Many thanks to all of you that helped me raise £5700 for the Women for Women Genesis Trust which funds groundbreaking research in obstetrics and gynaecology.

On 30th April I joined 77 ladies from all over the UK in Beijing to complete a 450kms cycle challenge. It was tougher than I expected but was a wonderful experience. The hills were mountains and the days were long.

Day one took us a relatively easy 68kms along suburban roads from Shun Yi to Ping Gu. Our lunch stop was at Buddha Hill where I had to conquer my fear of heights and take the open cable car to see the Buddha, needless to say I walked back down sore legs or no sore legs.

Day two was the hardest and hottest day of the challenge. The warning was the sign that announced we were entering the mountain region. The peach orchards lead to beautiful valley views as we cycled three 3000ft climbs with exhilarating downhills , before lunch. Our 108kms ride finished at the Yin Xiang Lodge via the Miyun reservoir . The road around the reservoir was being resurfaced and made for interesting cycling. Our accommodation on this night was the most basic of the trip but the quality of the food made up for the hard beds.

On day three we had a 6am start before we headed uphill again to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. The wall was amazing and well worth the effort and strange looks from the other tourists as we pedaled up the hill. The last part of the day took us along a narrow river towards our accommodation for the night at the Oil Workers Sanatorium where we were assured of a hot shower and very basic rooms. However after being soaked in torrential downpours for the last few hours our local guide convinced the hotel to upgrade us, thankyou so much ,I had my first nights sleep of the trip!

I started day four in high spirits, my legs felt fine and I had no saddle sores. It was an interesting day with heavy traffic at times and gusting wind on the exposed sections. The wind became so bad we were advised to form peletons, groups of ten in a tight pack to reduce the effects of the wind. This did not prove successful with all of the groups where there were tears and even bikes blown into ditches. However our group was hailed the perfect peleton and we enjoyed our group so much we finished quite elated and rode the rest of the challenge in our perfect group.

Day five was a shorter day taking us from Shenping Yuan to Badaling Great Wall where we finished.

It was mixed emotions when we finished, my knees were delighted but I was also sad that it was over. After our coach transfer to Beijing we were treated to the most wonderful Chinese foot massage, heaven.

I met some wonderful ladies each with their own stories to tell and reasons for taking part. Together all four groups raised nearly £700,000 which will help babies and women all over the world. On 24th May I met up with some of the ladies at a reception at the House Of Lords hosted by Lord Winston, many were signing up for their next challenge which is in South America if anyone is interested.