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MONDAY 18th APRIL 2011 pm
LEE
Hi everyone.
First of all I offer my apologies for the lack of a blog for day 4. To be honest my contribution would have been full of expletives.
As such I will give you a quick summary now.....
Shocking day!!
Anyway enough of that I will get on with day 5.
Well we cycled just less than 90 miles, making up a few miles from yesterday and completed a few more just in case we have another day 4!
I really enjoyed most of it but there were sections that really bored me (a few too many fields)!
I'm managing relatively well so far and thankfully we are now half way there mile wise. My legs do hurt though.
Nothing really interesting happened but what I can say is France is quite trampy compared to there European cousins!
LEE
Today was fantastic - we started 7 miles behind schedule and finished 12 over schedule! 89.67 miles cover (apparently we are not alowed to round it up to 90miles!!).
That hardest things about today were the wind in the morning stint and the sun in the afternoon. We were hardly in the shade at all today so by mid afternoon we were struggling. We were taking on plenty of water
- so much so I concidered applying suncream to my 'slong' as I had to wee every 5 minutes!
Just 1.5 punctures today, the half was mine - which I suspect is a slow one - guess we shall see in the morning. So far have been a bit bored by france - until the final 2 miles today - petite peirre was where we finished and it was an amazing site coming in. Trust me - google it!
Looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully we will have a successful day again! Thank you for the support and donations - getting over the 4.5k mark today was a great push!
Mike- 4th day cycling and still going ok, starting to feel a bit stiff in the mornings now, but feel loads better than last night.had a fair bit of sun as well so should be coming back tanned, Lovely camp site, warm shower and lovely meal and lovely views, bring on tomorrow and the back of france!
TOM
With day 4 out the way day 5 just needed a fresh positive start. And for sure to hear that we had reached the point we were supposed to reach the night before, before the time we left in the morning the day before felt good. (This does make sense).
Macdonalds didn't open untill 10am thankfully they let us in to use the facilities. Then we continued and realised we were pushing on so well that lee treated us all to a pain au chocolat. Yum.
Lots of long roads that went up then down and every horizon brought the surprise of another big hill to climb and often without a down first.
Once we reached our destination 'Serra union' we were even able to push on another 15miles though some incredible villages one with a 'seal-dog'. Some amazing churches too I have seen so many different kinds of church and all look incredible.
France seems to change as we move though it. Some areas are forgotton with rubish roads and others seem to have doller spent on them.
End stop is one heck of a beautiful place so much soo that the distraction meant I have not warmed down properly or stretched so feeling a little stiff already.
Much love x keep the messages and donations comming.
SUNDAY 17th APRIL 2011 pm
THOMAS
Today has been a day of interesting happenings, but I'm glad it's over nearly. Seems like i was the one who kept everyone waiting with a real puncture problem bike. I think we stopped to do full repair four times and many more for re-pump.
It's the most tired I've ever been physically and unhappy we have not reached France and our traget- that means there's making up to do tomorow. Feeling demoralised and unhappy I'm afraid. I'll be fine in the morning. Trying to remember all the amazing things we have seen today and how much we have acomplished- over200 miles and so glad that Tina and Craig are now here, They are a massive boost to the effort.
This morning brought a very difficult cycle, but also the best ride of my short cycling life so far, coming down a hill at 42 MPH was like skiing finding views and sharing them with the lads makes them even better, when I know we worked so hard to find them.
Once again didn't even realise we were in Luxomberg until ages into it.
Saw the ugliest man and he got a toot.
I really need people to read the front page of this site and do the three things listed, get in touch, get involved, help push us forward, cause right now we really need it.
Much love. x HELP
LEE
Well from the other guys blog you may see that we've had a really bad day at the office. I'm not going to talk about that, I'm just concentrating on the positives.
Firstly, Belgium was very impressive- much nicer than I had imagined, some of the scenery was out of this world.
We took a slightly different route which took us through some awsome forests, that we believe are called Strech Belgium Sqirrels!
It's been very peaceful today and the little tiny towns seem like ghost towns but the houses are amazing. Everyhouse has a different design- looks nothing like the one next door!
Tina and Craig have been brilliant - and it's great to have them here!
Finally though - the boys have been amazing, what we have managed to do (cycled 76 miles) with all the problems, is incredible. Well Done!
Thank you for the text and facebook messages. They really help and we need it! One third of the way!
