A seemingly interminable challenge

The lemur made it through freezing February gales and driving rain from London to the coast, and survived.

In the merciless, wintry conditions, it took over 7 hours to complete the 63 miles (100 km) from north London to Brighton, and by the time the lemur arrived - with the sun having long departed these frigid and soggy shores - there was no sign of the sea in the darkness.

Despite the spectacle of a quivering and drenched lemur cycling through the West End, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall heading for the southern counties, Londoners looked on with characteristic lack of interest or disdain, but the tourists loved the bizarre sight, and the lemur got delightfully supportive responses further along the route, with entire cafes waving, stunned pedestrians gaping foolishly from the pavements, and cars swerving across lanes to toot and shout their support (sorely needed in the grueling conditions).

Thankfully, the lemur had a brilliant support crew in James and Kelly, who remained committed to the good cause and good humoured throughout.

So despite the awful conditions, this small and intrepid band completed this difficult challenge but the trellis remains half full and only a few weeks remain.

If you would like to congratulate the cycling lemur and his friends, please do click on the paypal link on the right-hand side, knowing that you will be contributing to Azafady’s impressive humanitarian and environmental projects in Madagascar.

For those of you who have already tried without success, please do try the link again now and be sure to use pauljohnstone17@yahoo.com as the identifier.

Thank you to all of you who have supported this charitable enterprise and please do visit the blog again soon to see the lemurs’ last ditch attempts to reach the target with only days to go.