Cycling to Paris

About us

We're a couple of novice cyclists who have just completed a charity bike ride from London to Paris to raise money for the National Autistic Society.

 

We’re supporting the NAS because a very good friend of ours has a son who has autism and we’ve seen firsthand just how much help and support the NAS is able to provide.

 

Autism is much more prevalent than you think – with over half a million people in the UK having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

 

On the fundraising front we exceeded our fundraising target, raising more than £2700.  A big thank you to everyone who has supported us. 

 

If you’d like to support us and make a donation to such a worthy cause please do so at our sponsorship page.  Every contribution helps and will make a real difference.  

We did it !

After three days and 220 miles of cycling we eventually made it to the Eiffel Tower.  On the way we had some great fun and a breathtaking ride through northern France, though I must admit, I did have my doubts as we gathered in Windsor for the start of the ride.  Looking around us, there were some very serious riders and very expensive (i.e. £5K+) bikes. 

 

It was noticeable that the three of us seemed to be taking the whole thing a little less seriously than the others – at least judging by how we were treating our bikes.

After the van was loaded up with the luggage, and we were briefed about the first day’s riding, we set off as a group on the first leg of the 70 mile ride to Portsmouth to catch the ferry to Le Havre. 

 

 

And just outside of Windsor we made our mark, with me, Lewis and Andrew the first riders to get lost.  After just eight miles Andrew’s rear light fell off and, as we stopped to sort it out, the other riders went past.  When we’d gathered up the broken pieces, we set off again and followed the last group of riders who were still just within sight ahead of us.  Unfortunately, the group of riders that we followed weren’t on our ride (they were practicing for a triathlon) and we ended up going the wrong way.  It took us a while to realise, but after a five mile detour we got back on track and, at the first rest stop, we managed to rejoin the group.

 

Towards the end of the first day’s riding the long hill on the run into Portsmouth was pretty testing, particularly as it came at the end of the 70 mile ride, and by the time we boarded the ferry to Le Havre at around 11pm we were all very pleased to get to our cabins for a shower and bed.

 

Tired as we were, sleeping on the overnight ferry wasn’t quite as easy as we’d hoped and, after only around three hours sleep we were up and getting ready for the morning ride out of Le Havre.  Heavy rain made riding conditions difficult and caused many punctures meaning very slow progress as riders frequently stopped for repairs – myself and Lewis had three punctures between us within the first hour (as a group we had close to 20 punctures among 30 riders in less than two hours).  Not a great start to the second day, but after the first rest stop the weather picked up and we went on to have a great day’s riding.  The roads in northern France were perfect for cycling; the traffic was light, the landscape mainly flat and the road surface smooth.   Riding through villages and the countryside of northern France it is amazing how much more you take in compared to being in a car.

 

After spending the second night in a town called Evreux we were up for breakfast at 6am for an early start on the third and final day.  The great riding conditions continued, at least until we got to the outskirts of Paris.  At one point a short section of road was being resurfaced and those with expensive racing bikes had to get off and walk.  We, on the other hand, ploughed on through gaining a lead on the rest of the group.  Not that it was a race of course.

 

Some urban riding, including plenty of weaving in and out of heavy traffic provided a change of gear and some more fun as we got closer to the city.  Then, before we knew it, we were meeting in the Bois be Boulogne to regroup and ride the final 4 miles to the Eiffel Tower as a group.   

 

As we arrived at the Eiffel Tower it was great to see the welcoming committee complete with champagne and waving flags.

 

At that evening’s celebratory meal it was revealed that, collectively, we’d raised £50K for the NAS.  A tremendous achievement and one that is, of course, entirely down to the generous support we received from our sponsors.

 

 

In a surreal moment, as we staggered back to our hotel in the early hours of the morning, we ran into David Ginola as he was coming out of a bar.  I can’t believe it, he’s gone grey (these days he’s almost got coarse, rebellious hair).  Still, he shared our enthusiasm for our fund raising exploits.  At least he was more enthusiastic about that than my suggestion that he should have played for Arsenal.

