Life Cyclists hit storm

The cyclists on the gruelling Life Cycle Challenge, in aid of St Luke's Hospital's renal unit, battled adverse weather conditions in Spain yesterday when they were caught in a thunderstorm for a solid hour and got soaked to the skin.

It was the first day of the seven so far that the weather had been so bad. Nevertheless, it did not deter them.

The faster group were 50 km ahead and had taken refuge, while waiting for the rest of the team, who were lagging behind on the way to destination Burgos, event organiser and founder Alan Curry told The Times as the rain poured down.

Three cyclists were quite a long way behind and were not likely to complete the challenge, but any injuries were "settling down" and the trained bodies seemed to be getting used to the arduous physical challenge, he said.

They were expecting to reach Burgos - after cycling 220 km from Pamplona, where they had stayed the night - by 10 p.m., and were spending the night with the Jesuits.

It would take the cyclists another 240 km to reach today's hosts - Catholic nuns in Torre Laguna - and they were anticipating another gruelling day that would not see them arrive at their destination before around 9 p.m.

The last leg of their France-Spain challenge was another 64 km to Madrid tomorrow, Mr Curry said.

Life Cycle is scheduled to end tomorrow afternoon in Madrid and the team sho-uld be flying to Malta on Thursday night after a well-deserved rest in the Spanish capital.

Donations to Life Cycle can be made directly through their website or to the renal unit.

They can also be made through a deposit to the following accounts: HSBC 61141628050; or Bank of Valletta 14814521017. Otherwise send an SMS to: Go Mobile: 5061 8073 for Lm2; 5061 8915 for Lm3; 5061 9208 for Lm5; and Vodafone: 5061 7317 for Lm1; 5061 7900 for Lm2 and 5061 8816 for Lm3.

www.lifecyclechallenge.com