We Did It - 250 miles in 5 days - and it was Brilliant!

We both had a Fantastic time on our 250 mile cycle challenge in China.

The whole experience far out weighed what we had expected.

Physically our training regime of cycling our lovely, undulating Cornish terrain put us in good stead

for coping with the mountainous climb up to the Great Wall. It was a tough first two days, but well

worth the sweat & burning quads, the great wall is an amazing site, the structure, setting & vastness is unbelievable & originally built over 2000 year ago..  The cycle down the mountain was pretty exciting & exhilarating as well.

China is a wonderful country, seeped with a fascinating history & an incredible abundance

of tradition & culture yet so advanced in industry & technology - we cycled through miles of maze fields still being harvested by hand, & stopped in villages with very basic amenities and then later through the start of the Olympic city which will cost the country billions.

Food was always an interesting occasion, always very fresh & flavorsome, with a wide variety of dishes, we both become apt at using chop sticks, even managing to use them to spread jam on toast in the morning, However when hungry & trying to fill your face after a long days cycle, the look is not very attractive.

Our final days cycle took us through the city of Beijing, After negotiating busy traffic which at times was frighteningly dangerous & even more scary were the locals on bikes. We finished in Tiananmen Square which was a wonderful site to conclude our achievement.

The side of our challenge we had not anticipated was the forming of such great camaraderie & team spirit, & this was really overwhelming. We also had the pleasure of being joined by 6 guys who have had spinal injuries & were able to cycle with either hand bikes or specially adapted bikes (powertrike), & what an inspirational bunch they were, despite their disabilities they are such strong individuals ready to face the physically demanding challenge full on & with such great spirit, it certainly makes you stop & put life into perspective.  Spending time & working with the group you form a close bond in such a short time. We both learnt so much from their determination & courage.

Initially we  decided to do the china bike ride to achieve a personal challenge, raise money for charity & visit a different country, However the strongest memories that will last the longest are those of courage, both mental & physical, teamwork, friendship &  gutsy determination to tackle the road that lies ahead.

It was an exciting, thought provoking, extraordinary week we both felt very privileged to be part of.

We raised £6000 for Regain a charity that supports tetraplegics to be able to lead an independent life

& it truly does make a difference to peoples lives.

We both would like to say A Big Thank You to all our Family & Friends, our Guests & Suppliers for their sponsorship, support & encouragement.

Lisa & Andy