 

Target reached !

There’s been a lot happening over the past month since the last blog update.  First and foremost, the main news is that we’ve now reached our fundraising target of £2500.  We’ve had tremendous support and, once again, we’d both like to say a really big thank you to each and every person who has donated money to sponsor us.   It is your support of the NAS that makes this whole venture worthwhile.

 

On the cycling front, our training has continued and it’s been quite eventful. We’ve had a couple of accidents, though fortunately neither of us has been badly hurt.  Plus a run in with a 'white van man' who tried to wipe us both out on a roundabout.

 

Lewis had the ultimate in low speed (actually, no speed) pile ups – he had to do an emergency stop when I pulled up suddenly in front of him and he couldn’t get his feet out of the toe-clips in time.  He literally toppled over while stationary.  It was funny to watch him flailing about on the floor with his feet stuck in the bike’s pedals.  I must admit it cheered me up no end.

Call it karma, but a few days later I fell off.  It was raining heavily, and as I was cornering my front wheel lost all grip as I rode over a large metal manhole cover.  I hit the ground pretty hard.  I think it cheered Lewis up to see me on flat on my back.  As I fell, Lewis almost ran me over but after his previous accident he’d perfected his emergency stop and feet out of toe-clips technique and he managed to avoid me.

 

The training has slowly been getting more strenuous, though in all honesty, we haven’t been sticking rigorously to our planed training programme of a ride every other day.  Too many distractions – birthday celebrations, football matches on TV, and general excuses to go to the pub instead - have meant we’ve missed a few rides.   Having said that, we’ve still been doing plenty of riding and have ventured away from the Thames path a few times, including some longer trips like 35 miles from Greenwich to Maidstone and a killer 49 mile ride from Greenwich to Hawkhurst. 

 

The Hawkhurst ride, in particular, was pretty tough.  It wasn’t just the distance, the furthest we’ve ridden so far, but also a lot of hills (including Wrotham Hill which is high), two punctures (first my rear tyre, then a bit later my front), heavy rain, wind and cold weather.  We’d invested in some waterproof socks to keep our feet from going numb in the wet.  Needless to say, they didn’t work.

 

Still, it’s all good training and we have to remember that for the trip to Paris we’ll be riding 70 miles a day for three consecutive days.  Ouch.  Two months training to go and we're thinking that we need to stick more to the intended programme.

The Three Musketeers

We’re getting quite into this cycling lark now and gradually getting fitter.  The bikes have been in for their first, free service and feel smoother now that the gears and brakes have settled down and been adjusted.  The bloke in the bike shop told us off for ‘riding too roughly’.  Apparently, the wheels needed sorting out because they’d started to buckle where we’ve been riding too fast over rough ground.  It must be those cobbles.  I left the bike shop wishing it was as easy to get my rear end sorted.

 

Our (for ‘our’ read ‘Lewis’) puncture problems have continued – this time in the front wheel.  So it was two punctures in just four rides for Lewis (and none for me).  This is either down to bad luck on his part or, more likely, too many pies.  Still, on a positive note, we’ve had plenty of practice changing inner tubes and this will no doubt stand us in good stead if we get any problems en route to Paris.

 

In an attempt to put an end to the pie related punctures we’ve invested in some super strength tyres.  

Cycling is not a cheap hobby these days.  Hopefully the new tyres will be up to the job.  We’ve been out once since fitting them and so far so good.

 

The National Autistic Society is drumming up some publicity around the ride and asked us for a photo for use with the local press.  Yippee we thought.  Andrew, who got us into this in the first place, has decided the three of us are riding as the ‘Three Musketeers’ which obviously has a nice French connection and plenty of props potential.

 

So, there we were on Saturday morning, complete with dodgy fake beards (well for two of us, one of us has a dodgy real beard), a NAS banner and bike pumps aloft for a photo shoot.  Lewis didn’t look too happy.  I must admit there were some continuity problems on the shoot with his ‘Musketeer’ facial hair looking more ‘Mexican bandit’.  To be frank I think this upset him – when I asked him about our next training ride he said he couldn’t make it because he was going to his nan’s.  And he didn’t mean he was going to cycle there.

