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It was quite a year. September came and went, notable only because I was in Morocco and not Russia. As readers of this site will know, last year three of us planned to drive 5,000 miles around Europe and Russia to raise the profile of Everyman - the male cancer charity.

Patrick in hospital

The reason we didn't make the deadline was quite simple. We were lame, well not we, rather Patrick. Just four months before the designated leave date I got a phone call late in the afternoon. 'Matt it's Stace, Patrick has come off his bike and is in hospital'. I was in South Wales at the time but knew from the tone of his voice he didn't think Patrick was going to make the tour, and I should get back to London ASAP.

Patrick had broken his leg quite badly, he required a fairly nasty operation that involved one metal plate and seven screws to hold it all together. Not one to do things by half, he'd also badly damaged the ligaments in his ankle.

X-ray of Patrick's broken leg

The decision was clear, continue on the journey and leave Patrick behind, or wait it out and see if he'd be strong enough to come. Ultimately we decided that it wouldn't be Journey To Russia without the big guy, so we stuck with him and moved the date to July 2008.

So here we are again, mere months from departure, picking up where we left off. All that lies between us and Russia is five months of detailed planning, visa applications, money saving, and with any luck, no trips to the hospital.