With less than a week to go the lycra is bought, the vaseline is packed, the bikes are serviced and what training we have managed has been done.

All that remains now is to negotiate SouthWest Trains with two bikes in the pouring rain before being seen off on the first two miles from HMS Victory by the band of the Royal Marines and the Red Arrows. Imagine all that lycra bursting out from the dockyard gate - more like John Prescott in his wet suit than Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France we suspect!

 Once in france we will work our way along the Normanday beaches before turning inland through the First World War trenches, laying wrethes at various significant points.

On Saturday we hope the weather will be kind so that the Royal navy will be able to land us on the beach at Dover - swimming with a bike over your shoulder was not covered in the training programme!

350 miles of cycling after we start we will be greeted by Jessica's son , Stephen (see photo) in Whitehall. It will be a year to the day after he was very badly wounded in Basra whilst serving there with 4 Rifles . He is currently being treated at Headley Court. Help for Heroes was founded after ex-members of his regiment visited him and others at Selly Oak. It aims to make things easier for those wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is for Stephen and his colleagues that this bike ride was conceived and we hope that our efforts and those of the other riders will encourage them in their own struggle to recover. But we also consider the ride as a visible way of showing our support and to say thank you to all the many servicemen and women and their families who have helped us in some way since last summer.

If you have read this far we hope that you will make a donation through this site. It is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Help for Heroes will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

We also hope that if you can be at Whitehall at 1400 on 1 June to cheer us all back in. if you feeel so inclined you can also bring you bike and join in the last mile if you register on www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

Many thanks for supporting our fundraising efforts and also for supporting the real heroes.

David and Jessica Cheesman