A few years ago, my friend Ildiko and I set off on a 4 week challenge: to cycle 1000 miles across France, from St Malo to Nice. We planned to do this in one-week chunks. The first year we took a ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo, cycled off the ferry and began our trip. We cycled from St Malo to Samur, and the next year from Samur to Souillac. We took a couple of years off, planning to pick it up another summer. Then covid arrived and her MND diagnosis. Beautiful, clever, larger-than-life Ildiko passed away last year leaving a big hole in many people's lives. In my last conversation with her, we laughed and gossiped, her in a wheelchair, me on video at home. And I made her a promise: I would finish the cycle ride, not saying out loud what we both knew would come. I told this story to Andy, who sadly never got the chance to meet Ildy. But immediately he said: when are we going to do it? Shortly after, we  decided that it would be as soon as possible, because I regret delaying that 3rd leg, because none of us knows what's around the corner, and because life is short, no matter how long it turns out to be. So, in April we will complete the  second half of the leg that Ildy never got the chance to do, raising as much money as possible for the motor neurone disease association.