Day 3

Start:    Liège (Belgium)

Finish:   Huldange (Luxembourg)

Distance:   80 miles cycled (276 miles total)

Weather:   Hot and sunny

After spending an annoying amount of time navigating through Liège in order to get to the open road, the team finally got stuck

into the valleys that surround the town.  Within an hour the

positive forecasts were proved right and the temperature started to rise as the sun finally made an appearance.  Today turned out to be Phil’s turn to take a tumble, suffering a minor fall on the outskirts of the city.  

After the flat lands of Holland, the hills carved by the Meuse and Ourthe rivers were the first major inclines to be confronted, and the first 35 miles were hard won as the riders searched for their climbing legs.

A picturesque break for lunch was taken at Stoumont, overlooking the pine forests, after which the riders made a welcome descent and followed the winding road that snakes alongside the Lienne River and into the National Park area.  

After a tricky first couple of hours and encountering more hills than expected so soon after Holland, it was later than hoped by the time the team reached the Belgian-Luxembourg border at 17h30, and we realised that the original goal of making it across to the Luxembourg-German border was now too ambitious.

As the cyclists settled into a last hour on the saddle, Dan Smart's bike suffered a major breakdown on the rear mech, with the derailleur now out of action.  Although still 20 miles short of the day's target the group decided to call it a day at this point in order to began the 2 hour transfer to Saarbrücken in Germany and establish a plan for tomorrow.

Hopefully Dan's bike repair will only be a short (and, fingers crossed, cheap!), but while we attempt to use the 5 German words that we have between us to try and sort it, Dan will miss tomorrow's start - hoping to rejoin the team later in the day.  

With this morning's issues in Liege, and the hotel being in the centre of Saarbrücken, we have sensibly opted to start from outside of town, but once again it's been a late night with another early start ahead...

Photos: Liege > Huldange

Climbing on Day 3



Warmer weather, steeper roads



 



Ticking off another climb




A few metres from Luxembourg



Almost across another border!



 



Early start

A quick photo opportunity at the border

With quite a late night and another early morning, the lads have found time to clean their bikes down and cleared out excess grease and grit.

Leaving the hotel staff in the ruins of the breakfast buffet, the team set off across Liege at 09h15.

After loading the checkpoint coordinates into the sat-nav, it's time for me to head off to try and find a bike shop open on a Sunday to pick up some bits and pieces ready for this evening.




Start of Day 3



Day 2

Start:     Rotterdam (Holland)

Finish:   Liège (Belgium)

Distance:   95 miles cycled (196 miles total)

Weather:   Light showers

Despite it being a fresh clear morning as the POTY Bus left the port, as the team skirted around Rotterdam and across the Rhine to reach the start point, the grey sky suggested that they would be unable to shake off the rain completely. 

Getting ready to start in Holland

Setting off at 10h30, it was some time before the rain finally caught up with the bikes, although when it did it was certainly lighter and less persistent than the Day 1 downpours in the UK!  It was less than an hour before roads left treacherous by recent showers claimed their first victim, with Dan Smart’s leg (and pride) taking a battering. 

By the first checkpoint (near Eindhoven), it was clear that the slick roads, multiple punctures, and time consuming process of navigating the Dutch network of cycle tracks was preventing the team  from taking advantage of Holland’s famously flat countryside in order to bank some extra miles ahead of the alpine stages.

Crossing the Dutch/Belgian border

After a quick lunch stop there was better progress in the afternoon, with the POTY adventure crossing into Belgium at 17h00.  Three hours later, after  9.5 hrs on the go, the end point for the day was reached and the cyclists rejoined the van to complete the final 30 miles to the hotel .  

Today’s been a long and frustrating one, and everyone had just enough time to shower and change before some much needed carb-loading in the local pizzeria! 

Tomorrow will see us continue through Belgium and across Luxembourg, before making our first foray into Germany.  The team are hoping to have an earlier start and try to get well into the 300+ mile range by the end of tomorrow’s ride, so now it’s time for me to join everyone else and get my head down for the early start!



Arrival at the POTY Team Bus



Day 1

Cycled:       102 miles cycled (102 miles total)

Weather:   Very, very wet (& windy)!






