London to Paris Day 3 - 9th May 2010

Long day ahead - alarm calls went off at 5.30am, deep joy.

Set off at 7am prompt into chilly, very misty rural northern France. First few km were not that enjoyable - a bit cold and slightly like an out-takes scene from a werewolf movie with swirling mist reducung the viz to maybe 30m or so.

By mid-morning it was getting better - we had a fantastic mid morning stop at a local cafe and lots of expresso to warm us up.

Lunch was not the best - let's leave it there - but from there on the anticipation of Paris was loomimg. On the outer suburbs of Paris we had a bizzare encouter with a young alsatian who chased us for somewhere between 4 to 5 miles. Got to Saint-Germain and crossed the Seine a number of times before mustering at Bois de Bologne about 5km from "La Tour Eiffel".

Rode that final stretch in convoy through to a victorious finish at the Eiffel Tower - even had some tourist taking photos of us !!!

Great 3 days - great organisation and a great group of people - really enjoyed it !

London to Paris Day 2 - 8th May 2010

Shorter distance to cover today so fairly relaxed 10am start. Out of Dieppe into Normandy countryside. Passed through lots of lovely little linear villages and had one of our rest stops at a village conducting their local VE Day commemoration - the French do these things so well!
Lunch stop was excellent - lots of re-fuelling to be done and we weren't let down.
The weather got progressively better through the day. The last stop at a beautiful market square got us quite interested and thinking about waiting around an extra dayjust to see what it was all about(look carefully at the yellow poster on the photos). By the time we had arrived at our final destination of the day the late afternoon sun was fully out and a couple of relaxing beers in the sun were in order !

London to Paris Day 1 - 7th May 2010

Having met a few of the co-riders in the bar the night before I was beginning to regret the 2nd shandy (!) when the alarm went off at 5.30am.

Breakfast was great and then it was off to collect bikes and muster in the car park to be briefed on how the next 3 days were going to work. Basically, the guys from Classic Tours have 2 vehicles and support guys like a mechanic and doctor. The lead vehicle goes ahead and puts direction signs up and the big van acts like a broom wagon (i.e. can collect tired or mechanically challenged riders) and follows behind all the riders and collects the signs ready for the next section.
Each day is broken into manageable sections of 15-25km and there is a fuelling station - fruit, nuts, drinks etc - at each stop except lunch (that would just be greedy).

The first few miles getting from Bexley to open countryside were a bit dull but once in Kent "proper" things really picked up. Passed through Rochester and saw the castle. Some absolutely beautiful scenery along tiny little lanes and quite big hills. Lunch at the "Devils Kneading Trough" was interesting - 18 inch long tuna baguettes and soup. Just what was needed before a big hill(thanks for the warning on that one Gideon!).

Got to Dover around 6pm and shared the ferry experience with around 15,000 French teenagers which was clearly very enjoyable. Eventually got to hotel very late and crashed out.

Training ride #10 Sunday 2nd May 2010

Only 5 daya to go so this is my final "big" training ride before London to Paris.

Got up early and headed off around the Trough of Bowland it was hard going up the A6 as there was a stiff headwind and the weather got more foreboding as I got into the hills. The good news is that having got to the summit it actually felt quite easy so I think the training has paid dividends. Took a slight detour towards Bowland Wild Boar park which gave me a coupel of extra miles - so I reached my target - in the nick of time !

Ride distance 55 miles Cumulative 500 miles
Remaining against 500 mile target: none, target achieved

Training ride #9 - Sunday 25th April

Less than 2 weeks to go now and due to last weeks' travel disruption have not been out for a while.

Colin and I did Waddington Fell - legs felt empty for the last 10 miles or so, although the clibing was ok. Note to self: take more food next time, one little flapjack was clearly insufficient!

Ride distance 45 miles Cumulative 445 miles
Remaining against 500 mile target: 55 miles

20 April 2010 - Update from Prague

I have been stuck in Prague since the volcanic ash eruption (meant to fly back Thurs 15th) so my big training ride planned for Sunday didn't happen.
I did get out for a short run however - outside of that training has involved big hotel breakfasts and great meals out each evening, hmmm.

Exit plan now underway - overland to Belgium, ferry to Hull, hire car back to Manchester airport to pick my car up.

The training will resume this coming weekend - time is now limited to get to my 500 miles!

Training ride #8 Sunday 11th April 2010

Not been out on the bike for 3 weeks due to other commitments and going skiing. Weather looked good so planned for a long one.

I fancied seeing what Waddington Fell looked like without the torrential rain so headed that way and veered off east on the descent towards Yorkshire. I actually cycled into N Yorks (about 20 yards see phot proof of my bike at the boundary) but then turned around and got a welcome cuppa at the Gisburn Forest MTB cafe.
Headed back through Slaidburn (lots of bikers - pedal powered and motorbikes, Dunsop Bridge - which lays claim, along with a couple of other places - to be the geographical centre of the UK. Apparently it depends how you meansure it!
By now on more familiar territory, past a busy Inn at Whitewell and on to Chipping. Stopped for lunch at the Cobbled Corner - bacon & egg barm was tops - the owner now recognises me I guess its becoming a regular refuelling spot!

Ride distance 60 miles (2500 feet of ascent), Cumulative 400 miles
Remaining against 500 mile target: 100 miles