Russia Today: UK diplomats cycle to war memorials

Staff at the British Embassy in Moscow have begun a 10-day cycling tour of war memorials in Russia. The 3-man team will visit monuments in eleven cities from St Petersburg to Volgograd to pay tribute to those who fought and died in World War Two. The trip will see the cyclists cover round 1700 kilometres. “We were in a restaurant with our wives. While the girls were talking about shopping and fashion, we started chatting about cycling, as we are all keen bikers. We came up with the idea of a long and challenging cycling trip in Russia,” explained Major Donald Smith.

The men will lay wreaths at war momuments in each of the eleven cities they visit. The final one will be left in Volgograd, the scene of a decisive battle in the Second World War. They’ll need to maintain an average speed of about 30 kilometres per hour and travel 160 kilometres daily to complete the tour in ten days. So far, they’ve kept up the pace. By the time they reached Moscow on Saturday, four days into the trip, the cycling diplomats had covered 690 kilometres. They still have a thousand kilometres and 6 days to go.

It’s a demanding journey, and those taking part need to be fit. It’s hardly surprising, then, that training began in June 2006. “We’ve been doing it at lunch times during the week. And on Saturday mornings as well. About an hour and a half during the week, and about three hours on Saturday afternoon,” said Warrant Officer Rob Jones. Their arrival in Moscow coincided with the 860th birthday of the Russian capital.

And as they approached the memorial on Park Pobyedi, one of the most popular places in the city, crowds of people were there to meet them. UK diplomats riding their bikes UK diplomats riding their bikes Before laying flowers at the memorial during an official ceremony, the men changed into uniforms.

“We decided that it would be a great way to underline the relations between our countries and those historical relations that bind our two nations by doing this and cycling all the way along that front from Saint Petersburg to Volgograd,” said Andy Verdon, British defence Attaché.

Only in the evening do the cyclists get a chance to rest their tired legs, but not for long. Soon after dawn they are back in the saddle for the next leg of their trip. The cyclists are keen to show that by remembering the past, they can embrace the future that lies ahead.