Ready to go - Final photos at the Clothiers Arms



The driving rain failed to dampen spirits as everyone prepared themselves for the start of the 1000 mile challenge. With the autumnal weather showing no sign of relenting, the five cyclists climbed into their full protective gear and arrived at the Clothiers Arms in Stroud at 10am ready to start.

The rain persisted all day and made short work of the water-proof gloves and jackets, and all the riders were soon soaked through.

The rain-soaked cyclists arriving at the first checkpoint

The heavy rain also made the roads (and brakes!) slippery.  With potholes hidden under seemingly small puddles, the team were lucky to go all day with only a single puncture.

The rain finally eased as the five rejoined the support vehicle between Aylesbury and Luton, after 8 hours and 102 miles in the saddle.

After a short drive to Harwich and a quick dinner at the closest fish & chip shop to the port, everyone is off to get their head down for a few hours sleep before tomorrow's start in Rotterdam at 10am.

The Updated Team

L-R: Danny Clifford, Dan Smart, Alastair Smart,

Phil Smart, Dan Barker, Keith Broadhurst

As planned the whole squad managed to meet up this morning and get an updated team photo at the first checkpoint of the '5 Valleys Walk' in Nailsworth.

While we were there the photographer from the Stroud News arrived, so we might get some wider publicity in the coming week... fingers crossed.

This weekend was also the last opportunity for the cyclists to do some decent distance on their bikes before the working week takes us up to the departure date next Friday at 10h00 from the Clothiers in Stroud (it's all starting to feel a bit more real now!).

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The Preparations

With only a week to go the whole group are taking the final steps to prepare themselves for a tough ten days.  Ferry crossings have been arranged and accommodation along the route has all been booked.

As well as spending as many spare hours as possible in the saddle, each of the cyclists is making their final kit purchases and taking care of the last minute mechanical adjustments to their bikes, while I have been busying myself with online maps and the Sat-Nav!

As this Sunday is the 5 Valleys Walk, we thought it would be a good opportunity to meet up and get an updated group photo.  We all plan to be at the first Checkpoint between 09h30 and 10h00, so a new pic will follow shortly.

The Team Changes

There have been a couple of changes to the POTY Squad since the last post, to both the cycling and supporting elements of the team (updated photo to follow soon!).

Dan Barker and Danny Clifford join the team as the fourth and fifth cyclists.

Unfortunately Ian Sutton has had to pull out from the event due to family health reasons; his support and assistance will be sorely missed on the trip.

Our thanks go to 1st Call Auto Rentals (Ebley) for giving us a great rate on the support vehicle.

The Sponsorship Details

There are a number of ways that people are able to support the POTY Bike Ride and donate to the Meningitis Trust:

•  There is a JustGiving webpage which is the easiest way to donate online:

http://www.justgiving.com/POTY 

•  Cheques (made payable to I. Sutton & P. Smart) can be sent to:

Sutton Dipple Ltd Chartered Accountants

8 Wheelwright Corner

Old Market

Nailsworth

Gloucestershire

GL6 0DB

We are also in the process of getting some collection tins courtesy of the Meningitis Trust, and will update their location on this blog once they're available.

The Team

The team includes three cyclists and two supporters: (L-R) Ian Sutton (supporting), Keith Broadhurst, Philippe Smart, Daniel Smart and Alastair Smart (supporting).

In 1992 Phil organised his first long-distance charity ride, cycling 900 miles from the UK down to Spain and raising approximately £3,000 for the charities Meningitis Trust and CLIC.

Then in 2004, Ian supported Phil and Keith on an 850 mile ride from the north of Spain back to the UK, raising £7,000 for charity, split between Meningitis Trust and Asthma UK. 

For this challenge, Phil's sons Alastair and Daniel will also be part of the team; Alastair driving the support vehicle and Daniel joining the seasoned cyclists.

The Challenge

Our event is the Power Of Ten Year (or POTY for short!!). Our aim is to cycle 100 miles a day, across 10 European countries, over 10 days totalling 1000 miles, raising 1000's for charity. Starting at 10am on 01/10/10 and finishing on 10/10/10.


Our chosen charity is the Meningitis Trust. They provide 24hr support to everyone impacted by meningitis, conduct research into after effects of the disease and increase awareness by producing and distributing free information to the public and health professionals.

We will be using this blog to update everyone on our progress.