A week spent in the company of the world's top thinkers, gathered in the idyllic setting of Klosters, was hardly the ideal preparation for my first road race since the halcyon days of the 1980s. Besides, my experience of these international junkets has taught me that delegates spend most of their time negotiating their living expenses and selecting the wines to accompany the internationally acclaimed menus. Anyway I didn't go.

The 10 km race starts on the "Franche-Comté" bank of the Saône, crosses the bridge into Burgundy, continues alongside the Burgundy Canal almost as far as Brazey-en-Plaine, and then turns back again to the finish at Saint-Jean-de-Losne. I am not sure whether refreshments are served along the way.

I have warned fans not to expect the sort of performance I regularly returned in my heyday, and indeed many if not all of them have opted to attend the barbecue hosted by the River Rats instead. Rats indeed.

Below: some of the expensive yachts gracing the colourful marina in Saint-Jean-de-Losne