The Last Post

In the weeks and months following the event the team set about collecting in all of the money pledged by our wonderful sponsors and a number of donations continued to be made through the

JustGiving page

On Saturday the 11th of June 2011 the team were reunited at the headquarters of the

Meningitis Trust in Stroud, where they proudly presented the charity with a cheque for the

total amount raised: a fantastic £3,200

The trip was a great adventure which we will all remember for a very long time, increasingly fondly as the sores subside (although a couple of people will still wince if you mention ‘push bike’).

This blog was a great way to keep friends and family updated on our progress, but has also provided a way to capture the memories online for us to look back on.  Thanks for reading.

Not quite over yet...

With a huge 1002 miles cycled across 10 countries in 10 days the challenge finished at the Clothiers at 17h00 on Sunday 10/10/10.

At the time of finishing the Justgiving page stood at over £1,200 - and in the next week or so I'll be updating the blog as the paper sponsorship forms get collected in; and also hopefully get some of the video clips up online...

Hope some of you will still be reading :-)

Nearly Home

With an early start from the ferry this morning, the POTY riders are flying along the country lanes and should be arriving at the Clothiers in Stroud between 15h00 and 16h00 this afternoon...

Day 9

Start:     Nemour (France)

Finish:    Damville (France)

Distance:  112 miles cycled (902 miles total)

Weather:  Sunny  

With all the riders aware that this was the penultimate stage, and to ease some pressure for the final day, a distance of at least 110 miles needed to be achieved.

Fortunately the conditions were near perfect, with quick long stretches of French countryside and only the odd 'bump'.  At times, there was a even a mysterious force known as a tail-wind that seemed to follow them!  The weather was still in the mid twenties and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as the bouyant five set out for what was sure to be an enjoyable day in the saddle.  At this late stage (with the days being referred to only as numbers), everybody is feeling the strain, and a blistering French sun high in the sky was to make for a testing day.

An impromptu picnic after 55 miles was a welcome break from the heat of the road, and helped keep motivation high. With the team setting out to try and complete the days riding earlier than expected.

Dan Smart's knee continues to cause considerable pain and made any incline particularly intense.  Conscious of tomorrow's final stage in the UK and wanting to cross the finish line with everyone rather than be out of action completely, at the 90 mile mark as the group crossed the Eure river Dan was forced to withdraw.  At half past six, with a satisfying 112 miles putting the POTY tour 'in credit' by two miles, the day's ride ended and the transfer to Caen got underway.

Stopping for a quick pizza before boarding, the team's Meningitis Trust t-shirts attracted the attention of a family who made an on-the-spot donation!  (if you read this: thanks very much!). With the end in sight the team retired for the night, with fingers crossed that the weather in Stroud would be better on arrival than our departure... I'm sure everyone's looking forward to a cool pint at 15h30.

  

Day 8

Start:     Dijon (France)

Finish:    Clamecy (France)

Distance:  114 miles cycled (790 miles total)

Weather:  Sunny  

The extra long transfer time did not allow the riders much room to stretch out the aching muscles from the last week’s effort.  Still suffering from agonising knee pain, after a test lap of the hotel car park Dan Smart withdrew from this stage.  With Danny not arriving at Dijon train station until mid-morning (planning to rejoin the riders at lunchtime) that left only Phil, Keith and Dan Barker on the start line at Dijon.

With Phil’s ongoing close ties to Clamecy, his ville natal, a reception committee from the local bike club was waiting to meet us at the town hall at 16h30.  Conscious of this and the need to cover approximately 110 miles to stay on target; the crew had their earliest start yet and were turning peddles by 08h15 – aiming to stick almost completely to minor roads in order to increase the mileage still further.

The misty morning was soon burnt off by a bright sunshine that was set to see temperatures rise into the mid 20’s.  Long clear roads allowed excellent progress and the trio fired along, covering almost 50 miles by the time Danny arrived at the Gare de Dijon.  Frustrated at the idea of missing a whole day’s riding, particularly with Clamecy as the arrival point, Dan S was keen to get back on his bike and join the riders for the second half of the day.  

The day proved to have some surprisingly big hills in store, although what might have been referred to as a great big hill around Stroud had been placed firmly in context by the Julier Pass, and were now only seen as rolling countryside!  Nevertheless, muscles that had seen more than enough work in the alps were called upon again... with the days total climbing adding up to an impressive 1400m. 

Running only slightly behind schedule and with a satisfying 114 miles on the clock, everyone arrived in front of the Marie de Clamecy at 17h15, to be greeted by the mayor, the president of the local Velo Club de Clamecy (V.C.C), plus some friends and family, and even a local journalist!  After a few photos the POTY team were invited upstairs into one of the state rooms, and welcomed with a traditional regional toast for weary travellers in the form of some excellent Kir (blackcurrant syrup with a local white wine) and a few sweet and savoury treats.  The POTY team exchanged souvenirs with the V.C.C. swapping some t-shirts and water bottles for some cycling tops and a generous donation to the Meningitis Trust.  With everyone refreshed the van departed on the 2hr drive (or two and a half with some special sat-nav inspired detours!) north to Nemours, the starting place for the final continental stage.  

