Fat Bottomed Boys & Girls ‘10-year Ich’ Diaries

​​TIP’s ‘Fat Bottomed Boys & Girls’ team has completed this year’s charity cycle ride, cycling approximately 300 kms from Zurich to Munich in 3 days. Support for this year’s effort, dubbed the ‘10-year Ich’, has seen the fundraising target smashed, and more than £90,000 raised so far for the Dougie Mac hospice.

This year’s team was, as usual, from across the UK and Ireland transport industry and consisted of around 50 or so TIP customers, suppliers and staff.

We are pleased to report that all have arrived back safe and sound to revert back to their day jobs, following their escapade, which involved more that 2,000 metres of climb!

The challenge this year was to help raise £50,000 for the Staffordshire-based hospice, which provides vital end-of-life care and support to local people when they need it the most. We are delighted that this years target has not only been reached but surpassed by some distance, thanks to all those involved, from official sponsors, all those donating, others supporting the event and, of course, the cyclists.

The various FBB&G teams have raised over £600,000 for various charitable causes from the 10 efforts to date.

However, we haven’t quite finished the fundraising part for this year yet and if you’d like to make a donation to support the team and this year’s nominated charity, you can still do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/page/tipfbbg-the10yearich.

Below, Mike Furnival summarises a challenging, but memorable 3 days:-

DAY 1 - 15th May

Not sure why we chose this route for our 10th challenge ! I guess it was because no-one had really been before and we fancied a three-country challenge. So naturally, I reached out to someone within TIP who had local knowledge and asked Olly Bange what weather we could expect in mid May. “Absolutely super”, was the response, “always dry and warm in this period” he enthused.

So as we pushed off in the pouring rain this morning you may forgive me for wondering whether this was the best idea in the world. One thing that certainly worked was the sourcing of TIP rain jackets for all 45 team members taking part.

For the first time ever, we’d actually sat back and thought it might be a good idea to formally split the riders into teams. Croatia was a little congested in the middle as people are improving every year.. not a bad thing at all.

Teams agreed, it was five teams leaving the outskirts of Zurich in the drizzle.. more than 100kms ahead of them to Bregenz in Austria. The ‘goats’ naturally did their own thing but this year the UKI team domination was embellished by new riders from France and the BLX.. great to see!

Everyone thought the first Swiss leg would resemble a Toblerone, but to be fair it was more of a Dairy Milk. Softly undulating with a great road surface meant that all teams cracked along at a good pace to the first rest at 30kms. However, the slippery wet surface took a few down before lunch at 70kms with Mark, Charlie and Leo suffering some hard falls.

All recovered, by the time we arrived at the Austrian border around 90kms, everyone was back in the saddle.. Dave G had ‘pre negotiated’ a swift passage for ourselves and the Dads Army truck into the EE before we finished a mad dash into Bregenz to finish around 4.30pm.

All in all, a really enjoyable day’s cycling in decent conditions post lunch. Great views around Lake Constance and a prompt, safe arrival on time.

Big day tomorrow as we’re scheduled to complete almost 150 Kms into Germany with 4,000 ft of climbing for the mortals and double that for the Goats!

We have to be on the road for 8am and dinner is planned for 7.30pm tonight.

However, everyone is pretty high with euphoria after today, the hotel has a casino and its Wheelie’s Birthday.. what could possibly go wrong!!

DAY 2 - 16th May

Well, nothing really went wrong on our Austrian evening.. I think the thought of an early start and a very long day in the saddle nullified the desire for too many beers. The Celts stayed up longer than most and the Goats were a little playful as usual, but most hit the sack at a reasonable time.

Everyone was down for breakfast from 6.30am to be greeted by a lovely bright day across Lake Constance. The sun was shining.. the sky was clear blue and the temperature lovely and mild.. For once Olly had got it right!

We stayed in the same groups and set off to complete the first leg across the border into Germany for a coffee break at 50kms. There were 5 ‘official’ climbs on this day for the Mortals.. the Goats were heading higher into the snow zone.

