CBS Cycling Trio Completes Memorial Ride
Against the rain, against the wind, against the mud, against the innumerable hills and against the odds, they have done it.
Three of my previously-out-of-shape CBS News London colleagues pedaled to their highly symbolic destination today — a memorial to fallen journalists in Bayeux, France.
They set out five days and 200 miles ago in London on the ride in honor of Paul Douglas and James Brolan, two colleagues who were killed three years ago today by a roadside bomb while covering the Iraq war for CBS News.
It was a charity ride. All the money raised — today the figure stands at more than 20,000 British pounds — will be split between The Rory Peck Trust and Reporters Without Borders, two charities which work to protect and support journalists and their families around the world.
Friday, London deputy bureau chief Andy Clarke, video editor Mark Ludlow and cameraman Andy Stevenson, who described themselves on their ride blog as "not-so fat anymore, and not so-unfit anymore" thanks to their training regime, reached the memorial with only minor aches and pains.
Two of them are smokers and two of them had to buy bikes to do this ride — they are not (or were not, at least) seasoned cyclists. All of us here in the London bureau new they were taking on a significant challenge, and some of us even harbored our doubts.
They've proven themselves. Paul and James, knowing these three men well, would no doubt appreciate the gesture.
Well done, lads.
Please click here to donate to Bayeux by Bike in honor of Paul and James.
And then, please click here to watch some mildly embarrassing video clips of the cycling trio on the road.