Day 4 – Paris baby!

Well, I made it!!

Clearly too tired to lift the bike any higher!

Day one began with an early start and was tough to start with. My legs were really aching and I really struggled when we came to a big hill early on. It was pretty steep and I threw a bit of a tantrum when I wobbled off the bike because I was going so slowly! However, things got better when I recovered from that on the big downhill. Sam was helping me along again and feeding me energy tablets which kept me going to the first water stop.

After a swift exit from the water stop to try and stay ahead of the pack we picked up pace and did really well. I was sitting in Sam’s slipstream again and we were going so well that we completely missed lunch! We must have gone straight past the lunch stop and it was only when we realised nobody had whizzed past me on the hill that we decided something was wrong! Having just got the summit of the hill we thought there was no point going back so rang the team to let them know we were fine and bought sandwiches at the local supermarket to keep us going.

Excitingly we joined the very front of the pack after Justin came past with the fastest riders, though we quickly dropped back a bit as they overtook us! Just before the last water stop we came across an accident – someone from one of the other rides had fallen off their bike and was lying in a side road across the path. Sam, ever the doctor, stopped to give assistance, confusing our team when their medic thanked them very much for the Christian Aid doctor’s help!

Once at the last water stop we all gathered together and went off into Paris in two groups. Having decided I was definitely more at home with the rear guard we went in the second group. This was the hardest part of the day as we had to follow the van and all try to get through each set of traffic lights – of which there were many! We got a little bit lost on the way into Paris and tempers were short, but eventually we made it to the Place de la Concorde.

From there we cycled up the Champs-Elysees with bells ringing, round the Arc de Triomphe roundabout and then down to the Jardin de Trocadero for a big welcome and champagne reception in view of the Eiffel Tower. It was a fantastic feeling to have finished and to celebrate with all the riders. Even better, we passed our friend Chris and Sam’s parents who took some great photos of us going past and then met us for the celebrations.

In the evening we all had a great celebration meal and saw some of the photographs taken by Nell, our photographer. We also received our medals for completing the race and some awards were given out. Sam and Harry both got certificates for being ‘Knights in Shining Armour’ and I think they definitely deserve that just for the help they gave me, not to mention keeping everyone else’s spirits up!

The biggest surprise for me was being awarded the polka-dot jersey – King of the Mountains! It’s the jersey awarded to the winner of the climbing stages of the Tour de France and was awarded to me for sheer determination. I was so excited I proceeded to wear it all evening and the next day! Chuffed doesn’t even cover it! Thanks so much to everyone who helped me out – I really couldn’t have done it without you!

So,  I made it. 300 miles – DONE! It was really blemmin’ tough, but amazing!

Day 3 – The slipstream is my friend!

Off from Arras bright and early. Fairly soon Sam came to my rescue as I was struggling and let me ride in his slipstream. Quite difficult to get used to at first but really made a difference. Made it to the first water stop really quickly – the lead group hadn’t even set off again yet!

Very short to lunch. Lots of first world war cemeteries on the route as we went through Somme country. Lunch in fantastic spot by lake. Only drawback was that it was at 32 miles out of a total 77 miles – not even half way.

Longest stage after lunch – 25 miles. Sam’s friend Harry caught up with us and decided to ride with Sam at my pace so I was now in slipstream of two people. That makes even more of a difference. Had to stop a couple of times to pop some pain killers as it got quite tough and I ended up at the back for the last two miles to the water stop. Not a disaster though.

Continued in slipstream after water stop. Harry coached me up the really big hill which helped a lot, as did the two mile descent on the other side! Ok from there to Compiegne. Last couple of miles really tough as I fell behind the pellaton at traffic lights. I was then on my own trying to get to the hotel – it was a lot further than you think.

Made it though, 77 miles – DONE! Tomorrow Paris. Bring it on!

Day 2 – Up to Arras (thankfully without rifle and pack!)

Started from Calais at 8am, weather scorching from the start. First five miles were killer as the legs had to get going again. Not too bad up to the first water stop but big climb on gravelly road surface just before. Left late from the water stop so ended up at the back. Problems up ahead meant van had to drop me a mile into the middle of the group but from there never got to the back again hurrah!

Stage before lunch awful, big hills and you could see for a long way so knew they were coming. After lunch much better, more gentle ups ang downs. Made good time to the second water stop. Last stage ok but a challenge, heat was the biggest problem and was much harder to deal with after 60 miles. Finally made it to Arras about 6pm. Hopefully hardest day behind me 79 miles, done!

Half way to Paris baby!

Day 1 – I made it to Calais!

