Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

We have been in Beijing for 36 hours now and it has been non-stop excitement!

We had a good flight from Heathrow and amazingly all 50kg of my kit and bits and pieces made it too.

A few hours later my emotions started to run pretty high when we went down to the rowing course to rig our boat and test out the water.

Macau

Watching the warm up is exhausting in itself.

A bit of "keepy-uppy" is followed by what can only be described as a frenetic synchronised dance.

It's only then that the fencing-like begins.

are paramount as the shuttlecock whistles over the net in a blur of rackets.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with Chris Boardman again, who will be alongside me for all the cycling events in China.

When Chris won his Olympic Gold medal in Barcelona in 1992, it was Britain's first cycling gold since the tandem event at the ! (When Brits and Thomas Lance finished the 2,000m course ahead of a South African duo).

How things have changed, with all the hope, hype and expectation surrounding the team this time round after their .

Chris's role was, and still is, key to the development of the sport in the UK and he also inadvertently helped me to establish full coverage of the Tour de France on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio.

Winning two gold medals at an Olympic Games would be a magnificent achievement for almost any athlete but for , it meant a huge disappointment.