On Thursday 22 December 2011, my good friend Squadron Leader Ant Downing was seriously injured when the vehicle he was travelling in was caught in an explosion in Afghanistan. He was flown back to the UK, but died of his injuries the following day.

Ant was a great friend to many, and a true inspiration, whether through his professional work as a Royal Air Force Engineer, competing in extreme sporting events, as a stalwart member of the Mountain Rescue Service, or simply drinking copious amounts of tea and chatting.

Ant was also a great adventurer and was always up for a challenge. In 2007, following an operational detachment as a UN Peacekeeper in Georgia, Ant had some leave to use up and spontaneously decided to cycle across the USA on his own. 25 days and 3091 miles after setting out from San Diego on the Pacific coast, he arrived in Ocean City on the Atlantic coast.

I wanted to honour Ant's memory somehow, and a long distance cycle from Lands End to his home village near Dover seemed appropriate. I could not match the distance he completed, but I hope that doing it solo on a tandem, mirroring the tradition of a “missing man” formation for lost aviators, will be a fitting tribute and raise money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Please donate whatever you can, and please Facebook this page and help me spread the word.

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