Last year, as novice cyclists, three members of the Daily Star decided to find out what all the fuss was about and get ourselves in the saddle.

Even then, the delights of weaving the bike in and out of London traffic hardly captured the imagination – but all that changed when we signed up to take part in the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride.

The 350-mile ride, along with 250 other fundraisers and injured servicemen, provided a real challenge for us newcomers – not least because the three of us had no real knowledge of how to ride a bike properly.

Thus a three-month crash course ensued as we all fought to get our fitness at the same time as learning just how to use the multitude of gears at our disposal.

This was particularly hard for Minty, whose previous experience on two wheels was so long ago it was on a penny farthing.
But we got there in the end and the trek across the battlefields of northern France was an experience to savour – not least because of the experience riding alongside soldiers who have lost limbs, had their lives changed, and yet still showed their true character to bounce back and push themselves hard just to aid others.

If ever you felt the going was tough, you just glanced up the road to two guys in their arm bikes just six months after losing both legs in Afghanistan, and that inspiration alone was enough to drive us on.

Memories and experiences of that week in 2011 still linger strong – and are the reason Team Daily Star has signed up once again to take part in this year’s H4H Big Battlefield Bike Ride.

The route is still 350-miles long, but this time we leave HMS Victory in Portsmouth, hop on the ferry to Le Harve, and then ride along the northern coast of France to Dunkirk.

As ever, we’ll be stopping at important battlefield sights and memorials from both the World Wars, leaving wreaths and remembering those who fell on both sides of the conflicts.

And the team has doubled in size from a year ago, now numbering six. There are the original members Minty, Vicki and myself – and newcomers Breachie, Mozza and Neil.

As a group we are all shapes and sizes, but all of us are bitten by the cycling bug and also the brilliant experiences to be had on a riding trip to France for such a worthwhile cause.

We’re also happy to have the backing of the guys at Wiggle, and hope to be able to bring you regular updates from our training and also on the ride itself.

And as it’s all for Help for Heroes, if anything we do inspires you to make a donation, we’re grateful of any other support we can get. http://www.bmycharity.com/h4hteamstar2012

Duncan Wright
Deputy Sports Editor
Daily Star