At the moment his exercise is riding, three hours a day.

'We aim to have two people riding 24 hours a day for ten days,' he said.

For a man with short legs, like me, it is a punishment to ride eight hours a day on a wide horse.

I ride six hours a week when the weather is nice.

Heavier men and men who ride more than 10 hours a week are most likely to experience impotence, he said.

We rode at least six hours a day the first two days, and the third takes up just half a day.

We'd ride three hours before stopping for a picnic lunch prepared by Noel.

More than that, he was restless: always a little stiff from sleeping on hard, cold ground and riding so many hours at a time.

For longer audax events the group may ride between 16 and 20 hours in a day before stopping at a designated sleeping location.

Without money for food, they rode 18 hours on the back of a truck.