We have all done it ...thank you all... and our total is going to be over £40,000 as help for heroes breaks though 6 million and the pool complex will be completed by next year.

We have stopped fundraising now - please send any more donatation to www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Wow .. what an expereince we were so lucky to be part of .. our diary is below

The H4H Lycra Ladies diary

Monday - Day 1: Portsmouth – Ouistreham/Caen
Register at HMS Victory in Portsmouth’s Naval Dockyard. Monday 26th May. The rain just stopped in time for us to unload our bikes. Three hundred riders converged to HMS Victory for a fantastic send off including the Red Arrows and Royal Marine Band. The short ride to the ferry queue was lead by the Headley Court Team. Slightly apprehensive we lined up to board the ferry and made early acquaintances with other riders.  Finally and very cold after we were allowed onto the ferry the first challenge the ramp! We found our cabins, meet our roommates and went to bed.

Tuesday - Day 2: Ouistreham – Le Havre - Tuesday 27th May
A wake up call at 5.30am we had breakfast unloaded from the ferry and headed the short distance to Pegasus Bridge. Our first experience of the daytime catering which was fantastic - in a local car park we found tea, coffee, bacon butties and the first of many bananas. We had the first of a number of great talks from the voluntary battlefield historians who were with us. We began to realise that one of the many challenges of cycling was getting our clothing right (we stopped twice to strip off!).  The first moving ceremony at Pegasus Bridge followed. As the morning went on the hills started to appear - the terrain described as “undulating” in the pre ride literature was rather worrying as there were longer and steeper hills than anything we had done in training - All three of us had to get off and push on the final hill to lunch - goodness knows how the Headley Team made it up. More hot food and a team spirit building fast. There were more hills and for Sue the worst bit of the journey was getting over the Pont de Normandie which she was dreading - fearing heights and suspension bridges the one and a half hour wait held under the motorway to get on the bridge did not help nerves. Katie and Nickie provided great morale support and with eyes fixed on Nickies back we made a slow progress across the bridge. The last few miles were on a very main road - almost motorway to Le Havre. We were in different hotels and the Discovery Adventure signs led us home.  Sixty odd miles, two accidents (we heard later - one person had to go home) we were all ready for a bath and supper. We soon learnt that if you were late in – hot water was gone.
Cycle approx 90km (56 miles)

Wednesday - Day 3: Le Havre – Dieppe -Wednesday 28th May 2008
Nicky and Kate made good time to lunch - which was very damp windy and cold... but the hills seemed a bit more gradual than yesterday. Getting out of Le Havre in traffic Sue had a fall and had to go back be patched up but was kindly nursed out by another very good cyclist who had a puncture (big - thank you again!) and Mike (fantastic in support) dispatched off with a shopping list including lots of plasters.
As we picked up the coast, the sun broke through and we sat out in a coffee shop. A real roller coaster road with beautiful views cheered everyone up and on one photo stop the Headley Court team passed coming up hill with the tandem team towing Rory – we realised what “team effort” really was. Riding to Dieppe was fun and we were all in the same hotel on the front. The dining room and bar has a perfect sea view and later sunset. Tonight another important event was marked with a memorial Another excellent potted history of the significance of Dieppe and a moving memorial. 77 miles done today.
 
Thursday - Day 4: Dieppe – Amiens - Thursday 29th May
Today was rain, an accident, punctures and roadside waiting and getting cold. A friend had a fall which needed stitching Katie was on hand to do the emergency doctoring until the team doc arrived and Mike acted as temporary support vehicle. Nicky then had the first of two punctures – apparently wet and flints are notorious and was patched up by the roving support team – including a sweet rapper in the tyre (a very good reason for eating chocolate). On the second occasion another cyclist stopped to help as we were told that the support team was still mending punctures at the lunch stop!   We had so much “off bike time” that we missed all the memorial stops today and were not the only ones. We heard at dinner that there were over 100 punctures and later on – that some of the team had gone into buy so many tyres and inner tubes from a French cycle shop that the shop thought they were “mad” and couldn’t want that many and so refused to sell them.
We had a major sense of humour failure riding through Amiens in the traffic (a place we never want to see again) and our hotel were 6 miles on from the end destination in an industrial estate. After cycling 78 miles this was a bit unkind but had advantages in the morning.  Going to bed knowing there was only “one more over 70 day” to do was a great relief. Using the hairdryer with tape round it proved an effective way to dry out sodden clothing and the bar was in use till early in the morning. Cycle approx 124km (77 miles)