 

 

 

 

 

Milestones

We’ve reached a couple of significant milestones.  By far the most important is that our fundraising total has risen to £2,000, meaning we’ve already achieved 80% of our final target.  A great start, particularly as we’ve been going for less than a month.   

 

Of course this is entirely down to the tremendous support we’ve received over the past few weeks, and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated money to the National Autistic Society as part of this fundraising effort.

  

Training has been going well, with us making decent progress.  We’ve settled into a regular training programme, riding along the Thames Path from Greenwich towards Erith, covering between 20 and 30 miles at a time.  We’ve been going out riding every other evening and, with most of our riding being at night, visibility has been pretty poor in places.  Then again, the absence of traffic makes riding a lot more enjoyable.  We’re looking forward to the lighter evenings and some drier weather so we can enjoy the rides even more.

 

This part of the Thames path is pretty industrial in places, with factories, gravel yards and building sites but there are also plenty of interesting landmarks such as the Thames barrier and Woolwich ferry.   The surface varies considerably from smooth tarmac to block paving and, unbelievably for a cycle path, cobbles.  Not great when the saddle is already taking its toll on your behind, believe me. In some places the path is unmade, just compressed mud, and that means big puddles (and cold, wet feet).

 

In spite of the hazards caused by poor lighting and unmade surfaces, by far the biggest hazard has been dogs.  Not a large number of them, but on a couple of parts of the route, that we’ve come to know as ‘Staf city’, we’ve had a couple of narrow escapes.

The other significant milestone is that we’ve had our first puncture.  Or rather Lewis has had our first puncture. I thought the puncture protector we’ve put in our tyres would have prevented it (it worked perfectly when I used it in my motorbike tyres for years) but for whatever reason it didn’t work.  Still, Lewis phoned home and Sarah and Georgia rescued him with the car.  This gave me the chance to race them the two miles back home – me on the bike, them in the car.  Of course, I won (otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned it).   

 

 

We’re mobile

We’ve reached a milestone – our bikes have arrived.  We were like a couple excited kids when we picked them up from the bike shop and wobbled off down the road narrowly avoiding the passing traffic.

 

Strange as it may seem, when I agreed to do the London to Paris cycle ride it didn’t occur to me that I’d need to buy a bike.  I didn’t really think about it.  So, once we’d signed up, we spent a few weeks finding out about the different types of bikes and getting advice on what we needed to buy.  Just to complicate things, we wanted a bike that we could use for the charity ride (i.e. a road bike) but that we could also use for riding in the woods afterwards (i.e. a mountain bike).  As it turns out, there is no such thing.  What’s good for the road is not good for the woods (and vice versa).    Even though we quickly worked out that a ‘hybrid bike’ is what we needed, we also discovered that most hybrids would make the Paris ride even more difficult than it already was. 

 

In the end we went for the Marin Belvedere, a hybrid which is closer to a road bike than many, with road-type gearing and narrow tyres.  The compromise is that it won’t double up as mountain bike afterwards, but it should be OK for trails and the like.  I have to say, first impressions are very good – it certainly shifts a lot more quickly than my last bike.  (Yes, it really is close to 35 years since I’ve been on a bike). 

 

So it was with much enthusiasm that Lewis and me headed off on Saturday night for our first proper training ride.  Up until now we’ve been content with half hour sessions on the exercise bikes in the gym, so it was great to get out on the road.  We had no idea how far we were going to get, but after a couple of hours and 23 miles covered we were feeling pretty good about our prospects. 

 

Interestingly, it wasn’t riding the bikes that we found most challenging, it was the hand-numbing cold and hard saddle. By Sunday morning it was a different story, and our legs were pretty achy, but that hasn't stopped us.  In our last ride we covered 30 miles, although we both found it tough going.

 

I’m sure all the suffering will be worthwhile come June when we raise much needed funds for the NAS.