On Monday and Tuesday earlier this week the team completed 160 miles in 2 days cycling from Durham to Ullswater and back, camping out the night in the stunning picturesque region of the Lake District.

It was a superb indication of our capabilities and we all felt fighting fit after the two days. The terrain we navigated through was tough to say the least. We climbed to the highest point in the North pennines at 1903 feet, an ascent that lasted for 6 miles and took us just under 40 minutes. We cycled also the toughest gradients on offer, past Alston, at 18% for 2 miles! This was with full panniers and all our gear. Our journey to Poland will not nearly be as brutal in regards to ascents!

Camping was made a pleasure by the unbelievably beautiful surroundings of the Lakes and our wonderful neighbours the cows, who mooed all morning starting at around 3am and keeping us awake until the morning. Thanks chaps.

Last week we were in the Northern Echo. Please visit (www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/durham/8205805.Students_pedal_to_Poland/)

Tomorrow we have a photo shoot in the morning for the Sunderland Echo and a massive thanks goes out to Katie Power, Breast Cancer Campaign’s press manager who is helping us get our story out.

Today Ollie and I cycled 84.4 miles to Alston and back. We managed to cycle that distance in 6 hours stopping for an hour for lunch. We were extremely happy with our progress averaging just over 14mph which was tough going over some ridiculously steep inclines, one of which was 18%!

Our preparations are really picking up now. Our accommodation planning is going well, our routes are almost finalised and I’ll put up my route through Poland this weekend. Donations keep on coming in and a massive THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! Please keep it coming – it means so much to us!

It’s been a long time since our last post, but now exams are over we can concentrate solely on the challenge ahead.

The next 3 weeks we’ll be making sure everything is ready for us to embark on this journey. We still need to get a few things and have our bikes serviced. I managed to break a spoke yesterday which was frustrating. Our fitness levels have dropped slightly since a month ago but we’re still able to ride at average of 20mph which would place us in superb stead to cover 100 miles or so a day.

We’re going to be posting a detailed plan of our route before we leave, so if anyone would like to meet us or see us along the way in England or Europe that would be great.

As always all of your donations have been amazing! Thank you all so much. We’ve almost reached £3000 and please keep on being generous and help us reach our desired target!!!!

Last week from Tuesday to Thursday the team cycled down to the idyllic little village of Illkley, where we reposed in Ollie’s house high upon a Yorkshire hill. We departed Durham at 9am and arrived in the village at around 8pm after getting lost in the Yorkshire Dales, falling over several times due to new clip on pedals causing havoc, and cycling in total 102.7 miles, the most any one of us have completed in a single day. Paterly Bridge was also a nightmare having to climb three 16% inclines over a 2 mile stretch that literally almost drove us to the edge. At least we had lasagne waiting for us at the end which was deeply appreciated.

Wednesday saw us relax a little, cycling to Harrogate in the afternoon and completing a leisurely  ride home. Thursday we returned to Durham after finding better routes through yorkshire and having lunch in Richmond.

In total we cycled just short of 250 miles in 3 days which has made me believe fully in our capabilities as a team to complete this challenge. That was a 1/6 of the way to Poland.

We have all been training massively since the last entry but due to the exams our updates have been sparse so we apologise for that.

Last Sunday I ran the Edinburgh half marathon in an hour and 43 minutes and myself and ollie will be running the London half this September again aiming to continue raising money for this cause.

Today we all managed to cycle 72 miles in 6 hours. We hooked down to Barnard Castle, followed on to Bishop Auckland before heading to Wolsingham and then back to Durham. It was superb to have a full day out and quite encouraging.

We set off at 8 am after I managed to change my inner tube with only minimal peripheral help from Joe. Dan borrowed a bike for the journey as he is yet to purchase his next week.

We were all wearing jerseys for the first time and this outward sign of professionalism gave us the much needed boost to tackle anything that was put in our paths, which was very little, apart from the wind. One noticeable aspect of actually looking like a serious cyclist is that one receives acknowledgment from other fellow cyclists. This warmed my heart each time we passed one.

We rested for a little in Barnard Castle only to shoot out soon after when Joe spotted someone who was not meant to see him. Several miles down the road we hit upon the delightful little village of Staindrop and there consumed several litres of lucazade. Raby Castle was round the corner, but unfortunately , due to unexplained circumstances it was closed despite it being completely open.

