Quite simply the ride was epic! It had a bit of everything and to top it off it was so challenging! Given the incredible support we had from sponsors, we were keen to make them proud, so James and I decided to make every effort to cycle every single mile, amazingly we did just that!

Just getting on the bike for the beginning of each stage was hard work. Invariably I’d often find myself remembering just one last thing, whether it was pumping up the tyres or filling drinks bottles, all whilst trying to  eat and just be ready to roll out with the peloton onto the next stage. What’s more the added responsibility of being ride captain meant I had to make sure that others were doing the same! With not much more than 5 hours sleep a night, the ride was mentally very challenging. By Day 6 the body was so fatigued and keeping spirits up got harder and harder. Thankfully the incredible scenery of Provence kept us all going and as we climbed through the hills the views were breathtaking. With tired legs the descents were simply exhilarating, they were the reward. Felt almost like a pro!

Our arrival into Cannes was magical. We lined up in our teams starting with the Ride Captain group, Lockton, then Civic and then Vectors. The ride captains gave a rolling guard of honour for all the riders to channel through before we made it to the Croisette. So many were there to welcome us and celebrate the achievement. At that moment, emotions took over and there were tears shed and hugs all round. Suitably the medals this year were made from wood!

It’s safe to say lifelong friends have been made after a shared endeavour on this scale. Surviving stage 5 of Day 5 will go down in Club Peloton history. The rain was biblical, there were intense headwinds and the whole ride was done in the dark on our way into Vallance. The chat amongst the long term Club Peloton riders was that this was probably the toughest stage of any cycle to MIPIM. The main thing was that we made it and we did it because we worked as a team and looked after each other.

Looking back at the ride, there were definitely some personal highlights, in particular the fact we both rode every single mile. For James, he rode the furthest he has ever ridden in one day, a staggering 265km. For me, being a Ride Captain was simply an honour and a real pleasure to support all those taking part.

We couldn’t have done the ride without the support of our amazing sponsors, in particular massive thank you to Newforma, Bluebeam, Careys, Social, Symetri, Town Centre Securities plc, Cubic Interactive Plan A and CGL.