“And so our Lycra clad adventure begins to Spain. Two middle aged blokes going through a third or fourth mid life crisis on their way under pedal power to Spain.

Firstly without further ado many many thanks to all the kind donations you have made towards two very deserving Charities, STOP UK (www.stop-uk.org) and The Countess of Brecknock Hospice (www.countessofbrecknockhospice.co.uk). We have reached over £10,000 now (cheques included) which is a fabulous feat in this climate.

Also many thanks to my long suffering Family (namely Emmie, Tara and Archie)who have had to endure the training schedule and hours away from Home. Not least of which included our departure on my Wife’s birthday! Also special mention to Andrew Murray for all his advice on logistics and to Simon Perkins for photographic contribution. And finally of course to Robert MacDonald for agreeing to do this trip with me and clearly being mad enough to take it on.

We departed 15 minutes behind schedule from Fran Bernon’s House (wife of beloved Louis who inspired this trip) with our two noble Wingmen (Andrew Murray and Julian Harbottle) at our side. It was soon evident that we were being escorted by two serious Bikers. Comments from Jules included “want a tow?” (clearly some biker language for get a move on you big git) and Andrew “are you wearing a heart monitor?” (clearly some biker language that I was about to suffer a cardiac arrest).

THE LONG HILL UP TO PORTSMOUTH

The pace started at blistering speed as our two Wingmen sped along the road from Andover to Stockbridge. I thought this could not last long but how wrong I was. Luckily the sun started to shine and the testosterone levels kicked in as this display of manpower seemed like fun. Our panier bags laden with KY Jelly and Udder Cream were a heavier load than we thought but none the less we sped on too scared to moan about our load.

After two hours we reached Botley and enjoyed a fat boys breakfast and a needed break. After Botley a nasty hill coming into Portsmouth slowly eats away at your legs that never seemed to end. However we all reached the top and our journey to Portsmouth was nearly over.

For those of you who like stats we averaged 17.2 mph on our ride to Portsmouth which is pretty amazing considering our load. Hopefully we won’t be completely destroyed physically for our ride through France as a result!

We said goodbye to our Wingmen who sped into Portsmouth for Oysters and engagement with some local establishments there (enough said).

The Portsmouth to Caen Ferry is a 6 hour ride and allows time for reflection. As we passed the Normandy Beaches it felt like in some small way we were invading this land of froie gras, good cheese and excellent wine. However we are bouyed by the fact that the French love their bicycles and hope they will be kind to two poor Englishmen as they navigate their way to Spain.

Day 1 complete with 62 miles under our belt and only 938 miles to go and no saddle sores to speak of. A great start but not sure the rear will hold all this punishment for long.”

Justin

p.s. We are in the news

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