Col, 31, is from Limavady on the North West coast of Northern Ireland, though has been wasting his time away in London for almost 8 years. Rumours abound of a career in IT, but no proof of this has ever been produced. Col, or Burns as he is often known, has a twin brother who's happily married and living in Australia, but relationships just don't appear to be Col's thing, despite numerous brief attempts. Despite suffering the same sporting confusion that blights most Northern Irishmen who live in England, he's still unsatisfied by single handedly causing 2 British Lions tour catastrophes and a truly humiliating Ashes tour, simply by following his team to the far side of the world. Some classic mountain bike crashes in his teens are about all the cycling pedigree he holds, and the prospect of spending long days going uphill are only tempered by something Sir Isaac Newton said a while back. While playing a lot of cricket in his life, the combination of regular late Friday nights and an unparalleled love of the reverse sweep have ensured nothing more than inconsistency in his game. Upon returning home Col is hoping to meet a sweet young girl with an exceedingly rich father, which will allow him to quash those rumours of a career for good and become a better golfer than his fat namesake.

David, 31, is from Middlesbrough, spent some years in London and, after a spell in Sevilla, has been living in Madrid since 2006. A Social Geography degree from Cambridge may not always be seen as the most applicable but a quick glance down he CV suggests David may be the only student to take post-modernism as a vocational course. Tolerated as an employee for nearly 9 years by a rather large oil company, David finally became disillusioned that his efforts had little direct effect on the share price. Indeed, regardless, it rose inexorably.
In ascending order of difficulty his cycling exploits include a solo crossing of the Iberian peninsula, numerous category 1 ascents during a brief road racing fixation and a paper round in Teesside in the late eighties. He considers the Andes a ticklish prospect but he's grateful he's not doing it with thirty copies of the Darlington and Stockton Times hanging off his shoulder in a luminous orange bag. Interestingly he's never actually met Colin's brother and he'll be really annoyed if he turns out to be a snorer. David's only fixed plan on his return is dinner with a girl, when perhaps he'll finally hear those magic words: 'Its true David... the Wolves went up!'

Alastair, 27, is also from Limavady on the North West coast of Northern Ireland and is brother to Col. Heed, as he's affectionately known, has somehow managed to avoid completing all the post-school courses he has embarked upon (which is a considerable number), and often wonders why his current career path is that of stamp-licker/paper shuffler. He has actually played cricket for Ireland Under 18's but his general laziness has ensured nothing has come of it. Bighead has done quite a bit of travelling in his years, this being his 3rd trip of more than 6 months, including a year living in New Zealand, but he's never been to S. America before, a destination he has long thought about visiting. His lack of Spanish even surpasses that of his older brother but, hey, at least Dave knows the lingo. He sees this trip as basically another way of putting off any decision on an actual career path for at least another seven months and perhaps longer, if he can afford a flight to a far flung destination upon his return home. His lack of cycling experience is also sure to make this trip even more demanding but, like his brother, he has been practising the ‘over the bars’ exit manoeuvre from the bike.