The academic term has almost come to a close and this Easter we can all look forward to intense gym sessions and crotch-busting bike rides.

As I write this we have 14 weeks until we depart, so just under 4 months. At the end of April myself and Ollie will be running the Edinburgh half marathon, so please donate a little towards that too if possible.

So far we have raised £1600 which is just stunning. Thank you everyone so much.

Fraz

Yesterday morning Ollie and I poorly coordinated a cycle ride. We had every intention of cycling together but I departed slightly earlier and we were both to meet at Helmington. However, somehow we missed each other perhaps by only a few minutes in Crook and Wolsingham. If we can’t find each other in County Durham it’ll be very interesting in Europe!

On a very good note we both managed to cycle to Wolsingham and back in 2 hours 20 minutes covering 33 miles. The weather was atrocious again. On going downhill you could physically feel the wind buffeting you to the side of the road! The rain was heavy too, but all this just added to a superbly enjoyable ride.

It’s that time of year when summatives and formatives are due, but with only a week left of term we can look forward to some long group outings very soon.

Fraz

Hi everyone,

Firstly, a massive thanks for all the donations so far! We’ve reached £1,310 at time of writing, so we’re over a quarter of the way to our target. Your donations are all really appreciated, thankyou!

Three of us on the team are battling an end of term deadline for our engineering design project at the moment. This’ll be done by Thursday, so we’re all looking forward to getting out for a big bike ride next weekend – probably a whole-day ride.

Fraz and I are looking to get new bikes at the moment and the whole team is also making arrangements for a few sponsored events for next term.

Dan

I don’t quite know where to start. It seems every journey is getting tougher but most definitely giving us superb work-outs. There was a blizzard today in County Durham. Our extremities were burned off due the cold. Dan’s bike crumpled before our very eyes, and it seems is beyond salvation. It was deeply enjoyable despite the drawbacks and we completed 32 miles in under 4 hours, with a long coffee break during the trip and an emergency repair near Tow Low.

Dan’s bike disintegrating. Joe was legendary in managing to half fix it and enable Dan to get to Crook.

We’re going out this Wednesday and Friday morning too, and in two weeks time have a 70 mile trip planned to Barnard Castle, which should give us a taster of a proper full day’s outing.

Fraz

Friday morning saw us embark on a bitterly cold but most enjoyable bike ride so far. We managed to fit in 30 miles in 2 1/2 hours, starting at 7:15 am and finished at just before 10 am.

We did not cycle solidly throughout due to a few incidences. Ollie’s hands almost froze off as we were approaching Esh Winning. Dan had to fight on up all the hills in a ridiculously high gear due to his chain coming off every time he tried to push into a lower one. I took off my handlebars whilst going up-hill losing all my spacers and landing, almost, in front of oncoming traffic, and Joe got us lost, but then managed to find his bearings just in time before we hit a road towards York!

It was a brilliant session and the Durham hills really to give us a great work out, so hopefully we’ll find the flats of northern Europe easy.

Fraz

Today marks a very special day in P2P’s history. We made it out all together for a 18 1/2 mile ride up the hardest hills in County Durham taking us through little towns I’ve never heard of , (and can’t really remember what they looked like as my glasses kept on sliding off) in just over an hour of hard cycling.

Yesterday, Ollie, Dan and Joe drove off in Dan’s mini to Newcastle to pick up Ollie’s new state-of-the-art FIJI road bike, which left us in shock and awe at the beauty of this machine. (Photo’s to be posted very soon, as this deserves a post of its own)

Today was close to failing as on my way to Ollie’s humble abode my handlebars became lose and for a split second my little life swept before my eyes as I entered the Market Square. Luckily, Phil (our resident mechanic) managed to fix the ball-bearings in the metal frame and we were set to go!

Within 20 minutes Dan, unfortunately, seemed to pick up a slight niggle in his groin due to the ergonomics of his handlebars, thus producing a mammoth display of guts and courage to bite his tongue until it was numb and cycle on through the stomach cramping pain. To top off his fully undeserved misery, Dan’s camera then ran out of battery as we asked a German student to take a photograph of us towards the end of our journey.

We now have fully set days of Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and we will be able to pack in 3 or so hours of non-stop epic cycle rides.

Fraz