Travel With Us

Hello! I am Janine Gillard.

For the next six weeks, my fiancé, Phil Taylor, and I are cycling from Petersfield to the Parthenon.

Our cycle ride to Athens starts on 12/9/22, leaving Churcher's Junior School in Liphook.
We hope to arrive in Athens around 20/10/22.
We will keep you posted re our progress on the blog below.

We are raising money for Maddy's Mark and here is the link to our just giving fundraising page if you can help us reach our goal of £5000.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

My niece, Maddy Lawrence, sadly passed away in March, aged just 20, after suffering from a rugby injury, whilst playing for UWE, her university rugby team. Despite a courageous fight in hospital, Maddy tragically died of sepsis, two weeks after her injury. She was bright, loving and sporty, described by friends as a shining light in their lives. She was certainly a shining light in our close and small family and her passing has left a gap that can never be filled.

In this extraordinarily difficult time, we take comfort in all the good that Maddy had done in her short life and the many people who were touched by her kindness, generosity and love. It is our dearest wish to continue Maddy’s legacy by forging ahead with the charity we have set up in her name, Maddy’s Mark, which supports the two causes she held closest to her heart, women’s rugby and mental health therein.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Maddy played rugby for her University who posted the following tribute on instagram:

uwewrugby
"Celebrating the life of ❤️Maddy ‘Twinkle toes’ Lawrence❤️ who sadly left us too soon on the 25th March. Maddy exemplified what it means to be a UWE Women’s Rugby Player, ‘tackling’ every new skill with enthusiasm. She proudly represented our club both on and off the rugby pitch, growing into the sport and our rugby family. Maddy was a bubbly girl who was so fun to be around. Whenever she smiled and laughed you couldn’t help but smile and laugh with her. That was the sort of player, friend, sister and daughter Maddy was. Her everlasting energy has left its mark on this club, she will forever be our number 11 and will forever be our friend.

We will be retiring the number 11 shirt in Maddy’s honour and remembrance.

Rest in peace our beautiful girl. "

Greece - The final country

The last bit - Kastoria to Athens

14/10/2022

Albania

Three nights in Albania travelling 184km from Fushe Milto to Pogradec

11/10/2022

Montenegro

We are three days and two nights in Montenegro. Travelling through Herceg Novi and Bar. Again, no cycling routes available on Googlemaps but the distance is 176km.

08/10/2022

Croatia

For the next few days we are crossing Croatia

01/10/2022

Italy!

Travelling from Sluderno in the Alps down to San Dorligo Della Valle by the Gulf of Trieste.

26/09/2022

Switzerland! From 21st Sept for 5 nights

Travelling from the Jura to the Alps, we will cycle round Lake Lucerne and alongside the Rhine before starting our ascent into the Alps. Our final night in Switzerland is at Davos.

12/09/2022

First leg - France

We set off from Liphook, Churcher's College Junior School. Then the journey takes us down to Portsmouth where we board a ferry to France and will then spend a week cycling down through the French cities and countryside.

12/09/2022

Click here to see our route in detail

We will be travelling around 440 miles in 8 days climbing 441 metres above sea level.

We are in Switzerland this week. We will travel 172 miles from Roches to Davos. Up 10,000ft and down 6,500ft.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ROUTE IN DETAIL

CLICK HERE FOR THE ROUTE IN DETAIL

548km up 2,600m then down 4,100!!!!

Weeeeee!

CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED ROUTE

So now we know we are off the beaten track as Google maps cannot find the cycling route! 585KM but not the 9hrs shown on the images - that's for a car!

We are in Montenegro for two nights staying at Herceg-Novi and Bar, before we set off to Fushe-Milot in Albania.

Three nights in Albania travelling from Fushe-Milot to Pogradec starting from more or less sea level to nearly 1000m with a few ups and downs along the way!