Photos: Dijon > Clamecy



Three start Day 8



All five riders back together





Approaching Avallon




Heads down for Clamecy



Day 7

Start:     Chur (Switzerland)

Finish:    Olten (Switzerland)

Distance:  112 miles cycled (676 miles total)

Weather:  Mostly clear and sunny 

After the previous day's exploits in the alps the team were relishing the prospect of cycling away from the mountains rather than towards them!

With Chur surrounded by imposing peaks, the map suggested that there would still be some relatively aggressive climbing before the route followed the shores of lake Zurich northwards before heading west; with a lengthy car transfer taking the team across the border to Dijon at the end of the day.



Lake Zurich

In beautiful sunshine the riders were happy to find themselves following the valley that weaves northwards from Chur, and were able to average a steady 15 mph for the morning.  As the route moved away from the lake the hills began to get steeper, but with the total climbing from yesterday at almost 3000m (over twice the height of Ben Nevis), what might have felt like a big climb on the first few days of the trip was now put into perspective.



Quick stop at Kappel

As the team headed west towards Olten there were some slightly bigger ascents rising up into the hills away from the lake, but the steady progress was maintained throught the afternoon. Although most of the group are nursing aches and pains, particularly Dan Smart who is still having big problems with his knee, the team raced along the back roads, admiring the Swiss hinterland, to a re-supply checkpoint at Kappel.



Digging deep

 The next stop was Bremgarten, where Danny has family.  Temporarily delegating his navigational role, Danny left the team to press on from here, planning to rejoin the POTY tour in Dijon tomorrow morning via train.  The four remaining riders carried on into the early evening with everyone keen to get the total mileage back on track as soon as possible.



Arriving in Bremtgarten

As the light began to fade and with an extra bit of distance under their belts the team called it a day on the outskirts Olten, with 112 miles bringing the total closer. 

  

 The transfer to Dijon was a 3hr journey away so there was only time for a quick fast food stop once we'd crossed the border (although with the amount of food ordered it took an hour to feed everyone!).



With another couple of days like this the total mileage will be in reach on Sunday - so hopefully see you all in Stroud at 15h00 to celebrate!

Day 6

Start:     Chur (Switzerland)

Finish:    Campodolcino (Italy)

Distance:  80 miles cycled (564 miles total)

Weather:  Sunshine all day (but some headwinds) 

Today was always going to be hard.

There are only two routes from Chur to Italy, both of which involve crossing the Alps via monstrous climbs.

The chosen route headed directly south, towards the resort town of St Moritz, before heading to the border crossing at Castasegna, looping out of Italy via Montespluga and then back to Chur. 

The intention had been to bank additional miles on the ‘simple’ flat stages in Holland and Belgium to allow for the harder terrain in Austria, Switzerland and Italy.  However with the bad weather and collection of injuries from the first few days, the going had not been as effective as hoped, and on the morning of day six the team were 16 miles down on the target rather than having a safety cushion to fall back on.  The Italian border was 65 miles from the start line, and the cyclists had been hoping to be able to reach the border by last light and call it a day, but now rather than focus solely on getting over the mountains they had to get as far as possible as quick as possible in order to maintain the 1000 mile target.

After a quick stop to wash yesterday’s bad weather out of the bikes it was time to get going.  Less than half a mile into the day, the Alps made themselves felt as the first hill began almost from the centre of Chur: leading the team on a winding 9 mile climb (on an average gradient of 10%) and followed by a hair-raising descent into Tiefencastel. Surrounded by stunning scenery it was from here that the riders began the big climb of the day, the 23 mile assault on the Julier Pass.  Within a few miles of climbing the group had been slowly dragged apart, as each man dealt with the mountain on his own terms.



'Prix de la Julier'

After a brief reunion at the lunchtime checkpoint at Mulegns (1538m) it was onwards and upwards, each rider grinding non-stop through the villages that dotted the ascent.   The mountain continued to rise steadily, prior to a series of eye-watering switchbacks to the summit at 2284m. Danny Clifford crossed the peak firmly in front before reaching speeds of over 50 mph on the five mile drop into Silvaplana nearly 500m below!

Battling the headwinds along the Silvaplana and Sils lakes, everyone regrouped for the final push to the Italian border.  With a short climb into Maloggia the cyclists rounded a bend to see the valley dropping sharply away in front of them, with the road alternating between tight bends and sweeping drops the next twenty miles were done in 40 minutes.

Aware of the deficit mileage and still with a few hours of light left the consensus was to press on and try to get at least ten Italian miles on the clock.  However, Dan Smart had been in visible pain since the border, with the double impacts on the same knee on days 2 and 4 even turning the peddles on the flat was agony; after another couple of miles of trying to push through Dan opted to drop back and end his day early rather than slow the team down in its quest to maximise mileage.

The road continued to drop deeper into Italy, before starting to climb back up towards the Spluga Pass, and while the final climb sapped at exhausted muscles by the time the light began to fade the team had racked up a satisfying 80 miles.

 

10th country!



Photos: Chur - Italy



Getting ready for the off





The only way is up







Steeper than it looks!





