Just in case you want to share the pain and, well more pain we are on Instagram! (it is a new fangled computer/web type communication - not sure how it works but photos and updates are on there....

https://www.instagram.com/tandem_madness/

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are now in Lyon 500 odd miles into the trip after 7 days cycling and taking a well earned (I think) days rest to recover in real beds rather than tents! 

It has been hard work getting up and on the road by 8am most days - meaning striking the tent in the dark and getting on our bikes before we are truly awake with breakfast normally a croissant and pain raisin (escargot here) when we see the first boulangerie - mainly 35-40km along the road.  

Lunch is either a baguette in the park or fix prix in a bar /restaurant if we can find one open with the aim of getting to the next stop by 5/6pm (not always possible) so we can set u tents in the light and maybe dry them a little after lasts nights condensation.

Often we get almost there and decide in our brain dead way to take a detour for beauty or to avoid a hill - normally leading to confusion, getting lost, losing each other, the road turning into a track then a field, bikes breaking, adding many km onto the end of the day testing our endurance until we get there eventually in the pitch darkness. Once done always repeated - we have this image of a perfect flat road that has appeared once or twice and is worth searching for again despite the getting lost. The last 20 km of a day along a canal with kingfishers swooping and otters in the water and on the bank in the evening light - cannot be described really but is close to heaven.

Everyone we have met have been helpful and interested - starting with Ann "The Boat Lady" on our first day who bought us breakfast - so we could add the money to the fund to the French ladies who made us follow their car (at a speed that we really could not match) until they could set us on the right road - to the old lady on an electric bike who rode uo the road a few km to set us on a bike path - albeit after suggesting that we just abandon Andrew - who was looking a little worse for wear!

Tomorrow is the start of the last 700 mile leg - down (we hope) to Valance, then Aix en Provence and eventually the Med in Nice! I cannot wait to see the sea having started in France in the rain in Dieppe with each day getting warmer and the light getting earlier a few minutes each day and darker earlier each evening as we head east.

Every half day seems to bring a different landscape - large flat open fields of potatoes, corn and wheat, small dairy farms in rolling grassland much like the south of England, rolling hills of vines, little villages still centred around the tabac and boulangerie, vast expanses of fast flowing inland rivers - the Seine, the Loire and now the Rhone, and houses of thatch, and stone and brick, timber frame and plaster, slate and pantile - all perfectly blending in and reflecting the landscape around them through the use of the local materials available to build.

It is tougher than I thought but good for the soul to push our bodies even at the ripe old age of 60 and there is no better felling than sitting down with a cold beer/glass of wine in a local restaurant after 6/7 hours in the saddle and 70/75 miles covered.

Hopefully the camaraderie and general togetherness to get us through each day will last - it would be awful if the pack chose to eat one of it's own just because a boulangerie/restaurant could not be found in time - but I would not rule this out.

Love and hugs to all our supporters - whose messages and donations keep us going when all feels lost.....

XXXXX

Mark, Andrew, James and Richard

Previous message and story below.

Italy have now relaxed quarantine restrictions, we all have had our double Covid jabs and the trip is back on! 

I realise I owe all our friends a cycle trip having already sponsored myself and "The Boys" previously when the trip was cancelled because of the pandemic - so we definitely owe you all some pain and pleasure from our trip - which hopefully if any of us can work out Instagram - you can follow us there!

We are setting off on Sunday 19th September from the front of Buckingham Palace (unless we are asked in for breakfast...) at 8am and will stop half way to Newhaven for a pub lunch - details to follow and anyone welcome to join us then or at the start!

"The Boys" want to camp along the way - so camping it is and we hope to arrive at Pisa on 5th October - early afternoon - although it is a bit of a guess to be honest - both in time and date!

I will update everyone as soon as  I have more details.

Love and Hugs to everyone and stay safe,

Mark and the Old Fat Boys (well some of us at least)

In summary  :-

We are a bunch of unfit, fat friends nearing 60 with one last challenge in us before we retire to golf or gardening.

We are NOT cycle enthusiasts just guys that refuse to believe that anything is impossible if you really put your mind to it.

Our plan is to cycle by tandem from Buckingham Palace to The Leaning Tower of Pisa in one mad dash of about 1200 miles across Europe - averaging about 70 miles a day.

We do this in the memory of one of my oldest friends, John Spearman, who we recently lost to Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Doddie Weir - ex-Scotland rugby international - is currently fighting the same terrible disease with bravery and good humour and is raising funds for research into MND via his My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

All the funds raised from our tandem ride will go directly to the Foundation.

What we would really like is if everyone could get behind us and sponsor us for each mile we cycle.

The story so far :-

Mark, James, Andrew and Richard tandem and cycle from Buckingham Palace, London to The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy.

We are hoping a few friends will wave us off and/or join us on the first day's cycle to Newhaven - they will all come back by train when we jump on the ferry!

This is our plan to date and is now all booked.

Our proposed route is :-

Day 1 - London to Newhaven - 60 miles - Newhaven to Dieppe by ferry 

Day 2 - Dieppe to Rouen to Evereux - 76 miles

Day 3 - Evereux to Chartres to Orleans - 95 miles

Day 4 - Orleans to Sancerre - 72 miles

Day 5 - Sancerre to Moulins - 72 miles

Day 6 - Moulins to Roanne - 70 miles

Day 7 - Roanne to Lyon - 51 miles

Day 8 - Sunday - a day of rest!

Day 9 - Lyon to Valence - 65 miles

Day 10 - Valence to Avignon - 85 miles

Day 11 - Avignon to Aix en Provence - 50 miles

Day 12 - Aix en Provence to Frejus - 76 miles

Day 13 - Frejus to Nice - 40 miles

Day 14 - Nice to Imperia (Italy!) - 60 miles

Day 15 - Imperia to Genoa - 76 miles

Day 16 - Genoa to La Spezia - 50 miles

Day 17 - La Spezia to Pisa - 70 miles 

...and we know this only adds up to 1068 miles but in reality it is always longer than the stated miles.... 

The actual distance travelled will be registered on our bike daily and at the end of the trip will be used for the sponsorship - definitely not more than 1200 miles!

We will issue maps and photos along the way via Instagram so you can all share the pain and pleasure.....

In reality it may take us longer - but be sure - we will get there whatever it takes!

Will you support us? - I hope you will.

With my very grateful thanks,

Mark