Raining hard. Feels freezing. Roads up and up and then down. Cold wet but not miserable. Even Paul was heard to say, “I enjoyed the hills!” Rolling along at a happy 18-20. Now about to eat lunch in a bus shelter. Kathryn is cutting bread in the passenger seat. 50 miles to go and we are singing.

The most frequent question is, “Why?” There’s no one answer or easy explanation. The charity fundraising is certainly a motivation and the Air Ambulance is a good cause. There’s the friendship. There’s the travel and the scenery and I suppose for some getting away from one daily routine to replace it with the simplicity of turning the wheels. By this stage the answer to “why?” Is simply a dogged determination to do it, and a refusal to give in. 85 miles today and a straight 900ft climb out of Epernay to begin.