Day 10 " B & B time again "

After passing some great view's we arrive in Fort William with accommodation being a B&B we all look forward to a good nights sleep.

All the team decide to go for a meal together but with mixed reviews of the standard of food I'm sure the only thing everyone was looking forward to was that cozy bed.

All looking forward to the Journey to Inverness tomorrow.

Day 9 " The views are second to none "

Day 9 and this has go to be by far the best views we have seen as we push our way closer each day to the finish line all the riders are doing well and seem to be just enjoying today and trying to take it all in

Day 8 " Through to Glasgow "

Legs feeling sore for some of the riders but all still working hard and putting in 100% effort into the event. Everyone now looking forward to the view to come when traveling to Fort Willam tomorrow

Day 7 Dumfries " Bonny Scotland "

Well its been a week now since we set off and with little injuries thanks to a great physio but with plenty of smiles we continue to push forward collecting bits of money from the public at every oppitunity.

Now the views are starting to really get good.

Day 6 " Scotland at Last "

A night at Lancaster TA centre and that's us well and truly half way now. Everyone still in good spirits and ready to go and head for Scotland. WO1 (RSM) Tim Duckett and SSgt Mick Flatghty are still going strong and the race to be lead rider seems to be getting more frequent even though both riders claim its not a race yet king of the hills Cpl Andy is quietly pushing through and could be the dark horse if anyone is taking bets.

Day 5 " Half way there "

Its half way and yet if it anything could go wrong it did today. Lets start with J P our very own civilian chief and little brother to WO1 (RSM) Tim Duckett from the stories Tim had passed on about JP not being the easiest person in the world to wake up in the morning yet he was given the chance to go home for the night and then meet up in the morning unfortunately JP wasn't able to get out of bed and kept the remainder of the team delayed by 1 hour due to trying to phone and ring his bell of his flat to wake him up.

First casualty of the week and due the driver of a car who we hope will donate some money to our cause Maj Neil Baguely suffered some minor injures as the driver of the car decided to cut in front of him and knock him off his bike yet the driver seemed more shuck up over it so after taking all the details of the driver Neil decided to get back on his bike and soldier on.

So after a slow start and a very long day going through some beautiful country side that's 208 half way through the Big ride and now with the Lakes and Scotland to go we can expect more hills and more sweat and tears before we reach our destination.

Day 4 " Race to Merseyside "

Well day 4 and with fantastic weather the cycle was good and and not so hilly as the previous days with easier roads to follow all the way to Ellesmere Port also getting visited by members of our unit to show there support

Day 3 '' A good ride yet the pain might be setting in ''

Day 3 and all is well we started with once again great weather and were all hoping it continues to follow us up the country. There were less hills today so times for the distance we covered started getting quicker only thing is curtain people were starting to get a little competitive. We covered in total 86 miles today, with an early start of 0500hrs and on the bikes ready to go for 0630hrs the idea was to get to Bristol and be escorted by the mini buses to beat the morning rush hour, problem was everyone else in Bristol must of woke up and had the same idea so in the end the cyclists had to push on and leave the mini buses stuck in traffic.

As time goes on legs are getting tired and more massarges are being needed but im sure with the warm hands and plenty of oil im sure the riders will do just fine.

Day 2 "Hills still getting steeper through the mist of Dartmoor"

Another day for our riders and with smiles on there faces and all looking ready to go this time all leaving not far from a small village called Callington. The route look at maps and on the GPS was going to be very hilly for the first 40 miles it worked out that they were doing the same distance in height as they had done the whole distance on the previous day but also becoming not to bad after that but still hilly in parts. We moved through Exeter were at one point the cyclist had to close up because of traffic but once through they headed onwards towards Dartmoor National Park. Our lead vehicle which is controlled by SSgt Jim Callaghan set off, whilst heading through Dartmoor and trying to avoid the crazy sheep lying in the middle of the road and refusing to move out of the way he decided to stop for a famous Cornish pasty but as pointed out by the the roadside cafe he had failed to notice he was in Devon and not Cornwall (maybe next time Jim) The riders then pressed through the Mist and made there way to our next over night spot the TA Centre in Bristol. With sore legs and bums lets hope tomorrows cycle is a lot more flat.

Thank you

We would like to thank Chris and Phyl Gates for a great night and for the fantastic hospitallity showed to us esspeically for the wonderful food (Cheese cake amazing!!)and drink laid on for us. A thank you from us all.

Lands End "John O'Groats here we come"

Day 1 "The start of our 10 day journey"

We all arrived about dusk with the last thing on our minds was not looking forward to put our tents up in a field of a small farm, but just our luck we were being upgraded to luxury caravans things were starting to look up and for a £20 fee for the night with dinner and breakfast included there was little complaint's all though a sausage for breakfast wouldn't of gone a miss. With every one fueled up and ready to go we set off to the start point.

"Will we even get there"

Well its day one and its all go for our very own big bike ride, setting off for Liverpool Tac HQ you would always like things to run smoothly but unfortunately for us this wasn't as simple as we would like. With one of the Combi vans refusing to open its rear doors and with most of the food needed for the 10 days ride inside, things just didn't look good. We tried the fob key, we tried driving it, we tried everything we could think of and with everyone giving there own input and ideas to try and open it the only thought was is this the start of things to come? Anyway a long story cut short and with no help from the RAC at all we sent the Combi van back to the dealers were with a wave of the magic spanner and by only pressing the same fob key that we had been trying for so long it worked. Well at least we were now ready to head to our start point at Lands End a nice 8 hour drive to look forward to (oh the fun)..

More Training

Training for the Big Bike Ride

Training well under way

Well its getting closer for our very own ultimate charity event with funds being rasied for the Help the Heroes charity.

Training is now well under way and i am sure its getting harder and the distances are getting longer the count down is now on for the bike ride of the year with members of 208(L) Field Hospital (V) and other supporting units.

Our riders will be looking at completeing an average of 100 miles of cycling a day (not for the faint hearted)