Final thoughts on the bike ride

Looking back on this whole experience the start on Good Friday seems light years away. Every day has had its own character, its own challenges, and every day the Team has met those challenges, and, make no mistake, they were a team, constantly helping each other out, no one was ever left behind, whatever his struggles, and technical breakdowns were often collectively resolved.

It seemed entirely appropriate that an event which began with the Team paying their respects at Nick's grave in Southern Cemetery, ended with respects being paid to him by his former Professor at the University of Cork. It was the memory of Nick and his achievements which informed the whole thing, and which kept people moving forward, determined to make it to the end.

There have been many lighter and good humoured moments. A special mention should go to Col (The Map), who will be remembered for leading his men up one of the steepest hills in the Wicklow Mountains; the award for best dressed and equipped rider goes to Asif, this title now being in some doubt since he left so many possessions scattered about the Irish countryside. Nick Bulmer was often to be found leading from the front, and indeed gave the support van drivers a nasty turn when he overtook them. Ste has to be described as The Man with the Worst Bike; his gears in a constant state of confusion. Ben distinguished himself by being always last man in the saddle. Jonathan proved himself to be the only man who could acquire a suntan whilst riding through a rain storm. Dan used several forms of transport, but was eventually obliged to get on his bike. Rob Carlin must be voted as the fastest tent erector with his pop up advantage. Al and Martin, by contrast, must go down as the slowest tent erectors ever seen on a camp site,

The reunion on return to Manchester with wives and loved ones was a reminder of the sacrifices and support made at this end which allowed the Team to do their thing. It is also marvellous to see how the Team had inspired a whole range of friends to lend their sponsorship. The extent to which this venture captured everyone's imagination and admiration is underlined by the astonishing level of funding in excess of £11,000 which will now go to Mind.

We will have other events in the future and we will also want to let people know how we dispose of the various funds in Nick's memory, so please keep in touch with this, which we hope will be a live and active one, and please do feel able to contribute or add comments.

Arrival in Cork

Team Minogue arrived in Cork at 3:32 pm this afternoon, having left Manchester at 8:32 am on Friday last week.

There were no misadventures en route other than the fact that Martin and Al got lost, and lost contact with the blokes, however, they all managed to get together for a terrific arrival at Cork University, being greeted by John Sodeau. There was champagne and sandwiches, and the team of post graduate students were there with the Cork University flag, and clapped them as they pedalled in. It was very touching as everyone hugged and embraced to celebrate their arrival.

There was a tour of the laboratory where Nick had worked, and John Sodeau spoke of Nick's work, and how what he had been doing was deeply unfashionable when Nick did it, but was now state-of-the-art and what everyone wants to do. How typical of Nick, somehow!

Now the cycling team are sitting outside in brilliant sunshine getting ready to hit the town. I hope Cork is ready for this!

In the accommodation (a sort of house for us all to stay) Asif has bagged the biggest bed! It is very comfortable, and tea and cakes were also provided to make us all feel very, very welcome and appreciated.

On their last leg(s)

A fair day for the last 30 mile leg to Cork. Did Nick specially organise this weather as a reward for all the hard work and effort that has gone into making this trip? The lads are in tremendous spirits, and here is a team photographs of them all wearing the sponsors outfits. I hope Mind think this has been well worth the investment; the amount raised so far has exceeded the target by so much, and we haven't stopped collecting yet!

Yesterday they cycled 85 miles, so although there are some very stiff legs this morning, they must be encouraged to know that todays stint is just a fraction of that. There are no sore heads either, despite the quantities of Guiness consumed - oh, wait a moment, there's a correction to that information - Al has a sore head, apparently.

Youghal

Once again, Al used his beguiling ways to charm the hostelry where he and Martin had reservations into offering the lads accommodation as well, and negotiated the price down considerably from the figure that was first suggested. The wringing wet conditions underfoot meant that the camp site conditions were atrocious.

It was not until 7:30 in the evening that the first of the cycling crew straggled in. One by one the exhausted party arrived and were delighted to find that they all had rooms with a sea view. Not only this, but they were also able to catch the Champions League match between Arsenal and Barcelona.

It is difficult for me to express the admiration that I feel for their efforts. The team have made it through some of the most difficult conditons and terrains, at least two people have felt quite unwell throughout the trip, but they have all fought together and held together, and broken the back of the enterprise. The total cycling mileage to date is 366 miles; more than 70 miles a day on average over the 5 days, and these are amateur cyclists.

By comparison tomorrow should be relatively easy.

We understand that the Just Giving fund has broken through the £8,000 barrier today, so Asif must fulfil his pledge when he gets back to Didsbury on Friday evening.

Lunch at Bunmahoney

Bunmahoney turned out to be a sort of ghost town, with almost everything closed apart from a village shop. Resourcefully, and with great panache, Jonathan, heading up ther team, putrchased bread, ham and cheese at this establishment, and had impromptu doorstep sandwiches awaiting his team mates as they rolled up.

Miraculously, the weather changed to soothing sunshne, and the wind fell away altogether. At this point the team mates had to confer and make the decision about whether to stick with the original plan to push on to Youghal, or if they should stop at an earlier point. The decision was reached to press ahead to the planned destination, and leave themselves the relatively short run to Cork for the final day. However, the Drum Hills, and some unexpected bursts of heavy rainfall caught them out in their optimism; meanwhile Al and Martin had forged ahead to see if they could arrange bed and breakfast in place of the rain sodden campsite.

Asif's misfortunes

From Wellington Bridge, the tale is largely comprised of mishaps that befell Asif: a) he lost his very expensive (£50!) water bottle, that simply blew away b) his rear brakes failed (they were later mended by the technical support elements of the group) c) his bike had a puncture in the same incident d) At one point, Al and Martin waited anxiously for ages, and began to think that they must have taken a wrong turning, as no bikes appeared ... but it transpired that Asif had put on one of his gloves inside out, and it took an age to peel it off, correct it, and put it back on.

After cycling down the coast they did a river crossing by ferry across Waterford Harbour, and all agreed to meet for lunch at the romantic sounding Bunmahoneyt village on the Copper Coast, site of old copper mines.

Goodbye to Wexford

Off again in wet and windy weather - a 40 mile per hour gale blowing this morning - leaving behind our posh hotel in Wexford, and heading for a breakfast stop at Wellington at 10:00 (pictured).

Day 5 by some distance must be the most challenging to face the cyclists; if yesterday was the day of wind, today's enemy was the wet as well.

Overnight there were horrendous conditions, with the force of the wind evidenced by the howling around the roof tops as the Team slept. Thank goodness they had not attempted to make camp.

The scope of what had been paid for at the posh hotel did not include breakfast, so with empty tummies the team assembled themselves, already exhausted from the previous days effort, but rejuvenated to some extent by a nights sleep in a proper bed.

The heavy wind was to some extent behind them, so they made good speed as far as Wellington Bridge, where all fell ravenously upon enormous Irish breakfasts in the local cafe.