Well, the trip is finally coming to an end.  It has been something truly special for the both of us and we have been very glad to be able to share it with all of you.  We have spent the last few days relaxing in Athens living in with an Athenian fellow that we met online and several other cyclists from Sweden.  He has been letting us stay in his tiny apartment for free and we have been cooking together every day and curling up on the floor together at night.

We had breakfast on the roof of the apartment building this morning looking out over the sea of limewashed buildings in the rising sun- and it is hard to believe that only tomorrow we will be on our way back to the UK and back to, well, "normalcy".  We have mixed feelings of course:  sadness that the adventure has come to an end, thanksgiving for all that we have been able to see and experience, and of course excitement for all that is to come.

We will be relaxing and recouping over the holidays with our families.  Our plan during that time is to go through our photographs and journals and put together a final overview of highlights, stories and pictures from the trip to send out to everyone.  As well, we will be working closely with our friends and "support team" at justpledging.com, Rob and Sam, back in Edinburgh to collect and review the results of the Ride for Resilience Project.  We will be sending around a short survey to everyone that has offered a pledge with a few questions about your experience- we would love to know how it went, what your thoughts are, and what ideas you might want to share for the future.

Lastly- we want to thank you all again for the ongoing support and of course for your pledges.  We truly hope, and in our hearts believe, that the work you have done has and will continue to contribute to a world that is more environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and deeply meaningful for yourselves, the people in your communities, and the countless others that we share this planet with.  At the same time, we hope that it has made your personal lives just a little bit 'wealthier'.  

Although the Ride has finished, we strongly encourage you to keep up your pledges until the end of 2009.  Beyond that, just listen to your heart and your head as to where to go from there.  Learn more, share with others, and determine what actions and behaviours are best for yourself. Remember to have hope- something in the world is happening- the "environmental movement", which is truly a small part of a much larger happening in the transformation of the consciousness in the whole of humanity towards a greater realisation of our profound connectivity, is growing to the single largest movement in the history of the species.  The seeds that you have planted and will continue to plant may be small now- but you never know to what and where they may lead tomorrow.

With much Love,

Helena and Mike