Steve from Sheffield

Day1: London to Dartford: Thanks to Cathy for the refuge. Sun shone  on us. Loved the Holiday Inn Express. Loved AV2Hire and their sound system. Didn't know many riders yet. Who's Jeremy Corbyn MP? Brilliant.

Day2: I'm lead rider. Can't hear a thing on the radio. Traffic  lights, roundabouts, shouts of "Go faster", Fares CRASHES and eventually has to take the van. “A” roads…..I actually LIKED the A2 dual carriageway, meant we could progress in relative ease without hold up. However, it rained, the last 4 miles were single carriageway hell.
Someho everyone left on bikes survived. Cathy leaves, as does Shaf, but
Heidi arrives.
I liked Ali, my tail rider. I trusted him implicitly.
Dover. why couldn't we go via the SENSIBLE Departure Terminal?
Hussein HOPS through passport control. Mohammed negotiates a wee with the  police. I am eternally grateful  for his negotiating skills.
Dunkerque: OK, 18km to hostel, but its flat and into a head wind and  its dark. Try to shield people from the wind. Hold on, why haven't some people got lights??
Stop in Dunkerque. Heidi gets savaged by mad dog. Kieran gets savaged  by mad dog (me). Why hasn't HE (aspiring cyclist) got lights. I am wrong and he is wrong. He is my best friends' son, and someone (at 15) whom  I admire, but I lay into him.
I am thoroughly depressed. I have blown all credibility with this  group.
Can't sleep. If I was that bothered about SAFETY, why didn't I shove  the lightless in the van?? THEY ARE NOT CYCLISTS
(yet) ONLY PEOPLE RIDING THEIR BIKES.......A realisation… I AM NOT YET A PEACE ACTIVIST, BUT  MY GOD, I AM A CYCLIST.....we have to fight for every metre of road..lead car, tail van lead rider, tail rider, floater, people stopping
traffic at junctions, roundabouts, slowing traffic to OUR pace....the last  time I had done this was on a CRITICAL MASS ride, what a LIBERATION, the  roads are for us all, not just the JEREMY CLARKSONS....HOW CAN YOU ASSERT YOUR
RIGHTS IF YOU ARE INVISIBLE, GET YOUR LIGHTS ON........... So I was oh  so wrong, but oh so right at the same time.
Brilliant.

Day 3: Dunkerque to Ghent. My 25th wedding anniversary to Melinda.
Flat, overcast, but massive headwind. Must help to shield. This is a team effort. It is clear that some people are performing at their limits. I  know how hard this is. I so respect their efforts. We cross from France  to Belgium, change from French to Flemish, and no-one notices. we stop.
I point this out to Mohammed, whom I love already. No borders. No guards. Yet this rich middle class place in Belgium was at war in my parent's lifetime, and impoverished. There is an (ex)bombsite at the end of my
street in Sheffield. PEACE (with justice) IS POSSIBLE. WE MUST BELIEVE.
We stop near a bikeshop. Kieran (and others) buy lights, unknown to me. They are now cyclists. They now behave like cyclists. This group will be very very successful. I can now only learn from them. Hilary is crashed by a Belgian cyclist. HOW COULD HE? ARE WE NOT ALL FIGHTING FOR OUR RIGHT TO A BIT OF SPACE ON THE
ROAD?
Ghent...chants...French leaflets for the Flemish??.......Where's the food? Maybe Japanese menus and cyclists appetites are not that compatible..
Day4 Ghent to Brussels. Mikey warms us up. This guy is a leader.....Dawn leads the ride, but we have a local guide. This feels right. A good pace , but accomodating those at the back. Kieran (15) tail rides.
Later, on a Belgian dual carriageway, with their deadly slip roads and driving habits.. MY GOD I AM SO SCARED. We survive. Liane now leads. This is good too. She does cut a dash on her drop bar road bike. GO GIRLS!!!
The group formation chant into the meeting in front of the library,

TV radio, press presence..... We looked very very good. We relax, and swim at the University. Mohammed needs his own lane in the pool. No one can read “No diving” in Flemish. These people are just excellent We laugh. Dawn leaves. I am sad, I like the way she does things. Alex bunnyhops into the night.
We are entertained, we are accomodated by Bruno in chic Brussels.
Sheridan and Heidi work relentlessly into the night. Brilliant.

Day5 Brussels to Namur. We cycle with Belgian brothers and sisters.
THEY ARE NOT US, BUT THEY ARE WITH US!! We accomodate. Nadine and Natalie join us. We are greeted in the centre of Wavre. We look very very good again. We are greeted in a catholic church. This is particularly special for me, because these are not seasoned activists. These are the ordinary people of the parish. This means that what we are doing really matters outside of the usual circles. More press.
This ride is easy terrain, but so deadly. Stalwart Ben. Stalwart Ella. Liane struggles with her hamstrings. Nav stuffs his forks, his helmet, but somehow does himself no injury, somehow. THIS IS HARD. THESE PEOPLE ARE WORKING HARD AND FOR EACH OTHER. Mikey and Kassim have ridden 5 days with FLAGS. Mine lasted 2m on the first day. Shaf arrives. We relax. Brilliant.

Day6 Namur to Bastogne. This will be hard. It is. Hilary leads, then Agnes. 120+km and the ARDENNES. Heidi cycles. Kieran tail rides again.

N4 dual carriageway and bad weather does for us all. We stop in a layby. My Moslem brothers and sisters engage in prayer in the rain, next to the traffic. I watch, and attempt to show some respect. These guys who laugh and joke are now serious and focussed and quiet. They take responsibility for their beliefs. My religion never taught me their confidence. I do so like and respect these guys.
80-90km gone. Melinda has shown her mettle, but we need to get off

this infernal road. I help her to the front.
The police escort us to quieter roads, but onto a series of unrelenting climbs. I help Melinda up each one. She has worked her socks off every day only to always be in the vicinity of the tail van. Not now. I now work my socks off for her, for heavens sake, she deserves this from me. We win several "King of Mountains" points. We lose the last one to Mohammed and Irshad singing away, whilst I can hardly breathe. I learn just how hard Heidi has been working for us. These people are fantastic. We reach Bastogne via liason with TV crew. The hotel, especially the bath, is like heaven. We party, and say our goodbyes. “SPEEDOS SPEEDOS”. That's us, the Sheffield crew. Hey, Melinda, Hilary, Kieran; I think they like
us!!! We party a bit more. Brilliant.

Day 7 "Rest Day" and Home.
We say goodbye. Little Ella sorted our rooms. No one asked her. This is the Peace Cycle. This is what people do. We have made so many friends, we don't want to leave. We coffee with Ben and Jerry, and catch endless trains. All's well till Calais. We haven't planned this properly.
The heavens open. Melinda slips on rails, and injures her right leg.

We are soaked. Melinda is hurt. It is all my fault, I have pushed her too far. Hilary and Kieran battle for us, and P&O accomodate, and we arrive in UK. Long drive home. I am back at work, Melinda is under the weather for a week, but we attract the Sheffield newspaper and I have a new project. The SPEEDOS must rejoin the ride..........Brilliant

steve
Love and peace and my ultimate respect to everyone involved with the ride.