After several months of work, the head of logistics of the Actavis Lifecycle Challenge 2013, Soner Gurelli, knows the next two hours are crucial. What it all boils down to is how long it will take to get across the border from Narva in Estonia to Russia.

This will determine the ending of the challenge: will the cyclists cross the finish line in daylight in triumph, escorted by a team of Russian cyclists? Or will they trickle in unnoticed in the dark?

The bureaucracy involved in this particular trip has been extraordinary because the route wove in and out of the EU. The truck taking the bikes into Belarus spent 15 hours at the border, a sign of the things to come.

But while Soner and the other drivers sped off at 5.30am to start the paperwork, the cyclists were in high spirits, rested in spite of the random noises you would expect when 30 people sleep in the same room.

The most popular topic is where people will go to spend their holidays next year, with all of them swearing they will never do another Lifecycle. But most have done one before - and one is on his 10th one! - it is obvious that the pain, aches, frustration and sacrifice are forgotten long before the thrill of the challenge, the beauty of the countries visited and the unforgettable camaraderie of the team dynamics.

But it is also because in a few weeks time they will gather to learn how much was collected for the Renal Unit, already €130,000. And that is the longest-lasting memory of all...

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