A group of 9 amateur cyclists decided to ride around the entire island of Cyprus to raise money for charity. One of the riders, Mark Nowell, decided to ride for SSAFA Cyprus. So on Sunday 17th April 2011, he set off east with his 8 friends from the Limassol Sea Front. They spent 8 days riding the often mountainous coastal trails (on and off road) on mountain bikes. The 800kms (approx) distance was covered by the riders with a combined age of some 500 years. The ride was probably a “first” as the route has only just made possible by the opening of the new crossing, at a place called Limnitis by Greek Cypriots and Yesilirmak by Turkish Cypriots, the 7^th crossing along the 180kms long UN controlled buffer zone in Cyprus, which was opened on October 14th last year. The route started in Limassol, along the coast around Larnaca bay to Cape Greko, then around Famagusta bay followed by a long ride up the “pan handle” to Apostolos Andreas and around the coast line to Kyrenia. They then crossed the Limnitis crossing near Morfou and onto the end of the Akamis Peninsular, down the east coast the Paphos and finally, the home stretch is via the Akrotiri Peninsular to the finish back in Limassol. Some of the riders have completed 2 long rides in Cyprus before, one “End to End” ride along the mountain ridges from the Akamis in the South to the end of the “Pan Handle” Apostolos Andreas in the North. Another ride was “Around the South” but never the entire Island. This was a much larger distance and challenge. At 16.00 on Sunday 24th April, they all arrived safely back in Limassol, tired, sore and complaining that whichever direction they were riding they always seemed to be riding into the wind! Would they do it again? Mark says they are already looking another challenge for next year! Cycle around Cyprus   800 Km in 8 Days