Team update: Greg R - rider, team 2

As I write this, just over one week before we set off, there is one member of the team who has yet to get on a bike. As we've seen before, Greg is scared of his bike. However, he is preparing; we suspect that he's buying up most of Western Europe's supply of Ginsters pasties for the trip.

When asked how he came to be involved, he came up with the following answer:

"Ten years ago in 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...."

Clearly Greg watches a little too much television.

Team update: Ian H - rider, team 1

Ian brings a degree of youthful energy to the whole enterprise. Just by being involved, Ian has reduced the average age of the team by about five years. When we asked him what preparations he was taking for the ride, his answer was, "Get a haircut." We think it might be something to do with aerodynamics.

Outside of work, Ian plays ice hockey for Coventry Blaze ENL. We're hoping that his jersey number isn't significant.

Fame!

We've reached the pages of the Coventry Telegraph.

And for those of you who respond better to pictures:

Team update: Andy D - rider, team 3

Andy really doesn't like having his photo taken. Perhaps he still believes cameras are soul-catchers. Nevertheless, this exclusive video captures his cycling style perfectly.

Having said that, he's taking the physical challenge very seriously. Andy ran the London Marathon last year, which showed a formidable degree of forward planning, given that we hadn't even announced the Land's End to John O'Groats thing at that point.

Andy, known as 'Stretch Armstrong' to some, claims to be cycling to work regularly. Or at least, bringing his bike to work in the car. He's also reducing his alcohol intake to just three bottles of wine per day (and only one at work).

We all have to make sacrifices.

Team update: Jeremy C - rider, team 2

Jeremy clearly has a lot of bottle. I'm very sorry, I couldn't resist it. The picture above was taken just before he took part in this year's Coventry Fun Run. We suspect it was down to the whole 'not wanting to show up in the same outfit as someone else' thing.

Jeremy, also known as 'The Mole', has a bit of a reputation for doing this sort of thing, especially when it's for a good cause. And he's looking forward to riding at 3.00am when the roads are completely deserted.

That sounds awfully like 'volunteering' to the rest of us.

Team update: Neil B - rider, team 1

We fully expect Neil to be our King of the Mountains. While we're not expecting to encounter any mountains - maybe a number of steep inclines - Neil's the chap for the job. It's just as well he's in team 1, so will have to deal with whatever passes for the Alps in deepest Cornwall.

Neil claimed he was tricked into this by Ian. But then he admitted to preparing by taking on plenty of liquid replenishment. By the pint.

We think he protests just a bit too much.

Fundraising update

First £1,000 raised at the JustGiving site.

Now it's getting proper serious.

(And if you haven't done your bit yet - you know what to do!)

No such thing as bad publicity

Someone thought it would be a good idea to mention our quest on the company-wide intranet. Apparently, pictures speak louder than words:

(From left: Richard F, Mike W, Tom W, Phil S, Ian H, Neil B, Greg R, Andy D)

The words spoken by this picture include:"don't put the fat guy on the bike."

There's nothing quite like looking like an eedjit in front of 1300 colleagues to concentrate the mind.

Which end has the handlebars?

Greg, not being in possession of a suitable bike, has borrowed Rob's second one.

I'll say that again. Rob's second bike. Rob has one road racing bike. And another one. He's like that.

By all accounts, according to Greg, this is a highly-strung thoroughbred of a machine. It bears some similarities with bikes Greg has known. In that there's a wheel at each end. But the brakes are somewhere completely random, and you have to wear special shoes that clip straight onto the pedal arrangement. A Raleigh Chopper it is not.

Greg is scared of his bike.

Driving ambition

A quick word about the non-cycling members of the team. At the beginning of all this I volunteered to drive, on the basis that any attempt to cycle would end up with me in Casualty in about five minutes flat.

Some people claim that their bodies are temples. Mine's a medieval cathedral. Behold my flying buttresses.

Anyway, at the time the job of driver seemed to be an easy option. Sitting on my backside for five days, piloting a bunch of sweaty cyclists from one end of the country to the other. Hours of relative boredom, interspersed by the odd pie.

But the plan requires pin-point accuracy, timing, navigational and organisation skills. Get the changeover points wrong, for instance, and we'll never make our schedule. And I don't think our employer will be too chuffed if we're still out doing this seven days later, somehow.

This might be why no-one's volunteered to drive the other two support vehicles yet.