What to choose: stylish Ana Nichoola gloves or my Café du Cycliste jacket? Velobici’s ultra comfortable padded knickers? Vulpine’s must-have merino? Bamboo Ts from Trail 42 and Broken Riders (mountain bike essentials!)?

Or my hideous fluro pink cycling jersey?

Fluro pink is a colour I would never wear off a bike, unless it was nail polish. What’s more, this top doesn’t fit very well, has only the most basic features, and came from a cycle store I refuse to name because they pretty much ignored me when I went in to buy it.

But, here’s why I love that top: last spring I was loaned a road bike, having never ridden one before. I also got a place in the inaugural Prudential Ride 100 Sportive. I had just a few months to learn road riding skills and get fit enough to cycle 100 miles in a day.

My existing cycling clothes – chosen for mountain biking – were dark, mud-friendly shades which made me practically invisible on the road and so, with safety in mind, I bought the brightest pink cycling top I could find.

Its eyeball-melting luridness went on to look after me through miles and miles of what turned out to be the most completely absorbing and utterly enjoyable training I have ever done.

Ride 100 took place on closed roads and I initially planned to wear something more stylish (i.e black) on the day. But my faithful pink top had earned its day in the sun: we’d travelled a long way together so it seemed only right that we should cross the finish line together (after six hours, 20 minutes) too!

Adele is wearing: Cycle helmet by Bontrager, pink top by Endura, cycling shorts by Nike, arm warmers by Velobici, shoes and bike by Specialized.