Bonus day in Biel

Whether it was the morning after the Nick visit, and the high emotions and excitement of the previous day, or the fact that it had been tipping with rain all night we all awoke a bit groggy and grumpy. If we'd managed some sleep it would probably have lightened the mood. Today was supposed to be another highlight of the trip, and in the end it was.

The team considered many options for getting into Biel to see Saints play the first of two pre-season friendly games - walk and boat, walk and train, bike to station, bike to port for boat and others. The weather forecast wasn't good either, and after deciding to bike to the train station it wasn't long before the rain started.

When we arrived at the station the ticket machine informed us that the cost for taking the three of us with our bikes to Biel and back (about 18 miles) would be over £100. Cursing the Swiss cost of living once again we re-mounted our bikes and set off for Biel.

We were directed to the football ground at the Information Centre where were able to march in and lock our bikes up next to the turnstiles. We set off for city centre again but we noticed the Omega factory had a visitor centre and museum - so with time on hour hands (oh that's bad) we dived in - at least it was dry. It turned out to be really interesting though, with audio guides to talk us through the exhibits. At the end we were even presented with des petite cadeax - a secret agent pen each that wrote in normal and "secret" ink, wooh.

We met our first Saints fans in the cafe we used to re-charge the GPS (and eat cakes) and they told us that the Saints coach (Nigel's bus) would be arriving at the ground at 5.00 pm. We downed our hot chocolate in time to meet the bus.

After a brief chat and photo with manager Nigel Adkins (you can understand him wanting to be pictured with the 2011 Probert challenge team) we also bumped into Chairman Nicola Cortese - off course he also had to have his picture taken with us, OMG. Dad was left holding Nicola's umbrella (not a euphemism) and set off down to the changing rooms where he interrupted a conversation with goalie Kelvin Davies to hand back the vital rain protection gear.

Not wanting to miss out on the rare celebrity moment, striker Rickie Lambert (OMG he's a giant) also insisted on getting in on the photos. We retired to the main grandstand where we we first rumbled by the security guards who realised we'd sneaked in before the turnstiles opened, and then by the Saints player guys who asked us for an interview!

The game was also good, with Saints going 2 up before letting Biel score 3, and then equalising. A bumper crowd of around 300 included about 50 Saints fans. Some of the players joined us in the stand, with Adam Lallana permanently on his phone and Kelvin Davis passing the chocolate biscuits round.

We were brought back to earth with the realisation that we had to ride 19 miles back to the campsite in what was again torrential rain - the things you do...we laughed (not)

It turned out to be great fun, the team keeping up an average nearing 17/18 miles an hour in the dark in an exhilarating dash back. We settled into our sleeping bags and reflected on another amazing day.