SATURDAY 16th APRIL 2011 pm
LEE
Today was full of ups and downs - literally!
It took us 3 hours to cycle just 26 miles this morning. A combination of a late night and stopping on several occasions meant we just didn't get in the groove.
After lunch though it was a different story, we hit 20 miles in just over an hour, came round a corner and had a magnificent view of namur city. There was an awesome castle at the top of the hill, and a beautiful river through the middle. It was namur when tom decided to have a down point - by falling from his bike! I was unaware as I was in front - but the video footage (he was recording at the time - that's the reason why he fell off) proved to be a very funny watch.
After namur we had just 17 miles left, however the road turned into a motorway - which meant we had to change our route. Not a problem you might think but we had no map, and the gps only goes on the route which has been uploaded.
We are here finally though, safe and sound and we are delighted to be meeting tina and craig (our support team) later this evening.
Thank you for all the support so far, it really does help. With the terrain getting harder now - we need more than ever your support and encouragement. Thank you again.
THOMAS
Love the sympathy from the lads as I brushed myself off - seriously I fell VERY hard and am very lucky to still be on this trip! Lesson learned filming everything is not essential especially on a busy junction. Left with a grazed arm some battered gloves (did me proud) and a battered bike that survived by miracle)
An incredible day otherwise I'm sooo never going to learn that sometimes a night out is not needed but peer pressure got me out and I'm sure most of you know what happens once I'm in the mood and I suffered today without showing it too much.
My right arm is in agony and the bottom of my feet are sore. Knees not to bad today thank goodness.
Fantastic b + b breakfast was a treat thanks to marike and adrian and klaas and jasmine. And the dog.
Great bread! Great house!
Ate lunch from a random conservatory by the side of the road called 'Frikrie Le Coq' and soon after came to the end of the cycle paths 108miles of cycle path and we were left on the open road.
Seen the most amazing houses today of literally every shape and size but all look like the prices would be extreme.
Please do the 3 requests on the front page to keep us going and our spirits high.
Much love x
MATT
Well I'm sat here and we are officially a quarter of the way there.
Today has been an experience for a number of reasons....
Firstly I have learnt that I need more than 3 hours sleep if I'm going to finish.
Thankfully there should be no more distractions as we are due to be stopping in remote locations for the rest of the trip.
Secondly I have learned that my backside does not appreciate this journey. There were about 3 hours today where the agony was so great I wondered whether I was going to complete this trek.
Luckily for me (and I suppose this may have coincided with my recovery from a hangover!) things improved. I think I'm learning to manage the pain but I still can't see light at the end of the tunnel!!
Lastly I hate Justin Beiber! While out with Tom he was chatting up a young Belgium man who happened to be JB's long lost identical twin. As a result of this Lee began singing a well know song by JB.
Unfortunately for us this song now seems to be quickly becoming the song of the trip. I can't get it out of my head and it doesn't help when Tom is singing the aforementioned song(while trying to learn French) from a 7 year old girl at the camp site!
I'm loving the trip so far and I hope your enjoying the snippets we have provided. Thank you again for all your support.
MIKE
So happy with my decision to go home early (well earlier than the others). Today has been good again, good weather, but severely sore ass. Hope it gets better from here on in as I feel I have reached my threshold.
A slight detour this afternoon after ending up on what appeared to be some sort of motorway where bikes really do not belong. Made it to camp though and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the motor home for a good nights sleep.
SATURDAY 16th APRIL 2011 am
MIKE
Day 2 of the trip 1st day of cycling and so far so good, decent weather and no hills. Good times!
LEE
Well, what can I say. Today has been amazing - holland was an awesome place, beautiful women, lovely roads, flat and very pretty terrain. my favourite moment of holland was sitting in the slip stream of a granny on a moped - although driving past a couple, ummm how do I put it, enjoying themselves, came in a close second.
A special mention must go to the 83 year old we met and chatted to for a while, who was out cycling and enjoying himself.
Belgium seems pretty cool, although it took us a while until we knew we were actually in Belgium! So to close today's blog, not only is mechelen and its irish pub, bloody brilliant, its been a successful day.
Oh I must say a huge thank you to the ladies who happened to be sat in their front windows waving and cheering us on - it really meant a lot - although the red light in the background got a little annoying after a while!!
Please, please keep up your donations! Use the how to sponsor us tab at the top of the page.
