Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. The original page message continues below, but I have updated my page now that we have completed our trip to include the following two paragraphs.

Our journey was a fantastic experience, made better because we had superb, hot and sunny weather for the 14 days it took us to complete it - we were extremely lucky! We travelled just under 1000km and averaged 77km/day. It was tough at times and by the end we were both very tired, but also very satisfied. Money for our charities continues to slowly come in and I am pretty confident that we will exceed our targets - eventually!!! Thank you to everyone that has contributed in any way to our fundraising - you are brilliant, generous human beings.

Would we do it again? YES. Would I recommend it? YOU BET!!! I read that the hardest part of a trip like this is making the initial decision to jump into the unknown and "go for it". That is most certainly true - JUST DO IT.

Several years ago my good friend Paul Riley contracted a nasty disease called sarcoidosis.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/sarc/sar_whatis.html

"Riley" has made good progress and is slowly regaining his fitness. Last year he set himself a goal of cycling from his house at Bratton, Telford to his house in the Dordogne, France and asked me if I would be prepared to support him in his quest. Of course I agreed and after abandoning the initial date of spring 2011 we settled for this September, around the 19th. The date, like the route and our training so far, is pretty "fluid". As an example, when I tried to get Riley to sort out a route he suggested that we head south and ask for advice at the various places we will stay at. Similarly, his idea of training was to set off and "after a few days we should be into it"!

Although many people think that we are totally mad and very unrealistic in our ambition, let me assure you that Riley is one of those rare people who, once he sets his mind on something, is very fixed on achieving it. He is pig headed, hard to argue with and very determined; hopefully I can stop him killing us both by going at it like a mad bull!!! However, on a more serious note, he has now bought a very decent bike and we have started regular longer distance training. He is coping very well and I'm struggling to keep up but I'm sure that we can do it - he is even working frantically on the route now!

I know that times are very difficult and many people are suffering severe financial hardships. If you are able I will be delighted if you can support me on this venture by making a donation to The Severn Hospice. If you prefer I also have an alternative charity, Diabetes UK, set up on my other Just Giving site

www.justgiving.com/Paul-A-Edwards2/.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. This bike ride will replace the standard Severn Hospice Big Bike Ride that my family usually do each September.

Please don't worry if you are unable to donate but do please support us by leaving us a goodwill message instead on this site or via my email address.

Thank you very much,

Paul.