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After some well earned pasta we headed back to the car park to start the process of getting our bikes ready.

It was decided that we would set off at 15mins intervals, so as not to cause any congestion on the French roads.

As we were cycling at night, lights and fluorescent gear was compulsory. We also had mobiles with ear pieces (ala Tour De France style) so that our mini bus could let us know if there were any awkward turns coming up.

We decided that Maddie and James would use Tim's bike, so some saddle adjustments would have to be done in between shifts.

Louise had gone out and driven the bike route the week before and reported her findings. Based on this, it was decided legs 1 & 2 were the hilliest and leg 6 was the longest. I knew we had a sh*t hot cycling outfit and was confident we would take this leg, as long as we didn't get lost or puncture.

As Welshie had been in the hills of France for a week in June, and I was also pretty strong in the hills, we took legs 1 & 2. Guns got leg 6, as he is just as strong, but also cos if we needed to catch any team, he was the one to do it. Maddie was leg 3, Luke leg 4 and Dolphin leg 5. We got our selection of cyclists spot on for each leg, and this is in no small part down to Louise and her pre-race recce.

From last year’s race, we knew that the entire bike route was very hilly and each one of the team members would have to climb at least one hill. Bring it on !!

The ProPlus made their appearance again, and Dolphins eyes lit up at the sight of some more of his "Smarties". One final safety briefing and then BarCap got ready to start. Next up were DB, and 30mins after BarCap, Welshie got ready to start.

The plan was to have one mini-bus in front of cyclist so he could follow lights and have one behind with bright lights on so that we could see the road surface.

So what lay in store for us was roughly a 27mile TT in the dark on the wrong side of the road cycling at threshold. This is why we do this stuff,...the adrenaline was flowing through Welshie (I think he was foaming at the mouth at one stage).

We were ready to UNLEASH HELL.

Leg 1 Welshie:
Tim started and immediately got into a rythym. The hills came and went, and he barely flinched. Asking to be told when he had 10miles left, so he could, and I quote "I want to know when it is 20miles, so I can unleash hell". The mini-bus erupted, we wanted to win this bike leg, and win it well. With 4miles to go, the mini-bus moved on ahead for the designated changeover point. Just at that point we saw the DB bus pull out, so they must have been about 10mins ahead of us. So we had taken 5mins out of them.

Leg 2 Keeto:
I got my bike ready and waited for the headlights to appear. Tim came up and tagged me, and off I went. I knew from the course details, that I had my first hill within a mile. Up I went and I just decided to smash it for as long as possible. My legs felt sore in Calais, but now all of a sudden they felt great. I remember going up some pretty long hills, but also being able to smash the downhills and flat sections. I was in my element.

Luke pulled up next to me going up one of the hills and rolled down the window, all I could hear was some blearing music. It was great, I gave a smile and said "This is where I belong...not in the f*****ing Channel" and with that I got out the saddle and jackhammered the pedals. With 7 miles to go I felt sad that this ride was going to end, I could've gone on and on. We then came across a minibus on the penultimate hill. I cycled past and then came up to their cyclist. Assuming it was DB, as they had started 15mins ahead of us. But to my surprise, it was BarCap ! So within 50miles, we had reeled in 30mins off them. I cycled past Jon, gave him a pat and carried on.

The mini-bus went past me to drop Maddie off up ahead. Luke pulled up again and I said "Can you smell it buddy???, Can you smell the Guiness in Paris !". Before I knew it was time to changeover to Maddie. The changeovers resembled that of a Formula One pit crew, fast & efficient. I got into the mini bus and off we went.

Leg 3 Maddie:
It transpired that Tim's seat post was broken and thus Maddie couldn't sit on the saddle going up hills !! So now we had to make a plan for Dolphin. He had never used tribars before, and the only bike he could use was mine....with bar-end shifters!!

Maddie cycled an unbelievable leg and even saw the funny side of the saddle being broken. It's in times like this you realise how important team spirit and camaraderie is.

Leg 4 Luke:
After cycling L'Etape & IM Lanza this year, Luke found the hills in France to be but mere molehills !! He also put in an astonishing ride and looked so at ease on the bike. Constant shouts of encouragement coming from the bus must have woken a few of the sleepy villages we cycled through.

By now Dolphin had finished off about 9 ProPlus tablets and his eyes were wide open. We now had to get him onto a tri bike with bar end shifters and cycle as fast as he can.

Leg 5 Dolphin:
As soon as he got on the bike you could see Dolphin was going to come up with something special. It took him a few miles to get used to changing gears, and was often caught in the big chain ring when starting a hill. And then he literally tore into the road, and all of us just sat there gobsmacked. Yes, there were times when we were a little concerned, when he looked down and veered off into oncoming traffic.

But we then caught and passed DB and opened up a substantial lead before the last leg. As Dolphin got in the bus, he got the high fives and "You are doing IM Florida with us"

Leg 6 Guns:
We were now in the lead and determined to put as much time as possible into our competition. The last leg was the longest but also the flatest and Guns knew that this would be a "balls-to-the-wall" effort. By now the sun had come up and the French countryside looked awesome. At the start of the bike, Eddie said he didn't think a team would break 9hrs for the bike. I did some calculations and shouted to Guns we had 20miles to go and we wanted sub9hrs ! With 10miles to go I knew we were going to go sub 9hrs, but shouted again for one last effort. As we came into the finish area, the stop clocked at 8hr 46mins !!!

We all jumped out the buses and hugged each other. What an effort by everyone. We knew we couldn't win overall, but to win 2 of the 3 legs......that’s good enough for us. Next in were DB, 30mins behind us, CSFB were 53mins behind and BarCap 2hrs behind.

So overall, CSFB were victors, Morgan Stanley 2nd, BarCap 3rd and DB 4th (due to them pulling one their swimmers out the water before the 1hr had elapsed). We then ventured off to our hotel in Paris, for a much needed breakfast and shower. Then it was heads down for 5hrs and up for the celebration dinner.

A Brazilian restaurant was booked solely for the 4 teams, where we ate and drank the night away. We travelled back by ferry the day after. Funny how quickly it goes when you're on a ferry rather than swimming it!!

My thanks to all my team mates and support crew for getting me through some very dark patches in my swim.

Again, another fantastic event and some great friendships formed. Will I be back for EnduroChallenge 2007?? NO, NEVER, and that is a definite.