Ladies and gents,

First of all a really big thank you, you have been amazing, to date we have raised just short of £5,000!!!!

So the least you deserve is a few pics and a letter from France....

Well we are back and not a scratch on us!!

Of 20 riders, we had six come off; one person twice; the last time at the finish as he forgot to unclip and nearly took two others with him!

Friday morning there were a few nerves, we were riding as a threesome and as someone remarked at the start there was Mark (the cyclist) looking casual... chatting to everyone... me looking like I was thinking "jaysus I really have to do this after all" and Andy W looking pensive..... very pensive!

The start went well, a slow ride out of town and we got to Gypsy Hill in South London and our first real hill...... jaysus, I could not get the measure of it, and between Andy and I, I was meant to be the one good on hills!!!!!. The rest of the morning I got into my stride and the there were some steep hills and steeper descents, in all we did 3,900ft of climbing in the first day..... that's the equivalent of riding up Ben Nevis.

The afternoon was a little easier and at Deaking we thankfully turned left and rode the contour of the South Downs rather than over them. We were in Newhaven by just gone five, and time for 17 blokes to use one hotel room to shower in! A late ferry and we arrived in a foggy Dieppe and the hotel by 4am, a long day.

Saturday was a leisurely breakfast, or carbo load as they became known, and then a glorious 50 miles through Normandy on traffic free roads and through picturesque towns, a really amazing day with some great and fast riding, on undulating roads. Now to me undulating implies symmetry; for every foot you climb, you descend a foot..... naaah the ratio seemed to be 3:1 against us, but still some great cycling. A little squall on a bend nearly had Mark and I off our bikes as we hit a mini tornado, as evidenced by the leaves circling in a funnel 10 feet above the road. For twenty minutes we had a very strong and fluky head wind. This was the day I learnt about drafting, tucking in behind another bike and getting a free ride, well at least 20% less energy required a real boon.

Sunday and an early start, so early we actually were saddled and had to wait for ten minutes for the sun to rise before we could start. It was very misty, and just 3deg. Once we set off and the wind chill set in it was cold.... very cold; by the end of the day it would be 27deg! 

Mark had been cycling well and was in touch with the lead pack, I was trying to stick to his tail when we hit the first hill and away they all pulled, leaving me cycling on my own... in the fog... in a foreign country.... looking for the next signpost......  So for the first twenty miles or so I was confined to my own little world, shrouded in the mist, talking to myself as I fought with some very long hills, and watched as a pale orange sun rose and started to burn off the mist... a very special time.

A quick water stop and then we were off again with another 28 miles before lunch, sorry carbo load. Mark held on to the front cohort and I managed to latch on to some in the mid group, using my newly found skills of drafting to rest but also to help pull the others along as we took it in turns at the front. Another hill (there were a lot that morning) and I broke away and caught up with the mid marker. She and I drafted and talked, she was from Chester and was trying to rent Bob Skupski's old house, weird but true!!!!!!  We were nearly de-biked as a Munkjack deer jumped out in front of us. 

Then as we were screaming along on a typically long and tree lined section,  in the middle of nowhere..... a set of traffic lights!  Yep you guessed it as we approached, they changed to red!!!!  What traffic engineer came up with that idea; a set of lights on a road that might see a car every ten minutes on a busy day!!!!! Being responsible cyclists we stopped...and waited...and waited a little more.....we looked at each other.... is it a trap..... is there a Gendarme just waiting for us to jump the lights?  Will we get half way across the junction then get splatted by a car...a la  a Road Runner cartoon? Eventually, after another minute or so a group of French riders came the other way and without slowing rode straight through the red.... when in Rome....

Lunch and we knew we had it cracked, over 50 miles done and only 25 or so to go. Lunch on the terrace of the rather posh golf club with 20 lycra clad Brits was a bizarre experience, for us as much as the locals, but then I have never met a golfer with dress sense so they could hardly complain about us!!!!

After lunch the riding became easier, with the exception of probably the longest hill on the whole ride, on a full, sorry carbo loaded, stomach......like my emails it went on and on and on.......

Then a plateau, an amazingly deep and steep decent, a tree lined avenue and we were at Paris St Germaine and the outskirts of Paris. From there uneventful... apart from the Landrover that nearly had me off my bike....The next thing we knew we were cycling in formation through central Paris, past the Arc de Triomphe, a challenging circumnavigation of a cobbled roundabout by the Trocadero with cars attacking our pelaton from all angles and we were riding down towards the finish line just by the Eiffel Tower.....

It was over, a great sense of achievement and great camaraderie.

I can honestly say I did not want it to end, it was brilliant and thanks to Mark and Andy for making it so.

Thank you so much for sponsoring us, between the three of us we raised nearly £5,000, and as a group we are well over £20,000. And as for next year, well lets just say I could be persuaded.... easily......

Sadly based on the news today the money we raised for Article 25 will be much needed as no doubt they will be active after the tsunami providing shelter and helping to rebuild schools and lives. A timely reminder that whilst these things are fun there is a real need for them so again thank you for your generosity.

Thank you all, kindest regards
Andy