Set off from london fine but quite quickly developed gear problems and a puncture. Long story short, support vehicle picks me up, fixed it! Dropped me at the first water stop and it was on from there. Lunch good then set off for the afternoon. Some difficult climbs but I made pretty good time. Quick stop to wave at Granny as we passed her house, then on to Dover.

Arrived Dover 3pm. Mum and Granny there to meet me. Now I have arrived in Calais. Let’s see what awaits us on day 2.

Just under a week to go…

So am I ready?

Of course not – this is me and the last minute panic is compulsory as anyone who knows me will attest! But I am looking forward to it in lots of ways, especially as I have been building up to it for so long.

So what’s been happening over the last month or so? Nothing as worthy of blogging as the dog incident but thankfully now the bike has been fixed I have been able to get in a few longer rides. The gel saddle has proved a valuable asset increasing saddle time considerably!

Hills are still proving the biggest struggle though I have made noticeable improvements and can now get further before having to take in a ‘viewpoint’ to get my breath back. I am wondering whether it is cheating to walk up some of the steeper hills on the ride. Answers on a postcard on that one!!

The fundraising has been going really well and I am pleased to report that I have now exceeded my target of £1100 which is very exciting. I am keen to press on though as I think I can do better than that and I want to raise as much as I can for this good cause. If you haven’t yet sponsored me please do so using the ‘Sponsor Me’ link on the right of the page!

So, the bike is getting serviced, the shorts are going to be packed, the arrangements are being made, energy bars will be bought and I will be underway on Wednesday.

This is likely to be the last post (cue bugles…) before the big ride so this is me, signing off form my training blog. I am sure you are all looking forward to the victory post in just over a week’s time!

May – and disaster strikes!

Well things were going pretty well and Sam and I were getting out there cycling in the evenings and then…

CRUNCH

As I cycle past two teenagers and a dog, the mutt runs out into my path. Slamming on the brakes I screech to a halt leaving dog unaware of its near death experience.  However, Sam who was behind me has nowhere to go. The nonchalant teenagers are taking up all the room. With no space to swerve Sam’s carbon fibre fork (flash git) strikes my gear change mechanism and it bends out at a rakish angle, rendering the bike useless.

Problematic – the teenagers don’t care and despite my pointing out forcefully that they should keep their dog under control on a cycle path they continue on their way with a mightily ittirating shoulder shrug. Further examination of the bike shows it to be very sick indeed. It is unrideable but we are about 8 miles from the flat on a cycle path that isn’t near a road. With no other choice but to walk we begin traipsing back towards Exeter as the sun goes down. Sam cannot drive so it is no help if he cycles back to the flat. I can’t ride Sam’s bike as the saddle is too high and I will clearly crash it (careful with the Aston).

Thankfully with a bit of skillful thinking we call one of Sam’s friends with a car who collects us from the nearest road but it has taken us about an hour to get there and it is now pretty dark. Disastersville, but worse is to come.

Examination of the bike shows that only the gear hanger is bent – good news as it is only a small part, but it proves impossible to get hold of. To cut a long story short, 3 possible hangers and 3 weeks later the bike is back on the road with only a medium-sized intake of breath at the price.

So off I go – ready to make the most of it and catch up on the cycling I have missed when…

PUNCTURE

The bike is back at the shop (since I am dense at fixing things and will only make it worse).

And that brings us up to date. The bike is now fixed and I have taken it out but seem to have gone backwards as the lack of training has taken its toll. The plan is two 55 mile rides this weekend so if I am alive and the bike is still working next week I will keep you posted…

So April…

Well April came and went remarkably quickly!

The main thing was attending the briefing day about the ride which scared the living daylights out of both me and Sam and gave us the kick up the butt we needed to get out on the bikes more – which obviously I have pretty much failed to do (but more of that in May).

The fundraising continues to go well – I am approaching the target slowly but surely!

March and all that…

Well, it looks like I haven’t done any cycling in March but that isn’t the case! I have just been very bad at updating the blog but, having reprimanded myself, I am ready to recount my adventures on two wheels…

I have done quite a bit of cycling round Bristol, particularly between Bath and Bristol on the cycle path. I went with my cousin Jon the first time and we did about 20 miles mostly on the flat. I wasn’t too bad though I did begin to get tired and whine a little. Jon attempted to adopt Sam’s tack of shouting “cadence” to motivate me but had forgotten the word so just yelled anything that came into his mind which was quite amusing. Sadly, after only 20 miles I was knackered which doesn’t bode well for the 75 mile days in July. Still, there’s time yet! (This is becoming my mantra.)

