From the 5th of August until the 18th one of our staff has managed to do something a little different than the usual summer charity events - instead of just riding 10 miles or doing an event wearing a silly costume he will just attempt something a little more difficult...

Mike has ridden from Oslo, Norway all the way to Calais, France. Not only did he manage a distance of 1100 miles in just 11 days, he is also did the entire ride solo and unsupported - no back up car, no support crew and no encouragement!

To give this epic jaunt some kind of meaning, Mike did this ride for charity - half went to the cycling charity Livestrong, and the other to Mike's favourite, the 432 (Woodbridge) Air Cadets.

Mike's Holiday Diary:

Wednesday (Stanstead - Oslo Torp/Hirtschals)
I flew from Stanstead airport at six in the morning after spending the entire night at the airport. You really meet some interesting people when you spend the night there. I met a lovely Danish girl flying home at seven and plenty of people who were bored and fancied a chat too! I slept almost all the flight away, waking up to the plane touching down.
I was incredibly paranoid about my bike after building it up in Norway, especiallywhen I found I had lost a bolt from my stem and a water bottle! Everything went together ok, and I cycled the 30 or so miles to Larvik to catch the world's nicest ferry to Hirtschals in Denmark. You would not have believed the views - even from the loo!
The first night I stayed in a 'pension' in Hirtschals. A pension is like a second house that Scandanavians tend to convert their second floor into. After finding the first hotel would have cost me close to a £100(!) I cycled through town looking for signs saying Hotel or Zimmer, and found a place to sleep.

Thursday (Hirtschals - Viborg)
Day two started with a nice enough day, and very quickly I started to realise that I would be wearing damp shorts for the first hour of every day. Great. I rode 10 miles to Hjorring to get some breakfast, a new water bottle and a lock(which I realsied I'd need when I left my bike outside the shopping centre) before launching into the first (of many) 100+ mile days. I eventually ended up at Viborg, after riding on the hundreds of miles of excellent cycle paths. Some of these ended up with me riding down what was for all intents and purposes a fireroad on 23c wide tyres... I had planned to cycle to Randers, but Viborg was much closer to the eventual direction I wanted to go. It was raining quite heavily when I got there and after riding 15 miles trying to find a hotel I waslked into a pizza shop and the guys there pointed me to a B&B (Cheapest place in town apparently!) Nobody actually came round to pick up any money so I ended up not paying... So they were right! Dinner that night consisted of pasta I found in the kitchen so I didn't finish the day on a full stomach.

Friday (Viborg - Haderslev)
Day Three I left quite quickly and at the first bike shop I could find in Silkeborg just had to buy some new inner tubes and a bike rack. My back was aching so bad I had to take some weight off it. Don't underestimate just how much even a little weight can make you ache! I eventually ended up putting my whole bag on the rack and cycled to Haderslev. At some point I managed to lose my chamois creme. There really is not a bigger nightmare than this - trying to find some in Germany is really embarassing. I went to a chemist trying to find some Savlon. They have no idea what it is. When I tried to describe in bad German that I was after cream "fur mein Arse" the chemist tried to give a giant tube of KY! I eventually managed to a tube of Vaseline to ensure I'd still be able to walk after getting off the bike.

Saturday (Haderslev - Husum)
This day was just an absolute nightmare. A constant headwind sapped my morale early and the spitting rain just didn't improve my mood at all. I cycled around for about an hour trying to find a Youth Hostel in Husum, which I eventually found was quite a bit out of the way. After the desk clerk trying to say I couldn't stay there the boss said I could for a small surcharge. I stayed in a room with two very surly Germans and an incredibly smelly cycle tourist. I knew I stunk a bit after 8 hours in the saddle but the first thing I did every night was to jump in the shower, wash all my clothes and only then go to sleep. The Nutty Professor was on TV that night.

Sunday (Husum - Aveslohe)
This was another day of fairly constant rain. The worst thing was the knowledge that I just had to get out and ride in it, but once you were wet it stopped mattering. When I finished for the day just outside Bremen I stopped at a random hotel at a crossroads in Aveslohe. All the doors were shut and the owner wasn't around and I really had to walk around and hunt her out. She let me lock the bike in the shed and although the restaurant was closed she did make me dinner of fried eggs and toast! This was the point at which I really started to get into a habit of declothing, jumping in the shower while filling up the sink with washing liquid and then washing all my clothes and fixing my inner tubes.