Stunning alpine surroundings





Relentless climbing




Onwards and upwards



Photos: Engen - Liechtenstein



Setting out from Engen




Across the Rhine to Austria



Big hills in Liechtenstein




Another day, another border (or two!)



Day 5

Start:     Engen (Germany) 

Finish:    Vaduz (Lichtenstein)

Distance:   100 miles cycled (484 miles total)

Weather:   Persistent showers until late afternoon

After spending the previous evening studying the maps it was established that the team would need to be driven about an hour from the ‘Guesthof Adler’ if they were going to manage Lichtenstein as well as Austria in the same day.   Everyone had been looking forward to starting from the hotel (minimising the amount of kit that needed to be sorted out), so the news of a later start time was not a great moral boost (especially as it might have meant a lie-in for me!).

Having arrived at the hotel in the dark and therefore not getting a view of the surroundings, at first light as people headed for breakfast it was clear that we had definitely gone from (“bloody”) hilly to mountainous as we approached Germany’s southern border.




A wet start in Engen

 The drive to the start point was through constant rain that got bleaker as we got closer, and by the time the lads were ready to go it was persistant drizzle.

Fully kitted out again they started out from Engen and began winding their way to the Swiss border, then sweeping along lake Bodensee south of Konstanz. 

The rain was easing by lunchtime but by then everyone was cold and wet anyway, and some food did little to cheer anyone up.

The rain had also made the roads slick again, and railway crossings became particularly dangerous, with Danny going down a few miles after the checkpoint, and then half a mile later Dan, Dan and Phil all went down on another crossing.  With the rain starting to come down again and a few more bruises and scrapes to deal with the going got a bit slower and the team began having time concerns.



Swiss-Austrian Border

 By 17h00 the team were crossing the Rhine into Austria, and after a quick photo pause it was time to get moving again if they were to reach Liechtenstein on the same day.

In Austria the rain stopped and the guys were able to start making some good progress again. By now the really big mountains were starting to loom on the horizon, and although there were only some moderate climbs today, it was clear that tomorrow would be a real Alpine test.



Austrian-Liechtenstein Border

 Liechtenstein was reached at 18h00, and after the border guards had finished checking my passport I was able to take a quick photo and let them get underway again in order to rack up the precious miles.

The cloud and surrounding mountains meant it got dark earlier than previous evenings, but by 19h30 the team had cycled 100 miles and were a stones throw from the border crossing back into Switzerland.

Jumping in the van we made the short trip across to the hotel which will be base camp for two nights, ready to head down to Italy tomorrow morning with only a few Alps in the way!

Day 4

Start:     Blickweiler (Germany)

Finish:    Oberharmersbach  (Germany)

Distance:   108 miles cycled (384 miles total)

Weather:   Hot (with some strong cross winds)

After an early breakfast everyone assembled at the van ready for transfer to the Day 4 starting line on the outskirts of Saarbrücken.  Once out in the countryside, a suitable lay-by was chosen in the village of Blickweiller.  As the four working machines were made ready and their riders prepped, Dan and I made plans to head across the border to France where the language would be less of a barrier to finding out if it was possible to get his bike fixed.  Before the quad set off, an English-speaking passer by was asked if there were any repair shops nearby in the hope of saving some time, and we were directed to one in the neighbouring town of Bliekastel.



Puls Sport - Blieskastel



The shop ‘Puls Sport’ (www.puls-sport.de) looked promising, with lots of good road bikes in the window.  Luckily for us, the guy behind the counter spoke excellent English, and when we explained the emergency situation given the challenge we were undertaking they asked to look at the bike straight away.  Although the suggested solution was fairly simple (heat the twisted piece up and bend it back into shape), it came with a risk of irreparably damaging the frame and putting the bike permanently out of action...

With limited options and itching to rejoin the team as soon as possible, Dan agreed to the repair and we were told to come back in an hour.  So after putting aside a few other bits and pieces requested by the other guys, and a supermarket trip to restock the energy bar and water supplies we were back at the shop with fingers crossed... to find the bike ready and waiting!  The guys in the shop explained the repair and even insisted that there was no charge – wishing us good luck with the rest of the event

Quick food and water stop in Renchen

By the time we caught up with the peloton they had crossed into France, and we joined them in time for a quick lunch at Reipertswiller, in the shadow of Lichtenberg castle.  In late afternoon they crossed the Rhine and were back in Germany with the route taking the POTY tour into the Black Forest National Park.  The day finished with an ascent to 600m and a downhill run into Oberharmersbach  – reaching speeds in excess of 40 mph! 

The climbs have definitely started to get bigger, and in the unseasonal heat they are a particular challenge.  The road transfer to Tennenbronn was an additional 2hrs, so it was already late by the time we all managed to find our way to a restaurant in order to sample some local ‘Schwarzwald’ cuisine!  It has been satisfying to notch a few above the 100 mile mark for the day, making up for some of the earlier frustrations and set-backs.  Same again tomorrow!

Photos: Saarbrucken > Oberkirch

Blickweiler - getting ready to start Day 4

Warm weather in France

  

The hills are getting bigger...

Heading for the Rhine