Winning ways

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Friday 8th July Killarney to Mizen Head 67 miles

Today both Ireland and France have witnessed GB cyclists achieving their expressed goals. TV sets all round the world were focussed on Chateauroux in central France at around 16.00 hrs to see Mark Cavendish notch up his 17th stage victory and thereby place himself 8th in the all time list of Tour stage winners at the tender age of 24.

Meanwhile, in the southern-most reaches of the Emerald Isle, (and I am speculating here because I haven't yet heard from the Team) the more senior Pedal for Parkinson's Challenge Team were arriving at a more sedate pace in Mizen Head in County Cork to complete a ride that has taken them the full length of both the British and Irish mainlands. They still have to ride to Cork, catch the overnight ferry to Swansea and then ride to London but that I see as riding home: for me the spiritual end of their Tour is the lighthouse at Mizen.

Back to France.... Just before Mark Cavendish gave the rest of the competition a master class in sprinting, Bradley Wiggins (another Brit and an outsider for the final podium), crashed and broke his collar bone bringing his Tour to a disappointing and abrupt end – what a daft thing to do (says the man with his arm in a sling) !

Post Script: David has now been in touch and confirmed my speculations. He also reports that the day travelling south from Killarney saw a distinct change from the monotony that had been creeping in as the team poceeded down through the centre of Ireland. Today took them through and over mountains that were soft on both eye and thigh and afforded the team panoramic views of the broken, fjord-like Atlantic coastline and the highest mountains to be found in the land. The lads were treated to probably the best the country had to offer on this their final stage of the double end-to-end.

If the geography and weather for much of the ride through Ireland has been a source of disenchantment, the warm reception the Team has received nearly everywhere they have been in the Republic has more than compensated. The Team has enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome from sympathetic folk who, true to their national character, have been generous with their hospitality and have reminded the Team that they are doing something worthwhile. The Irish have recognised and responded positively to the Challenge Team's purpose: riding the Challenge with Parkinson's to prove eloquently that as unpleasant and onerous as this disease is it need not be a handicap to physical achievement and that, to coin a phrase, we can beat it!