The second day of the Betfair Life Cycle Challenge was only slightly less daunting for the 21 cyclists, with 220 kilometres to cover during the day, but the heat and steep hills made it more of a challenge.

The road to Zilina took them through some steep hills – including one of over 570 metres – which were quite exhausting in spite of the intensive training they did in Malta prior to their departure.

LifeCycle is all about the things that go wrong en route. On Sunday, the cyclists and back-up team got separated and had to cover quite a few extra kilometres, which meant that it got dark before the last cyclists reached their destination.

Two missed a sign and went well off track. They were eventually located and brought back by two of the back-up cars. Another cyclist missed a sign barely a few hundred metres from the accommodation and also had to be located and escorted to the school gym in Prostejov by another team.

However, even though it was 11.30 p.m. by the time everyone had eaten, showered, inflated their beds and washed out their clothes for the next day, the feelings were a mixture of utter exhaustion and exhilaration. Yesterday got off to a good start, with a checkpoint at a stunning tourist resort in the forested mountains of southern Czech Republic. The only problem happened at mid-afternoon when the back-up van broke down. The situation was brought under control after a Mercedes mechanic in Prague talked the driver through remedial action which got it back on the road.

The participants crossed the border into the second of the seven countries in the challenge soon after the lunch checkpoint. Last night was spent in Zilina, the largest city in Slovakia.

The Betfair Life Cycle Challenge raises money for the Renal Unit of Mater Dei Hospital.