At the finish line

All but one of the original team that set off to cycle 2,000km from Prague on August 14th made it to Sarajevo on Wednesday, although the cyclist forced to drop out by injury a week before joined them for the last leg of the trip to savour the joy of completing the 11-day marathon aimed at raising funds for the Renal Unit at Mater Dei. The last day of the Betfair LifeCycle Challenge was a bittersweet one for the participants, with the incredible sense of achievement tempered by the knowledge that they will soon have to go home after taking part in an adventure that began with their registration last April. Before their departure from Mostar, the mood was, if anything, subdued. One cyclist said he was glad it was over because he felt his body was falling apart; another said she could not wait for it to be over as she was utterly exhausted and on the point of collapse. Another expressed the feeling of many when he said that he was disappointed that it was over but that his legs really needed a break. A cyclist who bought a bike just the day before he registered for the challenge intends to give it to his training buddy as soon as he gets back – although he intends to maintain the high level of fitness he achieved over the past months. Even the kitchen team was sad, although they were relieved that all had gone so well with the food and that the group had been such a brilliant one. “This is the fourth LifeCycle that I have done and I think that it was the best group so far,” the head of the team said. One managed to overcome his pain and exhaustion enough on the long trip to appreciate the scenery, saying it was the best of the three trips he has come on. Just about all claim that this will be the last LifeCycle they do – but there is always a question mark at the end of the sentence. The satisfaction of taking part in this challenge soon overtakes the urge to ask over and over why on earth they were doing this. The cyclists set off bright and early from Mostar, where they spent last night, and cycled 165km through the beautiful Bosnian countryside, spending hours pedaling along a narrow lake winding through narrow valleys, to Sarajevo. The first across the line was a jubilant William Hili, who has done the challenge seven times and completed it four times. Just minutes behind him was Nigel Micallef, with Lee Duric in third place. The team stopped just inside the town for all the back-up and cyclists to re-group and wait for some local cyclists and a police escort to take them into the heart of Sarajevo, once called the Jerusalem of Europe because of the many religions it hosts. The signs of the war 15 years ago could still be seen in Mostar – where the reconstructed bridge joins together two sides of a city where bullet-riddled buildings lie in darkness between candle-lit restaurants on the banks of the river. Sarajevo, which was under siege for four years, is also trying to forget the blood of its past and it is now a vibrant and dynamic city, which the participants will be able to savour on Thursday, their first day off in almost 2 weeks. The 13th Betfair LifeCycle Challenge will add several thousand euro to the €1 million already raised since 1999.