PHIL CALVERT: Monty the dog is my personal fitness trainer

Even as you utter the promise to get together again soon, you know it is a falsehood. However ernest the intent, the reality of work pressures, family commitments and geographical remoteness means it just isn’t going to happen.

It is for this reason I particularly appreciate the work my mate Paul does in organising our annual get-together. Without his efforts it probably would not happen. Thankfully, he has been so successful at bringing us all together for our annual reunion that with 19 years of touring behind us, we are now in the realms of tradition, even “heritage” and certainly well on the road to landmark anniversaries. Surely we have to keep going till we hit 25 years.

Over those years there have been many new faces who have graced “the tour” with their presence and made a big impact before promptly vanishing into the oblivion of distant memories. But there has also been a core of seasoned campaigners who turn up year-after-year for the annual jolly to reaffirm old friendships and keep the noble traditions of beer drinking, pie eating, and unsavoury social habits alive. It is a significant responsibilty.

Speaking for myself, I always come back on something of a high. Despite the tour commitment to support the struggling pub trade and the fact I always return home several pounds heavier than when I left, there is an inevitable improvement in personal fitness. Even though we are often forced into pubs, the reality is that if you pedal over 70 miles a day for the five days of the long weekend, it is a significant level of exercise and just as the tour ends, you actually start to get fit.

You tell yourself you are going to keep up with this and get the bike out regularly, before you proceed to hang it on the shed wall to gather dust for another year. It next sees the light of day two weeks before the next tour, when driven by shame, guilt or perhaps sheer panic it is pressed into service for a couple of pre-tour outings and you remember the annoying mechanical faults from the previous year you never got around to fixing. Meanwhile, your body is older, fatter and any fitness you possessed has evaporated.

So far, however, things have been rather different. Johnnie from Castleford has already been over for a Saturday morning bike ride with me around the villages of the Ribble Valley and Paul is trying to gather us together for a post-tour outing over the Trough of Bowland to Lancaster. The only issue is the weather. A bit of rain is fine but hours of the stuff takes any pleasure out of the process. So many times I have stood at the back door full of good intent, seen the torrential rain, turned around and retreated into the house.

At least that has been the case until now. Old Rory loved his outings and a bit of rain didn’t bother him....but he also loved to spend his days snoring away in front of the fire. Young Monty is rather different. Young and bursting with energy, he positively demands to be taken out and “to the end of the street” simply will not do! If I disappoint him he sits squarely in front of me making his frustration abundantly clear, until motivated by guilt I get off my backside and take him out.

Logistically, it is simpler to take the bicycle on the back of the car and run him on the canal bank for a good hour than it is to go for a walk where he would need nearer two hours of exercise as a bare minimum. As a result I have spent more time in the saddle since I returned home from the tour than I have ever done. Monty has become my source of motivation. I might not be enthusiastic but he will not except excuses. We are going out...rain or shine! Which brings me to the matter of this proposed trip over the Trough of Bowland. The attendence of my cycling friends may be subject to the vagaries of the weather. It will be difficult for Paul to drum up support and motivate people for this non-traditional bike ride along a route with few pubs, or indeed few sources of shelter and hospitality if the forecast is for inclement weather.

For me it does not matter. I will just go with the flow, but the matter of me sitting on a bicycle is not in doubt....Monty will see to that!