In February 2012, our friend Simon Fenn died from pancreatic cancer.  The way he led his life, even up to the last few days was truly inspirational.

We did loads of cycling and racing with Simon and shortly before he died, we talked about doing the Race Across America together when he got better.  Unfortunately, we didn't get this opportunity so, inspired by Simon, Rob Savin, Nick Busst, Tom Stone and Kieran Shanahan will be riding from London to Istanbul.

We must be absolutely mad!  The route takes us further than the riders complete in the Tour de France and we'll complete it in two thirds of the time.  Not only that but we have to carry our own gear all the way there and will be chased by packs of wild dogs all the way across Eastern Europe!  Add to that the intense heat and the fact that after we run out of conversation we'll have nothing but the pain in our legs/feet/back/hands/neck to concentrate on and you can see why we've thought about little else for the past six months.

Simon would be laughing at us if he could see us now as we weigh each item that we're taking with us on our kitchen scales in the vain hope that losing a gram here and there will make the 200 miles we'll be riding each day a little bit easier.

You will be able to follow our progress live via satellite tracking and social media.  We'll add the details here shortly.

Many thanks for your support.