MAP OF THE ROUTE (may take a few seconds to load)

THE ROUTE IN DETAIL: WEEK BY WEEK

PHOTOS OF THE CYCLISTS' PREPARATIONS. Be Inspired (or very, very afraid)!!

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After weeks of pleading, the "Connemara Chopper brothers" PJ and Douglas O'Thuarisg finally allowed Gearoid and Trevor to wear the yellow and green jersies. On one condition, though......

 (Wales, 2005).

Klaus and Gearoid discussing race tactics for the final day of the trip, to Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland.

 (Murphy's Pub, Hong Kong, November 2007).

In the "who's the prettiest cyclist of them all?" competition, the judge's comments were:

On Douglas: It doesn't matter how much you paid for your new sunglasses, if the judges don't see your eyes, you'll never win!

On Garry: You win again!

On Trevor: Look at the judges, not at the other contestants!

On Gearoid: You're going to have to do something about that "smile"!

Klaus trying to recruit some Canadian girls to ensure that there will be more...............
.....well, Canadians........
on the trip.

You've got to admire the guy's stamina.

(Murphy's Pub, Hong Kong, November 2007).

As part his training to be a master sheep herder, Trevor Alcorn went to a state-of-the-art facility near Snowdon, Wales. Here's he's seen completing the "cycle over sheep grid with your cap on your head and eye on the sheep" part of the course with flying colours.

A grafter and a gentleman, there's nothing sheepish about Trevor's ambitions to win the yellow and green jersies on the Istanbul to Ireland trip, (sort of) the colours of his beloved Meath!! Those are the Kerry colours too, Trevor!!

This is a press archive picture of Steven "Mood Dog" Moody massaging his aching back after completing the Dublin city marathon a couple of years ago. Oh, and yes that's a French maid's dress he's wearing. Steven, that's the reason why you made the front page of the Irish Star newspaper!

Himilayan runner, triathlete and charity fundraiser extraordinaire, Steven is new to long distance cycling but has assured us that he will at the very least cycle the 20km's from his Dublin home to Johnny Foxes pub!

The smile is friendly, the bicycle shop is friendly and that looks like a friendly wave of the hand also.

The cynics amongst you would say she's actually fixing her hair, and, true, the presence of a bright blue hair scrunchy on her right hand doesn't help matters . The complete chauvinists would say that she's actually practicing her "damsil in distress phoning a taxi on her mobile" routine....

However, guys beware, having completed a 700 kilometers cycle in Australia in January 2007, "lovely" Linda has real road cred and has no intention of being just the friendly girl on the tour while the guys carve up the racing honours for themselves. One to watch!

The quintessential English gentleman, Chris Bailey is currently outnumbered by his Irish brethern so he has shrewdly decided to join the tour when it crosses Old Blightey in Mid-June 2008. He insists that he's only joining in for "a bit of exercise and fun". However, the home advantage and cheers of the madding crowd could go to his head so his every move will be watched!!!

Chris is named after the patron Saint of travellers and has done a number of long distance tours. The picture shows him on a tour across Pennsylvania on a red foldable bike with tiny wheels....Apparently you "haven't lived" until you've crossed Pennsylvania on a red foldable bike with tiny wheels...... We'll just have to take your word on that one, Chris!!

Read more here on his "Crazy Guy on a Bike" Journal.

Ever since having to cycle back 5 kilometers in Poland in 2003 to get his "flame" helmet which he had left behind him in the hostel, Cathal Heneghan has been very protective of his "flaming" headgear! We have looked for photos of him without his helmet - including all his sister's wedding photos - but to no avail. New cyclists to the tour beware: Cathal has an endearing tendancy to cycle really, really fast on his bike, point at his "flaming" helmet, and shout loudly his trademark rallying cry "I'm on Fire".

But there's so much more to "Cloherboy's Cathal".... He is known around Galway as an Honest Punter , though Klaus bore the brunt of this "Dark horse" tendancies as they battled it out for supremacy in the Finland to Italy trip.

"Mr brainy" in the group, Cathal is currently doing a Master's degree in Engineering in Oxford and will be joining in during the England & Wales legs of the trip - and possibly also on Turkey and Bulgaria. When he gets physically tired, he has been known to win races by using his superior intellect to play notorious mind games on unsuspecting fellow cyclists.

Continuing a proud family tradition of flambouyant headgear, Cathal's cousin Garry "lionheart" Lyons proudly sports his white swimming cap at the Brighton triathlon, September 2007.

Garry, after your antics this year, they are talking about bringing in a rule that you can't wear your white swimming cap during the cycling & running parts of triathlons! And no, not even when it's raining!!

This was the original Interpol photo circulated around the world after our PJ was mistaken for the last of the bigfoot yetis in the Italian Alps. After ten days and nights staying completely still, he finally snowboarded down the hill into the sunset...

We're not quite sure this photo of PJ, Gearoid and Garry was taken. Maybe Wales? Answers on a postcard....

With a job as a skipper and diving instructor with OzSail on the Whitsunday Islands, it would seem that Micheal Pierse needs a gruelling cycle across Europe like a fish needs a... well... bicycle.

He has, however, decided to leave his (employer's) boat "Spank Me" for a while as he joins the tour on the Italy-to-France stage. Maybe he can enlighten us as to how they come up with the names for boats in Australia?