Held on the 7th -11th May 2014

                         

                         The Final Word From Austin Cornish...

 

 

“The 95 of us collectively biked over 33,725 miles, stayed in over 300 hotel rooms, drunk 2,500 litres of bottled water, ate over a thousand mars bars and bananas, consumed 25 kilos of bacon, fixed way to many punctures and incurred a little bit of gravel rash and unseasonable weather along the way but we have done it. We did it! We biked 355 miles from Ermenonville in France back to the Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club to complete the journey that the likes of my father – Laurie Cornish and the other 17 fine men that were lost never completed 40 years ago. 

It has been an absolute privilege and a pleasure to have spent the last few days going through such an epic challenge with you all. It was inspiring to be in the company of so many determined, single minded and driven people. 

 

I want to say a very special thank you to our magnificent organisational team – Malcolm Leith, Andy and Jane Spetch, Nigel and Sue Birrell, Mike Robinson, Lizzie Cross  and also our fantastic support team on the ride itself and those running the website back at home keeping you all updated as to our progress. To see over 400 friends and family welcome us back at the Rugby Club when we returned was hugely emotional for one and all. And remember we did this for a purpose. To remember those that were lost forty years ago and to raise funds for our two great charities; St Nicholas Hospice and the Haberden Trust. I believe we have fully achieved both.

 

Thank you one and all. It has been an absolute privilege to have achieved what we have all achieved together.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​