I am witting this blog sitting in the Heathrow airport lounge waiting to board my Singapore flight home.  The cycling event is over but the fund raising continues.  We are currently on £30,962.23, 62% of target and I believe that with monies still to be collected, we will have approx £35,000.  A great total, so far.

The ride itself went pretty smoothly but not without its hardships.  Riding 120miles/200km a day for 8 days consecutively takes it out of you.  All available time is consumed with either bilking or preparation and recovery from biking.  To this point, we couldn’t have succeeded without the presence of our support crew Andy, Murph and Fred, their logistical support and general pampering really made a difference – thanks guys and look after the trophies.

We have all cemented some strong friendships and it was sad to be leaving the guys last night after our celebratory (end of ride, Jon’s birthday) beer and curry session last night.  We had some fun and games along the way but the needy cause of Autistic Concern was always on our minds.

In addition to our rider of the day competition we also awarded Gary with our ‘Top Tourist’ award.  Gary deserves this in recognition of the valuable time that he spent, both on the road and late in the evening when he should have resting in tending to our machines – congrats Gary.

A particular thanks to Jon and Pete who worked tirelessly to organise the whole event – your efforts don’t go unrecognised fellas, even if Jon does get all the glory Pete. J

We returned to Wooden Walls in Collingtree on a sunny Sunday afternoon to the accompaniment of a Scottish Piper and a warm welcome of at least 300 of our friends and family – a great homecoming, thanks for recognizing our efforts guys.

I know that since our return to the UK the team have been eating and eating, (last nights curry was no exception) – and I know that I’m not the only one who wont miss our daily diet of energy bars, caffeine gels and Rego.  I don’t think that any of us actually lost weight as we loaded up so much during the ride but, hey, we are all racing snakes anyway!!!

A 13hr flight now awaits and I can’t wait to see my family again.

Thanks for your continued support

All the best

Chris

Fred in his 'loafers'

Celebrating in Gent on the way home

The boys getting their revenge on Fred!

Bad Kreuznach, to Marburg. 111m today.

945m total.

Well, are we glad that’s over!

The final run in today was awesome.

Everyone was up for it today, its amazing how knowing that its your last
day fires you up. We had a flat start but soon the hills returned.

Another road changed into a motorway leaving us to find an alternative
route and we also had a road closure going through a National park that we
decided to risk – it worked, luckily!

Friedberg was also interesting as there was a massive demonstration that we
had to navigate our way through, at this point in time we are not sure what
it was about but 500 riot police meant that it was particularly sensitive!

Our final lunch stop was with 70k to go. After 5k there was a puncture,
actually a ripped tyre. Using an energy bar wrapper as a temporary band aid
we were soon back on the road. 5 of the team were then left to chase back
the main group who had disappeared into the distance. Eventually we were
back as one unit and under normal circumstances they would have been
exhausted with the extra work but this was a special day!

5k outside Marburg we were met by representatives of the Twinning Committee
who guided us in to the Town Hall. This was a great honour but the route
took us up a ridiculously steep cobbled road right through the main town
center through all the narrow lanes full of shoppers and tourists. Our
shouting, cheering and singing certainly drew attention.

At the ‘Rathaus’ were greated by a crowd from the Marburg cycling club and
Twinning team and the Marburg Mayor. The local press took photos and then
we were whisked upstairs for speeches, drinks and food. This was a real
time for reflection on our achievements.

At this point we were still all in our cycling gear, special arrangements
had been made for us to use the local sports stadium changing rooms. 20
mins later, we were a lot more respectable. Instincts then directed us to a
bar where beer, Jagermeister and speeches were the order of the day.

As we scribe, we are currently on route to Gent, our overnight stop on
route for the UK where we have a welcome home reception at Collingtree’s
Wooden Walls, Sunday afternoon. Estimated TOA at Gent is midnight.

Rider of the day was a 3 way split between Dave Williams, Richard Sturt and Ironman Wayne, well done to all 3 of you.

Team member of the tour was won by Gary Haynes, well done Gary on keeping everybody amused on the rides, looking after everybody’s bikes and also for your strong ride’s each day.

The riders would also like to say a BIG thanks to Andy, Murph and Fred, what a fantastic job you did in looking after all of us and keeping us going through tough times.

Metz, France to Bad Kreuznach, Germany. 117m.

 835m so far.

On the road for 7.30 and once again long sleeves and additional tops were
required. Bright and sunny but cold – 13 deg in the morning but luckily a
much better 22 deg later in the day. The first half of the day was the most
hilly so far. After 40 k we crossed into Germany, a non event really, no
border control, no passports required. After lunch (ham rolls and loads of
cake) the terrain was less hilly ( but still hilly! ). The map reading went
a little wrong at one point and we ended up on a Motorway! The team have
got faster and faster as the week progresses but we can’t keep up with the
Porsches, Mercs and Beemers! To avoid the Autobahn we had to dismount and
cross a sunflower field and a corn field, carrying our bikes for some of
the way and riding down the track for the remainder of the way until we
rejoined the road.The final run to the hotel was a 6k downhill and a
welcome end to our penultimate day. To be honest, we have all had a great
trip but we will be so glad when we reach our final destination tmrw. 200k
a day is taking it’s toll.

Rider of the day was dominated by Fred (AKA Fred’s House of Pain!!!) Well done Fred on your 1st big ride, especially having to climb the hills as well.