A good number of Meriden Branch members donated to the “Sent from Coventry” run and escorted the riders on the first part of the journey.
Quite by chance I saw Phil about to get into his car in the street the other day and stopped for a quick chat. He told me that he intended to finish the charity run that was cut short by an accident last summer.
When I got home the Observer was in my letterbox with this story inside…
Brave Phil back on the bike for charity
A BIKER whose charity trip across Europe was cut short by a horror crash is set to get back on his bike and complete the mission.
Phil Baylis suffered a broken shoulder, ribs and wrist after colliding with a car near Hungary in August.
The smash put him in hosPital and forced him to end the mammoth Myton Hospice fund-raiser early.
But the Keresley dad is determined to get back on his bike and comPlete the trip in reverse, Leaving him with an emotional end to a journey which raised £16,000.
The original trip - dubbed Sent from Coventry - had seen son Philip and dad John join him as they headed to dozens of European cities twinned with Coventry.
But this time it will be just Phil - who told the Observer it was a personal challenge he wanted to finish.
"I still feel guilty about not finishing the trip," he said. "It's been eating away at me every single day and I still feel like I've taken the money and not produced the goods. "So I'm going back to Europe to finish what I started."
Phil plans to set off from the city, with Ireland his first stop, in June.