Day 3 and Bob, Steve and Mark have arrived in Dover on the English coast after covering more than 230 miles since they left the West Midlands Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull on Wednesday morning.  And due to the current heatwave, it's been a gruelling bike ride to date, with temperatures hitting 34 degrees centigrade on both Monday and Tuesday!  This meant that despite early starts on Days 2 (in Abingdon, Oxfordshire) and 3 (Redhill in Surrey) the boys have not checked into their B&B's until after 9pm in the evening.

At the Marie Curie Hospice the send-off was headed by Shirley Lions President Gillian Conlon, Lions Martin Conlon and Ken Barker and from the fundraising team, Tracey Finnegan and Rachel Nash.  And as a result of Andy Gregory's kind mention on Facebook, retired cop Paul Mann was also present and joined us for the first hour's cycling as far as Lapworth.

Day 1 then took the team via Stratford-upon-Avon to Shipston-on-Stour, the outskirts of Oxford and eventually Abingdon where the team check-in just as it was getting dark.  And as previously arranged, Paul (Robbo) Robinson left the team and returned home on the morning of Day 2.  After Abingdon the boys crossed the River Thames several times before hitting Henley-on-Thames (great tea-shop at Maison Blanc), Ascot, lunch at The Four Horseshoes near Chobham (34 degrees centigrade), Leatherhead and via Box Hill and the Olympic Road Race Route to Reigate and finally Redhill where they spent the night. 

 Robbo leaves the posse at Abingdon, as arranged

Day 3 began in Redhill and headed east into Kent and Royal Tunbridge Wells.  East Sussex was visited with a pint at the 15th Century Elephant's Head, before a hard climb up to Goudhurst in Kent.  Despite a sea breeze providing some comfort after Lamberhurst, it was a hard slog to Hythe, Folkestone and finally Dover after more than 80 miles in a single day.