All teams made good progress in the warm sunshine and were rewarded by the most fabulous cake selection at the first stop. Fully refreshed, everyone set out for the 105km mark to have lunch in the beautiful Bavarian town of Mindelheim. All was going well considering we’d never previously done anything like 100kms before lunch. Then just as you thought you could smell the schnitzel, there was the most ridiculously steep hill to really grind the tired legs.. One climb we’ll never forget!

A great lunch was had by all, and everyone made it safely.. Wheelie’s shirt zip had broken en-route and the kind Bavarian folk were treated to ‘Big Daddy’ on wheels as the shirt flapped open like a cape as he passed by.. not a great sight!

The afternoon was where it became a little tricky as a roll of thunder suddenly boomed out during lunch.. Then as the teams headed for the finish line 35kms away, the sky completely changed, and the thunder combined with a lightning show to produce some lovely hailstones and torrential rain. Not ideal when cycling across cycle paths through totally exposed fields.

However, with careful guidance from Adam’s lead riders everyone safely navigated to the finish at Landsberg Am Lech. More than 140kms for the Mortals whilst the Goats completed 10km more but at a higher altitude.. a fantastic achievement from everyone.

The hotel bar was less muted in the evening.. the mixture of relief, euphoria and the smell of the finishing line drove some impressive wine tasting..

I also think there’s the smell of playful retribution in the air but that’s another story altogether.. ;)

One day to go.. £82,000 already raised for our charity.. sincere thanks to everyone for supporting.. you’ve been amazing..

DAY 3 - 17th May

Final day.. around 60kms to go.. the distance sounded so good after the previous two days. Can’t lie.. the limbs were tired and the brain a little hazy as everyone assembled for breakfast around 8am..

The weather forecast was changeable but for the first time in 10 long years, we were predicted to have a significant tail wind all the way to Munich.. All those memories of punishing headwinds in Holland, Ireland, Portugal and everywhere else we’ve ever been, were about to be temporarily erased.

We pushed off confidently just after 9am and headed across the beautiful river town of Landsberg and immediately faced our first challenge… Cobbles!! Lot’s of ‘em..!! For more than 1 km we rattled our battered nether regions across bloody wet cobbles.. not easy to keep upright in the conditions.. At the end of the cobbles was the first lovely climb.. Tip of the day.. if a town is on a river or a lake, you’ve probably got a nasty climb out of it!

The tough start certainly woke everyone up and we picked up wind-assisted speed to reach the beautiful ‘cake on a lake’ stop at Ammersee in good time.

Fully refreshed, it was time to begin the last leg of a wonderful trip and head towards the Bavarian capital of Munich. Still with wind firmly on our side, we made good progress to the city suburbs but then slowed to negotiate the busy streets and endless traffic lights of Germany’s 3rd biggest city.

The change from endless stretches of country roads to city cycling does require a totally different mindset and all was going well until we saw the signs for our final destination.. Olympic Park – 2KMS..!

I think we all got a little excited at the prospect of finishing and turned our brains off for a minute as we dashed towards the finishing line; then braking hard as we missed a sharp right turn entrance into the park.. the inevitable pile up led to Hans completing a wonderful Nadia Comaneci somersault over his handlebars that fully deserved a 10 and would have won any Olympic gymnastics competition! Thankfully, we had a medic leading our group who quickly identified no broken bones.. although there will be some interesting colours emerging this week! 😊

Back on the bikes, we all finished the final ride up the hill to the iconic Olympic stadium to celebrate with the other teams who had already finished an unforgettable journey..

The 10 year ‘Ich’ had finally been scratched and what an epic. The scenery was stunning.. the routes superb.. and the people, especially the drivers of all three countries, were so kind and courteous when dealing with a mix of cycling experience. I can honestly say that the 10 Year ‘Ich’ sits right up there with the very best in terms of the team experience.

Special mentions to Adam and his team who provided superb organisation and support throughout.. And to Dave who just does what he does best.. Does being Dave!!

At this point, we are heading towards €100,000 in donations but there’s still a few pledges out there..

Finally.. A huge thanks to the fantastic team of 2024, our amazing sponsors and everyone who has supported us in whatever way possible.. We all truly appreciate everything you do..

https://www.justgiving.com/page/tipfbbg-the10yearich.

Sincere thanks for taking the time to follow our journey..

Best regards

Mike