MATT
So things are going well so far........ I think!
I have cycled just over 80 miles today and my backside is a little tender (its day one and its not a good sign!) but I manned up and got on with it.
As Lee said its been an interesting trip so far to say the least...but for me Tom's voice while he talks in a loud English accent to foreigners (I mean locals) has probably been my highlight.
On a different point I would just like to say thanks to everyone for all their support. I'm so annoyed in one way as I have to face additional pain (i.e. Waxing) but I hope your all enjoying the blogs.
THOMAS
Johannes, Guycon, Becky, the band, Jaynen, Ash, and any x staff from Esprit will know what matt means about the voice thing and I can only say IT MAKES A DIFFRENCE just ask stefan!!!!!
Moving on - I have had some great convos with some of the local people - can't believe we didn't even know we were in belgium until some woman at a level crossing told us - whilst laughing at us.
Mostly followed amazing avenues and railways today, feels like forever ago we were in holland saw a few windmills and some very dutch looking places (funny that)
The town we are in is called 'Mechelen'.look it up its incredibly beautiful. Staying in the house of a lovely woman called Merikea with her baby son Adrian. (Matts got the pent house - no joke)
Much love - goodnight.
Don't forget to add to the 'just giving' total every pound will make a difference - no donation is too small.
FRIDAY 15th APRIL 2011 12:20
THOMAS
Holland is amazing. They really know how to build cycle paths. We've seen their own version of stapleton road under a bridge in the industrial town. I had a picture with an 83year old x-pro cyclist still on his racer.
My knees hurt already though.
THURSDAY 14th APRIL 2011 22:30
MATT
Well currently sat aboard the ferry. Hard start to the trip so far and I haven't even cycled yet. I've been sat in a car for 9 hours today!!
Looking forward to the ride now. I just hope I can maintain this positive attitude for the rest of the trip.
THOMAS
Omg should see some of the coach loads on this boat hope I find the right cabin tonight. So officially cycled onto the boat means we have cycled from the uk.
We were classed as motor vehicles so had to wait in the cold with the cars to board. Foods good, indian. Rooms are luxury as we were upgraded. So far this is easy. THERES A BALLOON MAN ON THE BOAT. Please donate so we wake up check and smile at YOUR kindness. Thanks me bakers.
MIKE
Very impressed with the cabin almost to the point where I won't want to get off. But now looking forward to tomorrow. Cheeky beer to see me off to bed before good days cycling tomorrow.
LEE
Right, so its here! We are sat on the boat waiting to depart Harding. Tomorrow we shall wake up in holland, have breakfast and away we go! 1000km later and we should arrive in neustift. It sounds so easy, but its not going to be easy, not in the slightest. Thank you for all your support, and keep the donations coming.
THURSDAY 14th APRIL 2011 8:30am- BY THOMAS HASLER
Well the day has arrived, Austria here we come. I woke up today with a surreal feeling of not knowing if i was still in a dream. NO i actually am just a mad man.
I have been sent lots of messages on facebook and by text wishing me good luck and people telling me to be happy and enjoy the trip Thank You- I will... BUT i have to admit my head has wanted to explode for the last few days - i am genuinely scared about the whole thing. The only was to describe the feeling that some of you might be able to relate to is the feeling of needing a wee lots before the aeroplane takes of when your scared of flying or even just before your about to go on stage for the school play when your wearing tights as your costume and you know you;ll be laughed at.
DONT GET ME WRONG - there is also a feeling of elation and knowing that we are doing such a crazy thing and that you are donating money makes me soooo emotional in a HAPPY way. Please keep donating. anything any amount just keep that total figure moving up. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
WEDNESDAY 13th APRIL 2011 - BY LEE GRANT
That’s it folks - tomorrow we will be boarding the ferry to Holland.
Nervous - yes, but bloody excited! We are thrilled to bit to have raised over £3800 but we really need that push if we are going to hit our target of £5000.
I think now is the time to thank a few people for all the help so far. Denise has been incredible with her support - and patience! Tina and Craig who will be driving the support vehicle, I must say to them a huge thank you for offering, because without your help things would have been very different.
Our sponsors as well have also had a huge help in making this trip possible. So thank you very much to them. And of course - for all you guys that have donated already, we have got to such an amazing total already, we are thrilled to bits!!
Thank you all, and we can't wait to get started!!
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