I then felt very virtuous as I have done a couple of ten mile evening rides to Topsham and back, one of which was in the rain which I felt was pretty dedicated. I really need to continue this, and now that the evenings are lighter I won’t have any more excuses which is probably for the best. The one really dispiriting thing is that the cycle path is used by lots of people who cycle to work so I am there happily going along at what I think is a reasonable speed and then I get overtaken by a young whippersnapper on a mountain bike looking nonchalant. Nothing quite like that to dent your self esteem (well, with the exception of my very attractive high vis jacket!)

Over Easter I managed a ride with the cuzza, Jon, again and my aunt and uncle along the Bristol to Bath cycle path which was really nice. It was a good leisurely ride with lunch at a pub half way (the best kind of ride in my opinion) but we went a good 16 miles so it was worth doing. They were running a steam train along the railway track so there were quite a lot of people about but not as many as the first time we went along the path and the route was lined with people wearing anoraks waiting to take a picture of the train (I’m not kidding – cameras on tripods and everything!)

On the plus side the fundraising is going well. I am now at £735 which is 67% of my target so I am very pleased. It is great to know so many people are supporting me and the cause! Must now keep going with the cycling so that I don’t let them all down and also keep going with the fundraising. Top of my priorities is giving Sam a good kick up the backside for though he has been cycling his fundraising is not really started…

Will keep you all updated with the amusing stories that occur and photos taken en route in future!

30 miles…

Well, I managed 30 miles on Saturday – wohoo!! Still a long way to go but I think that is an achievement.

Sam was trying out his new bike. It’s a Carrera Vanquish though he just refers to it as his Aston Martin. Here’s a picture of him trying not to fall off it – he’s used to mountain bikes generally! Sammy on his Aston

The ride went pretty well – it was essentially the same one as last week but with an extra loop added to make it 30 miles. Despite the padded cycling shorts I was definitely aching by the end! Sadly the cable for my gear shift went half way round cutting my 18 gears to 9. Luckily it got stuck in the lower end so I could still get up the hills (after a fashion)! What is worrying me is that I only managed to average 9.4 mph which really isn’t enough for the cycle ride as I will be very much bringing up the rear. However, I do still have about 4 and a half months to work on that so hopefully it’ll steadily rise!

I definitely need to work on my hill climbing – getting up some hills without stopping would be good at this point! It’s also embarrassing when you are climbing St David’s hill in Exeter and you are going at the same speed as the pedestrians and being cheered on by the people who have just come out of the pub! 3 blokes on Saturday were yelling “Go on girl, you can take the hill!” and I wasn’t sure whether to be engcouraged or whether they were taking the mickey out of the tubby girl with the high vis jacket and the almost purple face struggling to keep up with those walking! I think for my mental sanity I will believe they are encouraging!

The thing I do need to remember when struggling up the inclines is why I am doing this ride. Having seen the poverty in Kenya and the fantastic work Christian Aid is doing there I should be using that to spur me on. After all, my life is not in any way hard compared to the people I have met so I darned well should get up that hill! I hope that isn’t too cheesy but it is true!

Lastly… here is the long awaited awful photo of me on a bike for you all to laugh at:

Why must there be hills?

This is the question I am now asking after my 17 mile ride yesterday! Ok, so I got away lightly as Sam (my housemate who is also doing this bike ride) had planned out a route he thought was about 30 miles. Sadly (or joyfully depending how you look at it) he was being inept and using the km scale not the mile one on our map so we ended up only doing 17 miles in the end! I am now slightly worried that I was so tired after 17 miles but need to be doing over 70 a day on the actual ride. Must not panic – still have time!!

It was a glorious day yesterday though and cycling through the Devon countryside was great. Though I do whine about the hills I did really enjoy the ride. We went north out of Exeter and along the Exe valley for a bit and then did a big loop around some of the small villages. I definitely need to work on my ability to go uphill on a bike (and do it without whining!) I was pretty proud of myself though as there were some moderately impressive hills and though I did have to keep stopping I managed them all apart from one short stretch that was just too steep! On the plus side the new bike is great on the downhills and along the flat so there were some parts where I was whizzing around feeling like I was on the Tour de France. It’s just sad that when we come to hills I look like a tomato struggling up the incline at about 1 mph being overtaken by pedestrians! Still, if I keep at it I’ll improve.

Sam and I have now scouted out a 30 mile route using yesterday’s as a starting point so I will be struggling round that next weekend! In the meantime, I should try to put some lights on my bike so I have no more excuses for not going out after work in the week – I’ll let you know whether that actually happens!

The ‘killer’ hill that looks pretty tame actually! Click here to see the killer hill that I found pretty difficult but actually looks tame in the photo. My excuse is that it gets steeper round the corner!!