Lorraine Kelly's riding on wave of nostalgia

Lorraine Kelly, in the Midlands for a bike-riding challenge, pauses to reminisce about her childhood, cycling through her favourite beauty spot on the west coast of Scotland.

"It always seemed to be really, really hot. I don't think it really could have been, not all the time, but that's how I remember it.

"It used to be a rite of passage, you got the ferry to Millport Island, and you rode your bike down the hill. There used to be this amazing place halfway down where they did the best ice creams in the world."

Those memories came flooding back for the breakfast presenter as she prepares for Sunday when she joins around 15,000 other bike fans for a 4.6 mile (7.5km) ride around central Birmingham. "Last year I did the one in Glasgow, so I wanted to try somewhere different. I chose Birmingham because it is a great city, and it is somewhere I don't get to often enough."

She has spent the last few days familiarising herself with the city, and getting to know the route which takes in landmarks such as the BT Tower, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, the Bullring shopping centre and The Rotunda. Lorraine says it was the fear of tackling London's busy streets that led to her giving up cycling all those years ago.