1. The Long Way Round - Europe

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I am part of a team of four who is preparing to embark on the trip of a lifetime. At 7.00 a.m.on the 1st August this year, Team Enduro will be setting off on a 7,631 mile motor bike trip round Europe in order to raise money for Unicef, Help the Aged and the RNLI. The trip will take us from Stonehenge to Newcastle where we will catch a 16 hour ferry into Stavanger, Norway. The route then goes north across the Arctic Circle where the team may encounter sub-zero temperatures and near 24 hour sunlight. Next the ride heads through Sweden and Finland before skipping through the corner of Russia into Estonia. Following eastern Europe, the riders will stop off at a few of the Unicef projects - including Bulgaria and Romania. After Bulgaria, the team will head through the corner of north west Turkey and on to Greece (and hopefully some nice weather!). Following the Adriatic, Mike, Sarah, Flick and Mikey will pass through Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia on a mixture of road surfaces - testing the off road training and practice that we will have received before we leave. From here on, the roads improve and we are in for some beautiful riding through northern Italy into Monaco and more stunning views from the mountains of Andorra. The final leg of the trip will loop through Spain and Portugal before heading for Calais via Madrid and Biarritz. We hope to arrive back into Stonehenge 31 days later, though are prepared for up to 50 days of riding - dependent on some luck! This feat is made all the more challenging and exciting by the fact that none of us (as of yet) hold a full motor bike licence and we are hoping to complete the trip within 31 days. We have all completed our CBTs now and, courtesy of Phoenix training school (official Team Enduro sponsors), we will soon hold our full bike licences. To prepare for the trip, on top of the motorcycle training that Phoenix is providing, the team is beginning numerous fitness regimes and first aid course - all of which will prove more useful to Mike Finlay who will be rowing from London to Paris next year and across the Atlantic in 2011. Team Enduro, which consists of Mike Finlay (25), Sarah Lonbay (25), Felicity Copp (26) and Mikey Mansergh (24), are hoping to raise at least £5,000 for each of the charities we are supporting (Unicef, Help the Aged and the RNLI). We aim to do this through sponsorship and through fundraising events which we will be organising and carrying out over the next eight months. We are also running monthly online competitions, as well as a competition to win one of our team’s BMW F650 motorbikes, to raise money. The trip has already received a lot of coverage. BBC Hereford and Worcester, Evesham Journal, Newcastle Courier, Malvern Gazette and the Wiltshire Times have all covered our story with many of these interested in continuing to cover our progress as we undertake our training and prepare for the trip. To follow our story, donate money or to enter our competitions visit www.enduroeurope.co.uk .