Southampton to Barcelona - by bike

Well, hopefully this is the start of the adventure. Since riding from John O' Groats to Lands end in May 2006 I've been searching for the next challenge and it isn't easy coming up with a decent, worthwhile adventure that fits around the day job.

I've really been inspired by an expedition that I have been part of called expedition 360. The expedition marked the first human powered circumnavigation of the globe - I came on board late on and offered my skills as an events organiser and managed the completion event in Greenwich. If you have never heard of the expedition then have a peek at the website www.expedition360.com

Anyway back to this trip. The idea of cycling to Barcelona popped into my head a couple of weeks ago. The original plan was to cycle from Paris to Barca, but after speaking to Mike via email, he suggested that we just leave from Southampton and pedal the whole way. So that was it, plain and simple. Nothing complicated, just a simple bike trip.

There will be some tough stages to get through though - anyone that is familiar with the Tour de France knows that the Pyrenees section of the tour often sorts the men from the boys and has determined the winner on many occasions. It involves some massive climbs and some amazing scenery. I'm really looking forward to tackling these.

We will be running several charity events in the build up to the expedition, one of them being a casino night, which should be useful for extracting money from people, and also a good laugh. The aim is to raise £4000 for the Cystic Fibrosis trust. All of the money raised will go towards finding a cure for the disease.

If you would like to sponsor us then please go to our charity page www.justgiving.com/renster

That's all for now.
Cheers,
Ren