Participants in the Travelex Lifecycle Challenge had a late wake-up call yesterday, with the first team leaving Narvik Parken Skol at 10am. After the previous three exhausting days, everyone welcomed the much-needed two hours extra rest.

Again, the team left in bitterly cold and rainy weather and the cyclists were drenched to the skin and trembling with cold as they entered the first checkpoint at the Swedish Border. The cold weather persisted throughout the day, although thankfully the rain stopped, making it less difficult to cycle despite the cold.

Yesterday’s route was only 174km, with three checkpoints – a welcome break from the long mileage of the previous days. The terrain was also less hilly, another positive point to encourage the cyclists not to lose hope before they reached their destination of Kiruna Sweden.

Still, another cyclist – John Xuereb – had to stop. John had managed to finish last year’s challenge and it was a big disappointment for him to have to stop.

The landscape yesterday was mainly wild, although the team passed through Lapland in the Vavetjakka National Park and the Abisco National Park. After passing through the villages of Stenbacken Tornetrask and Bergforfs, it was more wild terrain before they reached Kiruna, with its famous iron ore mines.

Today, the team crosses over to Finland where, with just two days to go, the remaining cyclists will already be envisaging their entry to Rovaniemi and the end of the challenge.

Anyone wanting more information about the Travelex Lifecycle Challenge can visit the Lifecycle website at www.lifecyclechallenge.com, where donations can be made online and people can show support by commenting in the guestbook.

Donations can also be made by a deposit in the Lifecycle accounts at HSBC or BOV, by sending a cheque to the Lifecycle Organisation, c/o Renal Unit or by SMS nos: 5061-7351 for Lm1, 5061-8928 for Lm3 or 5061-0208 for Lm5.