''Day one... or is it? I don't actually know. I woke up at 7am on Saturday, like a six-year-old before Christmas, ready for Sri Lanka. I'm now lying in bed 34 hours later. My body thinks it's lunchtime but I've already had supper. A taxi, two planes and a bus later and all I know is: I need sleep, and we'll be cycling in 12 hours.
The newbies – Petra, Hannah, Lisa, Paul Mitchener and Tayler – are all suitably nervous and, at the same time, oblivious to the Herculean effort and heroism expected of them. Tomorrow will be 30°C with 85% humidity. Whatever the terrain and incline, we know one thing: sweat, a lot of sweat.
Tomorrow should be a relatively comfortable day. I say relatively because it's going to get much, much harder. But we'll carry each other through with encouragement, banter and team spirit that will lift us all in the toughest moments. At least I hope that'll be the case. Unlike the bus journey when I was sat at the front, turned around to chat to someone – anyone – and everyone was asleep, dribbling and dreaming of the days to come.''
Guy Bolam - Partner Bolam Rose
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