Friday - Day 5: Amiens – Béthune - Friday 30th May
After the rain of yesterday it was great to partly see the sun. We had a whole day without wearing the wet weather gear. Thursdays evening talk made us all determined to make Thiepval which was opened especially for us all. The mayoress welcomed us  and said the “British have the great gift of remembrance”. The memorial was designed by Lutyens for the missing, around 70,000 names are inscribed on the arches. Riders with particular attachments took part in a moving memorial service and we had time to walk in the beautifully tended cemetery. We also had a short stop to see the trenches and how close they were to each other.
After an emotional morning we stopped at a village school for lunch – it was great to get there early and not be a long way down the queue and people were very welcoming and opened up the school loos. We had got over half way - horray. The ride was beginning to feel like a rolling drinks party – people coming up chatting – moving on and appearing again later. It was developing its own heros .. and heroines and occasionally a hare and the tortoise feeling.
Getting weary now we were all fortified by sports drinks and food.
We were in different hotels again both on different industrial estates, for the last night in France. Nicky and Katie got lost on the way to theirs and had no hot water. Sorting out the bags for the last day was an important task.  
Cycle approx 114km (71 miles)

Saturday - Day 6: Béthune – Dover - Saturday 30th May
An early start – 5.00am call and on the road by 6.45am – lots to fit in today – 58 miles before lunch. We all welcomed the real flat at last and a sunny day. We all made such good time we were held back in a bar before riding into Dunkirk. We loaded the bikes onto a lorry, cracked open our champagne and waited for HMS Bulwark and the landing craft. We were royally looked after on board, food drink and run of the ship. Once we set sail we had a service on the flight deck and tour of the ship. Katie and Nickie with the ships doctor. After four hours much excitement as we boarded the landing craft again to be tipped out on the beaches of Dover. The Red Arrows dropped in and we then walked to our hotels. A great end of trip party rounded off an unforgettable week. Sunday was an early start in a coach to pick up our bikes in Blackheath and cycle to Horseguards for the final ceremony.

Sunday Day 7: Dover – London
Coaches will transfered us to Blackheath where we are reunited with our bicycles and head into London to meet the cyclists of the Great British Hero Ride at Whitehall and finishing point: Horse Guards parade. Cycle approx 12km (8 miles) - the most difficult!

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us in so many ways with morale support, messages, money we will try and update this page as we go along. Mike is coming as a hanger on .. why dont a few more of you come!

We have raised a fantastic amount of money - thank you see also Katies page http://www.justgiving.com/katiemieville

Together our fundraising is OVER £35,000 thank to you all.

Special thanks to the Snowball lunchers who have contributed so much.

Thank you for visiting our fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor us online if you havent already !

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OLD POSTS >>>

Saturday 3rd May - 70 miles and no blisters ........
Well, three weeks to go and the lycra ladies all cycled 70 miles today. Quite a target cracked. Nobody can accuse us of being speedy but we got there – I think without any blisters! Also – bliss it didn’t rain. What a difference it makes if you are not wet and cold.
Almost the most difficult thing is deciding what to wear – rain, sun, wind all make such a difference. I am sure that cycling shops or web sites must make a fortune.
We had a couple of stops – coffee at Stourhead, the men joined us for lunch at Sutton Montis – “Bramble and Sage” a wonderful farm shop we have adopted as a stopping off point for many of our longer rides.
Today – energy drinks and all the posh cycling stuff – including the lycra trousers and tops. We look quite like cyclists but still have too many lumps and bumps to be really one of those stick insects who clearly cycle miles for fun.
We have two weeks more of fairly heavy training and then a week’s downtime before we set off for France to do the 340 mile trip.

“Squeals on Wheels – or the Lycra Ladies latest..........

We have been training hard for this mammoth ride which seems to get longer by the day. The weather has not exactly been fun for cycling.  Trust us to get involved in something which requires regular lengthy outdoor activity in pouring rain, sleet, gales etc.  Perhaps we should have known that was bound to happen in an English ‘Spring’. 
Despite all this we have plugged away and this Friday we did about 55 miles and mended a puncture, so we feel we are making progress.  The longest day we do in France is about 75 miles so we should be ready for that in a month’s time.  Whether we will be ready to do 50-70 miles a day for 5 days on the trot remains to be seen.  We both feel that anyone with shares in Vaseline should do well this year !
For all those who have so kindly and generously supported us already many thanks.  We’ll keep you updated of our progress.

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Well, a mad challenge – but we all feel really strongly about it. An army family, doctor and a physio who all believe we have a duty of care to those who are injured in any conflict and that is not fulfilled at the moment. The Big Battlefield Bikeride will raise much needed funds to improve the rehabilitation centre at Headley Court which helps many injured service people rebuild their lives.
The three of us are "novice" not to say total beginners at cycling and we are training hard. One has already broken an ankle in training. So 5 days and 340 miles feels like a daunting challenge.
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Many thanks for your support.
Nickie, Katie and Sue