Day 11 – Homs to Damascus and Journey’s End
Updated The last day of the 2009 Betfair Lifecycle Challenge has finally arrived, and today the cyclists are riding the final 155km from Homs southwards to Damscus, over relatively flat terrain and on good roads. The weather is clear and sunny with temperatures up to 38 degrees celsius and low humidity. Cyclists and backup teamDay 10 – Aleppo to Homs
Updated As the Betfair Lifecycle Challenge nears its end, the cyclists are in high spirits as they make their penultimate ride from Aleppo southwards to Homs, drawing ever nearer to their destination of Damascus. Apart from the 3 cyclists who dropped out early in the challenge, and who therefore don’t qualify to finish, almost everyDay 9 – Hatay (Turkey) to Aleppo (Syria)
Today’s ride saw the cyclists bidding goodbye to Turkey and crossing into Syria. The total distance was shorter (about 114km) though border formalities inevitably take time – and the challenge spent two hours at the border, going through the necessary personal and vehicle checks. The frontier was just over half way through the day’s route,Day 8 – Kozan to Hatay, and Review of Turkey
Yesterday, day 8 of the Betfair Lifecycle Challenge, went well, and morale is once again high after the difficulties of the previous two days – in particular, the sleep deprivation suffered when most cyclists didn’t reach the accommodation at the end of day 7 until 1:30am. The first 100km were flat, though for the restDay 7 – Avanos to Kozan
Updated 15 Aug at 12:30 Today has been a long, difficult day for the Betfair Lifecycle Challenge. The route is at least 240km, and the first 40km took the cyclists over very rough terrain, with at least 15km of true off-road cycling – very hard on the joints, especially considering they have been riding longDay 6 – Kirsehir to Avanos
After 2 long days, 240km and 200km, the cyclist had what they thought would be an easy day – only 90km! However, the length of the route may have been less than half the previous days but the road surface and head wind made up for that. The cyclists started their ride at 08:00 andDay 5 – Cubuk to Kirsehir
Despite the length and difficulty of today’s ride (almost 200km with some long, drawn-out uphill gradients), everyone completed the route safely. Having set off early this morning from Cubuk (just outside Ankara), the first cyclists arrived at Kirsehir at 6.00pm, and the last arrival was at 8.30pm, and no further injuries were sustained. The majorityDay 4 – Safranbolu to Cubuk
2 updates including photos Day 4 is a real challenge for the Betfair Lifecycle Challenge team. Today sees them riding almost 240km through hills and valleys. They set off at 7am this morning, and are expected to be on the road for at least 12 hours. Today’s route also includes some stretches where the roadDay 3 – Zonguldak to Safranbolu
Updated This ride was shorter and, after a short stretch along the Black Sea coast, took the Betfair Lifecycle Challenge south through the Karabük Province. The Turkish police escorted the team out of Zonguldak, and the total distance today was approximately 110km, including a few tough hills and some unlit tunnels. The two cyclists who- 1
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