Newsflash  We made it! And weren't we blessed! The sun shone - and not too much, we suffered no punctures, we didn't lose our way AND we're still talking to eachother (I think!).

What's more, with the generosity of all you sponsors we've reached our target and raised loads of cash for Practical Action's vital projects around the world. THANK YOU!

Our ride? well...

We set off from Shrewsbury on a perfect Sunday morning - light cloud and cool - with our first mascot, Ian - Chris and Chris' neighbour. We had Ian with us until Albrighton by which time we had got into our stride - although James had knee trouble.

First real stop was at RAF Cosford where there were lots of bemused museum visitors and a first-class loo! Our taxes have been well spent.

Next stop for maintenance along the road to Albrighton when Chris, with the instinct of a natural engineer, adjusted James' footplate - to which his foot had been attached at slightly the wrong angle for James' previous 200 miles, hence the knee trouble!!!

Swiftly on through Albrighton, Codsall to Wolverhampton where we joined our first canal path. Ah! The canals! Great to cycle along - if you have the right bike!

This was my major planning blunder. In an attempt to keep us off the roads, I'd selected cycle routes following canal paths into Birmingham - 'pretty', I thought, 'quiet'. Well yes. But not the right environment for James' thoroughbred machine. Due to the recent rain they were muddy and that mud clogged up the brakes and back wheel constantly. It was slow going with James having to pause regularly and pick out the mud with a stick - very sophisticated.

But it did also give us our funniest moment!

James, fed up with having to stop constantly and never able to get all the mud out, suggested dipping his bike in the canal to clean it. We did have the wisdom to take the panniers off first but of course, next moment there was an "Arghhghhhaa!" and James was teetering on the edge of his balance practically falling in! In the end we did manage to clean the wheel in the canal but only with me hanging on to James waist to make sure he didn't end up in the water too.

We had 10 hours in the saddle that day. The canal paths were idyllic but very slow!

That night we stayed in Redditch, south of Birmingham, (in a super golf hotel with a much needed sauna and pool!) and met up with Phil, Virginia, Joanna and the children.

It was an early start on day 2 and with our new mascot - Phil. We had to be 38 miles away at Practical Action by 12.30 and had a prior meeting with 9 or so other Practical Action staff cyclists who were going to join us for the last 9.9 miles in Leamington at 11.15. We couldn't afford to be late!

As it turned out it was pleasant cycling  - except when we had to negotiate the centre of Warwick - with reasonably gentle, rolling hills and we had no mishaps. Chris and James even summoned up the energy to do some racing. Boys will be boys!

The biggest hill was saved till last but then we had 9 fellow orange-clad cyclists to keep us going. Quite an eye-catching troupe.

There was a fantastic reception at Practical Action on our arrival - staff, the Rugby mayor and lots of family. We planted a tree to mark the occasion, sang Happy Birthday round a 99 cake and ate 99 ice creams in the sunshine.

A special thank you for all those who helped us get the ride sorted and especially the spouses - David, Manuela and Virginia - for all their help and also to Sara-Jane and the team at Practical Action who sorted out such a lovely welcome. 

Apologies to those of you to whom we promised saddle sores and agony. Our wonder gel-pants did the trick and we were fine. I have the slightly guilty feeling that it was all too easy in the end, so next year's celebration of the centenary will have to be harder! We'll keep you informed!!!

We, Christiana, Chris, James, Phil and Nicola, are donning our padded shorts, packing our energy bars and cycling the (shocking!)99 miles from our homes in Shrewsbury to Practical Action's headquarters at the Schumacher Centre in Bourton-on-Dunsmore near Rugby. As James lives in Southampton he'll also be cycling 200 miles to Shrewsbury just to get to the start line!

It'll make a change from our usual Sunday-afternoon-pedal-along-the-river-for-an-ice-cream and we hope we'll be up to the challenge.

Why are we doing it? I mean why other than just for the gruelling, sweat-pouring, bum-aching fun of it??!

15th August 2010 - the date we are setting off - is 99 years since Pop/Papa/Schumacher's birth. We want to mark that date and arrive at Practical Action - the fantastic charity that Pop/Papa/Schumacher set up as ITDG in 1965 - on 16th August, his birthday and the beginning of the 100th year since his birth in 1911.

On that day, Practical Action will also be launching a super new centenary website www.ef-schumacher.org where we can all celebrate, share stories about and discuss the legacy of Schumacher and, hopefully, introduce a whole new generation of people to his life-changing ideas. Please do contribute your thoughts and stories and tell your friends about this site.

In the meantime, we would be grateful for any donation you can make, however small, to support Practical Action's innovative and effective work helping some of the poorest people in the developing world help themselves.  

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to Practical Action and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.