the models, the
photographers, plenty of biscuits and the backdrop of the Pyrenees
provided the rest. 

Emotional over Wiggo's journey CW's Dan refuses his cornflakes


Photographer Chris is very proud of his sandwich

Business as usual for Cycle Premier's James Millard

DH'er Christian Fairclough tries to blend in with the roadies but the sock height is a dead giveaway

We hit the mountains on the first morning where the weather left something to be desired. In between shots, we resorted to a bike bag for warmth, where we dodged the virtual monsoon and munched sarnies. Glam all the way so far!

3 girls in a bike bag...resourceful

So where's the nearest Starbucks?

The cover models after a heavy night out

After fighting a plucky fleet of donkeys for our lunch, not to mention a tough day of posing in the rain we made our way back to the house where we found a stark contrast to the weather on the mountain tops.

Turns out it was tan time at ground level so we opted for some splashing around in the endless resistance pool...which needless to say we cranked up to max and things turned pretty competitive. We concluded it's just like a turbo trainer but much more fun - the jury's still out on the winner.

We rounded off the day with a superb three course meal cooked by Keren and Chris, complimented by several glasses of local wine - the rest is a blur...who said life as a model was easy?

Not that further proof was necessary, but the London Sky Ride really highlights cycling's newfound popularity. With estimates of more than 85,000 riders for Sunday's loop of the capital, it more than doubles the previous record for the world's biggest bike ride.

Even the mayor was impressed by the turnout, although he thinks there's plenty more still to come. "The only problem will be keeping cycling in London under control - I think it's going to be a runaway beast," he told Cycling Weekly.

Problems like this I don't mind. Whether it's a Sky Ride, the new London Cycle Hire scheme, or even one of the newly designated Superhighways, the capital's population is welcoming every excuse to get back on two wheels. And it's working big time. With some three million Londoners needing to find alternative transport during this week's Tube strike, the best advice was to get on your bike.

This weekend it's Birmingham's turn. It's the second city's Sky debut, with an 8.3-kilometre circuit from the city centre down to Cannon Hill Park to be closed to other traffic for six hours from 10am.

Robert Garbutt is editor of Cycling Weekly

Regular visitors to this column may have noticed that the editor has been away on his holidays. To Brittany to be exact where the sun seems to shine a little bit more than in the UK and everybody but everybody rides a bike.

And here's the bit you might not already know - absolutely nobody wears a helmet.

That last bit isn't entirely true because I did encounter a few Brits and a group of Americans who had their lids on, but when it came to the locals there wasn't a scrap of polystyrene in sight.

Being used to London roads it's the complete opposite. Everyone wears protection these days, so much so that my French encounter was like step back in time.

There's no obvious reason for the difference in attitude. Brittany has a considerable number of bike lanes but in holiday season the roads, especially in the towns, are every bit as crowded as in Britain. And they start them young. It made me nervous watching pre-school kids wobbling along the bike lanes with their parents.

Are the French simply reckless or is it that we've become risk obsessed this side of the channel?

Robert Garbutt is editor of Cycling Weekly