Final SITREP:

Job done, We successfully completed our challenge, and every pound raised was hard earned. The ride lived up to its promise but at the end of the day it was an honour to be able to help contribute in our own way to a cause that means so much to all ex and current servicemen/women. Riding a bike across the Pyrenees might have been hard graft, and those Cols seemed to go on forever! but it is nothing compared to the hardships endured and sterling service our men and women in the Armed Forces carry out everyday. The response to our challenge has been nothing short of magnificant, and the funds raised thus far a superb show of generousity. That said, theres still time to give, this website remains active until 26/12/2009, SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN, we would love to raise as much as we can.  Below is a day by day account of our challenge and how it panned out.

Steve and JY.  Utrinque Paratus-WDW

Day 1: Hard 136 km, taking us from Hendaye to Arette. We climbed 2104 metres across our first 6 Cols and numerous other undulating countryside. It was wet all day and JY had a spectacular fall at speed coming down a hill!! No serious injuries but shorts knackered!  This was hard work but was a cake walk compared to what was to follow.

Day 2:  This day promised to be an epic and it was. Grey skies soon turned to drizzle, more like Brecon than the South of France! 145 gruelling kms followed the Cols we climbed were in turn; Marie - Blanque (1035 m), Col de Aubisque (1709m) Col du Soulor (1464m) and finally the daddy -The Col du Tourmalet (2115m) which was an 18 km climb, preceded by a 20kms gradual up the vally climb! In total 4082 metres climbed. Steve and JY summeted together in freezing mist, driving rain and diminishing light, and a careful descent got us to the hotel soaked and starving at 2000 hours, gving us 9 hours pedalling on the bikes, one of the most knackering days in recent memory!!

Day 3:  A positive breeze compared to the previous day but a demanding ride nonetheless with 2 demanding climbs with long approaches, which took hard work to summit, but we were aided by decent weather which allowed us to descend at greater speeds. Col first was the Col d' Aspin (1489m) and the second was the Col de Peyressourde (1569m). Once decended, we had a sprint of 30 km down the valley to the hotel for an earlier finish, and a relatively short day of 92 km. This gave us the chance to service our bikes and rest our creaking bones, ready for the rigours of day 4.

Day 4:  Another 4 cols and 127kms brought us closer to the Med.  The weather has brightened significantly and dry roads mean faster descents.  John's descent mojo has returned after his spectacular crash on Sunday so he is back to his racing breakneck speeds. 

Day 5:  Today we completed 131km and 3 more cols, the first of which, a steady climb of 17km to the summit of the Col de Marmare and followed quickly with a short decent and climb to the Col de Freres. The descent from these Cols was more than 40km of fast and technical downhill racing.  This offered a pleasant but, unfortunatley, short lived relief before the final col of the day, a steep 19km climb up the Col du Jau.  We arrived at the summit after 102km in briliant sunshine.

Day 6:  The last stage of our challenge was an 88km gradual but fast decent to the Mediterranean, although there was one last sting in the tail for us, as the cycle along the coastal road was more than just a little undulating. As we peddled towards Cerbere and the end of our challenge, each descent into successive coastal towns was followed by a steep climb back out and onto the next - one particular climb was over 4kms of steep winding coastal road but the views were spectacular and worth the effort. We arrived in Cerbere before lunch and to a welcome dunk in the sea, which was cold but refreshing; this was follow closely by a few even colder and more refreshing beers.

Summary: All in all, a hard but enjoyable week in the saddle; 720kms completed in five and a half days, over 18 high Pyerenean Cols and a total of 12,810m (over 42,000 feet) climbed. The weather varied from overcast and drizzle at the start of the week, to the storm we encourtered descending the Tourmalet and onto brilliant sunshine and dry roads for the latter part of the challenge. The Cols were hard work and as physically demanding as any we have tabbed up, over the years, but significantly easier to decend that running down with a bergan on.

Thanks: The responce has been fantastic and we would like to thank everyone for all the generous donations and support; the comments posted inspired us and many made us laugh - thank you again. Although our challange is over, it is just the beginning for many service men and women injured in recent conflicts, and who's professionism and bravery will be further tested during their rehabilitation and recovery - please continue to give generously to this worthy cause and help our courageous hero's.

We would also like to thank Ian (ex Royal Navy) and his wife Julie at Pyrenees Multi-Sport (www.pyreneesmultisport.com) for the supreb and professional support throughout the week. Their tireless enthusiasm and encouragement we were very grateful for.

We would also like to bring your attention to Jim McIntosh's mega challenge, also for Help For Hero's. Jim is going to climb the highest mountain in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he lives and works, but in order to be able to match the high of Everest he will do this 8 times carrying a 35lb rucksack and will total over a 160kms and a climb of 29,000feet. He will also run the Dubai Marathon with a 35lb rucksack in Jan 2010 prior to taking part in the "Marathon Des Sables", which is the hardest endurance race in the world. It takes place in Morrocco in April 2010 and is 240kms run over six days across the Saharan desert. Please visit Jim's website http://www.justgiving.com/jamesmcintosh1/ and continue to help this great cause.

Steve and JY

We are both former Parachute Regiment and UKSF soldiers and we will be undertaking our challenge to raise money for the charity “Help for Heroes”.  As former career soldiers we know only too well the rigours of military operations and the incredible duty and sacrifice the men and women of our Armed Forces have given and continue to give so professionally and bravely in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places.