11.30 and we’re about five miles from our destination for the day. We’ve batted along at 15mph or so. We’ve had more happy hoots and cheery waves than you would get in ten years of cycling elsewhere. The mountains shaded away into the distance. We’re now sitting by the lapping Adriatic eating bread and cheese. Inroads have been made into Gefion’s fruitcake.

5.30am. Eating breakfast in the Kronio Hotel (highly recommended – really friendly). Paul has his deck shoes and socks on. Everyone else similarly relaxed. Cliff looks leonine and fit. 75 miles today as a warm up. We end at Patras south of the new suspension bridge.

Our supplies having failed to arrive in Italy I’ve had to parachute Barbara into a hair salon for treatment.

 Crazy, crazy hot today – over 100 in the shade which is sadly not something we’re riding in. And its getting hotter! The water bottles get so hot after an hour it is impossible to drink the water. Some lovely Italian towns on the way but you seriously ask yourself was someone having a bit of a laugh. One twinned with that medieval delight called Watford and the other with the unrivalled charm of that gem of historic Britain, yes, that will be Peterborough. On to Carpi near Bologna tomorrow – just clocked up ( with wrong turns) 400 miles. Lots of very smart Italian cyclists on very nice bikes with matching apparel, lots of nice cars and we seem to have ended up in a barn on a vineyard. My sort of place. Still no punctures! Today’s tune -Madonna Like a Prayer I’ll Take You There.

 R and Bx

Arrived at Olympia around 2.30pm its hot, very hot 38c. We have unloaded the bikes changed into our kit and cycled the mile down the road to the old Olympic Stadium. Sadly it was shut but we did get this picture over the fence!

Breakfast booked for 5.30am for a 6.00am depart tomorrow, a gentle 75 miles to Patra.

OMG what are we doing???

The team poses in the sun in front of the old Olympic Stadium

Hot journey in Stavros’s minibus. South along the coast and then turning inland towards Archaia Olympia (Old Olympia). A journey of about 250km. Beautiful mountain scenery with olive groves and pencil pines. An occasional river plain of corn and just one flock of shorn but still hot sheep. We stopped in a village on the way where the shopkeeper insisted on drinking toasts in the local firewater with Felix and Jerome. (They did buy some pastries too). Fresh peaches with the juice dribbling down our chins. And so to the place which is the reason behind our whole adventure – Olympia itself. Blistering heat and, yes, of course, the stadium itself was shut. Spirits undimmed we took some photos next the oleander blossom. Now for what the restaurant advertises as “Pizza Big Size”. Sounds perfect.

We arrived in Athens yesterday around 3.00pm after a very pleasant 3.5 hour Easyjet flight. We got the new Metro train into the centre of Athens to our hotel where we met Jo with John & Tina fresh from their acclimatisation training in Crete. Hotel not to shabby with a rooftop bar with a good view of the Acropolis, which I’m sure will be very nice when it’s finished ( I would have thought 2500 years should have been enough to get the job done).

View from the hotel in Athens

We are now onboard the mini coach for the 180 mile drive to  Olympia. The coach driver Konstantinos seems like a nice chap and his driving skills seem to be fairly good by Greek standards! There is a strange air of apprehension among the passengers at the thought of riding tomorrow I think.

 We have heard from Roger & Sue Vick that they have got the van to Olympia which means our bikes are there. On our arrival this afternoon we will need to reassemble the bikes in readiness for our 6.00am departure Saturday morning. We are going early to try to make the most of the cooler temperatures before it gets into the 40′s by lunch!

At 37000 feet over Frankfurt, flying at 490mph, the captain said that we had 1130 miles to go to Athens. It felt like a very very long way to cycle back. We left Canterbury City Council at 5.45am with Ernie and Sarah driving us to Gatwick. Then the de-humanising process of being loaded on to an aeroplane. Easyjet remarkably straightforward and unpretentious. Jerome upset there’s no free sandwiches. The Alps slipped by covered in snow. We’ll be climbing those in ten days’ time.

Our valiant group of spartans departed from Gatwick this morning headed for Greece and will start their epic 1,500 mile two week cycle on Saturday. Here’s the first report from Ed Condry from up in the clouds..

At 37,000 feet over Frankfurt, flying at 490mph, the captain said that we had 1,130 miles to go to Athens. It felt like a very long way to cycle back. We left Canterbury City Council at 5.45am today with Ernie and Sarah driviing us to Gatwick. Then the dehumanising process of being loaded onto an airplane. Easyjet remarkably straightforward and unpretentious. Jerome upset there’s no free sandwiches. The Alps slipped by covered in snow. We’ll be climbing those in ten days time.

If you’re in the meridian area the ITV Meridian evening news will have a piece on the cycle ride featuring Ed on a fitness bike in the Canterbury Christchurch lab being assessed for fitness by Dr Damian Coleman.  6pm.