Monday (Aveslohe - Lingen)
This day was just awesome throughout. The place I tried to stop in first was not actually a guesthouse, but a restaurant. They suggested a pub a little further up the road and this was also not a guesthouse. However the owner said his aunt ran a pension, and he tried phoning but nobody answered. We both cycled up there and she wasn't there so I came back and decided to get a meal in the restaurant with a generous amount of German beer. The owner (Herman. The German...)'s sister stopped by randomly and it turned out that she used to teach German in Hereford. We had a good chat and then as I finished my dinner Herman's aunt arrived home. I went and dropped off my bike, stuff and had a shower and went back to pay my bill. Herman invited me to stick around and I ended up at a BBQ there with 15 of Herman's family and I drank far too much wine! Eventually went to bed at around 3 in the morning, after promising to email almost all of Herman's family when I got home and send them postcards from England.

Tuesday (Lingen - Zutphen)
This day I got hit by a car in Hamburg. As I was crossing a road a German car knocked my back wheel, throwing me off and badly buckling it. The scumbag drove off before I could get any details unfortunately, especially when I found out that cyclists are in the right until proved wrong. I disconnected my rear brake and still had to try and true my wheel a bit before I could ride it. At ths point I got really depressed and started really considering getting a train to the Hook of Holland and catching a ferry home. Sheer stubborness and determination made me ride 20 miles to Syke where the guys at Per Pedal were kind enough to not only sort me out with a new rear wheel, but also swapped my cassette, tyre and tube over and put some more air in my tyres. I did another 60 miles that day to get to my last stop in Germany, a lovely place just across from the border. Lovely double room and a fantastic breakfast.

Wednesday (Zutphen - Eersel)
I do remember stopping in both Arnhem and Nijmegan to have a look around. Saw the big famous bridge in Arnhema and I also took the chance to have a look at theplac where the famous Nijmegan marches end up every year. The dutch seem to be incredibly proud of their heritage, although they do have a terrible habit of putting their cycle paths on top of dykes in extremely windy places. When I was done for the day I tried to stop at a big group hotel thing and was told that they cater only for large groups. He directed me to an Indian hotel in Eersel. It was quite a pricey hotel here costing 60 Euros, especially when I had stayed in a lot better places for almost half the price.

Thursday (Eersel - Lichterveld)
This day I managed to forget my phone and I didn't realise until I had ridden for about an hour and a half. I rode on for a little while before thinking that I just couldn't do anything without my phone, so turned around and rode a 40 mile detour. I had planned to do a big push through to Calais and this just didn't happen. At about nine I just couldn't go on anymore, after spending the previous hour looking at empty houses, barns, and abandoned buildings. I had just thought that if there was no hotel in sight I would sleep in a ditch when I crested a hill and there it was.The owner wasn't too pleased when I dragged my bike into my room - but I'd lost my lock at this point and just didn't care!

Friday (Lichterveld - Calais/Home)
Had a 70 mile trip to push through all the way to Calais. Rode through Dunkirk and saw the beaches. I got some food here with the last of my money and got approached by cheap French beggars with leaflets. These had a picture of a baby that apparently trying to feed. When one asked me for my food or a cigarette I asked him why the baby wasn't with Social Services if they couldn't care for it. (I don't think he twigged that I was taking the mick.)
I eventually got to Calais and dragged myself to the P&O office to get a fe home. I had run out of money here so my brother was kind enough to lend the money needed nto get home. On the ferry I met a great family who had done a tour around the north of France on a tandem and two bikes with trailers.
I biked with them as far as the train station where I couldn't wait to get on the train all the way back to Campsey Ashe. Nine hours of train travel and a half hour cycle and I finally was able to get in my own bed!


One thing I would really like to do thank everyone for all your support. I raised over £500 for charity and although it was exhausting, degrading and difficult I enjoyed every minute.