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Istanbul to Leeds : Tomlinson's back home after 2,500 mile cycle
A heroes' welcome awaited Mike Tomlinson and his family and friends they arrived in the heart of Leeds after a punishing five-week, 2,500-mile cycle ride from Turkey to raise money for his late wife Jane's charity.
Mike, 49, daughter Rebecca, 22, and son Steven, 13, were accompanied by Mike's brother-in-law John Miller, niece and nephew Laurie, 11, and Jack, 14. Family friend Stuart Hinde with daughters Holly, 13, and Chloe, 11, also took part in the marathon.
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Around 70 well-wishers were awaiting the cyclists as they pedalled the last few yards into Victoria Gardens, in front of the Art Gallery in Leeds' Headrow.
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Among them were many other family members including Jane's mum, Ann Goward, carrying her own "welcome back" placard.
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Mrs Goward has a broken wrist and said: "They let me out of hospital for an hour to come here."
Also there was Mike's mum Alice Tomlinson, his daughter Suzanne, 25, and granddaughter Emily, 3.
Mike had one word to describe how he felt after the trek.
"Knackered!" he said.
"It's a long way. I probably didn't realise it was going to be as tough as it was. After the first day we struggled."
The journey took the cyclists through 10 countries including Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Germany and France.
The team will not know how much they have raised until sponsorship money is collected.
Mike's wife Jane was given just months to live in 2000 when she was diagnosed with cancer, but fought on for another seven years, taking on epic athletic challenges including cycling across the United States to raise money for cancer charities. She died in 2007 having raised 1.75m for cancer charities.
Mike said his 2,500-mile trek couldn't compare to what Jane did.
"Jane was very, very poorly," he said. "You can't even mention it in
the same breath.
"I'm just glad everyone is safe and got here in one piece. It's a big achievement. You can't believe how tired you are."
The family has set a long-term target of 5m which they want to raise
in Jane's memory.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
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