England had the wettest end to an April since records began; luckily the majority of our challenge was in Scotland where we managed to enjoy glorious sunshine. This made the challenge possible, 500 miles is a very long way to cycle and I’m not convinced that we’d have managed to cover the distance had the weather not been on our side. I say this from experience as we did endure a day (10 hours of cycling) in fairly continuous rain. Cycling in the rain is unbelievably boring. You can’t look around because the rain gets in your eyes so you’re forced to put your head down and stare at tarmac all day long. On top of this the moment you stop you get cold so you don’t take adequate breaks or eat enough food and end up getting hungry, tired and grumpy. Not a good recipe for group cohesion when you’re bunkering down in a bus shelter trying to figure out which way you’re supposed to be going.

Luckily the majority of the trip was fairly dry. This isn’t to say that it wasn’t still challenging we still had to cover large distances every day but cycling through some of the most stunning parts of the country distracted us from the monotony of the mode of transport. Snowdonia, Lancashire and the Lake District were all particular favourites of mine even if we had hugely underestimated the scale of some of the hills that had to be negotiated. Our route took us along quiet country lanes and cycle paths wherever possible and we saw some beautiful parts of the country that you either wouldn’t have seen or noticed on any other form of transport. I enjoy the speed that you travel on a bike, the landscape changes fast enough not to become boring but slow enough for you to see, and often smell, what’s around you; a very different experience from sitting in the car driving up the M6.

Climbing the peaks was no less enjoyable, not least because it was a day off the bikes. I say climbing but to be honest that’s a bit of an exaggeration. The closest we got to actually climbing was a scramble up Lord’s Rake, one of the routes on Scafell Pike, and the rest was just a long walk. In fact due to the popularity of the three peaks the park authorities have built incredible paths up them like giant granite staircases. It’s like climbing a cobbled pavement which not only makes getting lost very difficult but makes climbing a lot easier. The other consequence of the peaks popularity is, I’m sorry to report, a surprising amount of rubbish. I can’t understand how people make the effort to go to a part of the country because of its natural beauty but not have enough energy left to take the remains of their picnics away with them.

We were all glad to get to the top of a snow capped Ben Nevis and enjoy flawless views over the Cairngorms to one side and the islands of the West Coast on the other and even more glad to get back down to Fort William and catch the sleeper south for some much needed rest. So while the challenge was, unsurprisingly, challenging it was a very enjoyable experience. Albeit, one of those experiences that is probably more enjoyable to look back on than to actually do. I’m also very glad to report that thanks to the generosity of all those that heard about the challenge we managed to raise over £12,000 for Trinity.

So, a big thank you to all those who donated.

Original letter

Three friends (Richard Guinness, Edward Mather and James Le Gallais) and I (Leo Dugdale) have set ourselves a fairly daunting challenge. The plan is to do a version of the three peaks challenge with a bit of a twist. The aim is not only to climb Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis (the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland) but to cycle the 500 odd miles in between them. Needless to say, this is a scary prospect considering none of us have done anything like it before nor have anywhere near the required levels of fitness...yet!

We're doing this challenge to raise money for Trinity Hospice (www.trinityhospice.org.uk/). Trinity Hospice is an amazing organisation that provides the highest level of care to people who are critically ill. When my mother was there they provided my family and I with such compassionate support that I really wanted to give something back. Trinity doesn't charge for any of its care and is only partly funded by the NHS so they need to raise £6 million a year to continue to provide the outstanding level of service that they do.

Please support this fantastic cause by donating. If you're thinking of doing it, do it now. It'll only take a minute and if you're anything like me you'll forget if you don't do it straight away. Rest assured we are covering all our own costs so every penny raised is going straight to Trinity House.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Many thanks.