Mission Accomplished!

We've done it! We crossed the finish line at Lands End at 1205 yesterday (Thursday) - exactly 92 hours and 5 mins after leaving John O'Groats on Sunday afternoon. What a fantastic feeling, although I think for most of us the feelings were a mixture of elation at having completed the Challenge and relief that it was over! I don't really think the magnitude of the achievement has sunk in yet - we're all extremely tired, sore and stiff, but it feels brilliant to have done it: in fact not only done it but "smashed it"! 6 hours 55 mins under the target time!

Rob's achievement has been amazing. To cycle from John O'Groats to Lands End on his own, completely unsupported virtually non-stop in the time he did is incredible. He arrived an hour and 10 mins behind us, completing the journey in 93 hours and 15 mins! Sadly, from his perspective, he did not manage to beat "the Crabs" but the main Challenge of under 99 hours has not only been achieved but well beaten!

Another amazing thing is how close the race was in the end. At one point Rob was only 2 miles behind us. In fact, if we hadn't seen him go past as we had a pitt stop at a roadside burger van on the A30, he probably could have beaten us. We were under the impression that he was some way behind us (possibly because of a minor "dis-information" campaign?!). We had intended to all stop for some hot food as we had some time to spare (our meal rations ran out on Wednesday morning). When we saw Rob, plans changed and it was an all out ride for our lives for the remaining 60 miles to the finish!

Representatives of the local branches of the Royal British Legion were at Lands End to greet us, which was great. After various photo shoots and lots of back patting, everyone's primary concern was getting a hot shower and a decent meal, so we headed off to St Mawgan for a shower and then in to Newquay for a few beers and a curry. The tiredness really hit then and I think all of us realised for the first time how much this challenge had taken out of us. Most (but not all) of us were in bed by about 10pm! Even the dirty stop outs were done and dusted by midnight!

We're now heading back to Brize Norton, looking forward to a weekend of rest and sleep, more sleep and even more sleep! It seems quite weird travelling along the A30 thinking that less than 12 hours ago we were hammering down this same road on our bikes in pouring rain and a howling gale!

Before I finish this entry, I would like to say a couple of Thank You's on behalf of all the cyclists. First, a huge thank you to the guys who have given up their time to support us with driving, feeding, coffe making, etc. We could not have achieved this without them and all of them, to a man, have been brilliant. Dave, Tony, Nige, Chris, Mac, Kev, Steve and Billy - you've all done a fantastic job, in difficult circumstances, and you have been just as much a part of the success of this challenge as the cyclists. Thank you all. We would also like to say a big thank you to Andrew from Direct Fleet Insurance Services for his generous sponsorship. Again, without this help this challenge would have been a lot harder. Thank you Andrew on behalf of us all.

Over the weekend I will get some photos uploaded and some thoughts and tales from the journey, in the cold light of day - so keep following - there's more to come!