At very short notice, Sam, James and I (Fraser) are putting the final pieces of preparation together as we head in to central London to begin our 24hr row-a-thon.

The idea of a 24hr static row was something Sam put to us in the very beginning of our campaign as a great way to gain publicity and raise funds for our expedition. We all agreed that it would be a great idea and a few dates were thrown about but nothing was settled on and the idea fell on the back burner.

Then out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago, I got an excited phone call from Sam’s inner 12yr old on Christmas saying he’d put in an application to the council to do a row in the first weekend of November. We slowly started putting a plan together on the off chance that our application was granted and then on Wednesday, we got the official word that we had the go ahead. Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and Leicester Square were thrown up as possible locations. We had our minds set on Leicester Square – for the footfall and lively atmosphere – so when the council agreed, we couldn’t have been happier.

I’m meeting Sam in Covent Garden at 2pm and from there we are to head over to Fitness First on the Strand who have kindly offered to lend us 2 rowing machines. James has a marquee which he will be bringing at 7 when he arrives so we should have a nice little set up. We’ll also have pictures of our boat with us so come for a sneak preview before our official unveiling.were ecstatic. The banner was ordered for next day delivery and the wheels were put in motion.

We’ll be alternating the rowing between the 3 of us (Colin, being in NZ will not be able to attend – though he has promised to punish himself on an ergo in Auckland) on a single rower and we’ll be offering the chance for members of the public to have a go and face off against each other in sprint challenges on the second machine.

It would be great to see a lot of faces down there so if you are in the area, come and have a chat and challenge your friends at a sprint race.

I’m off to try and find my cycling gloves and camera mounts and then get myself into central London.

See you there.