12th to 15th May 2010
Guy Allen undertook the London to Paris Cycle Ride challenge to raise money and awareness for CRY. This event involves riding 550km in four days!
Day minus 1 (the day before)
Putting the last stages of preparation together before the big ride. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast for tomorrow, which is a bit of a challenge as it starts at 4C (which is cold for a cyclist) and eventually reaches 12C.
The wind is also gusting at 27 mph, so should be a fun crossing of the channel too. Choosing the right things to wear on day 1 is key, and and carrying what you don’t need will be a pain.
Tonight we’ve got to get the bikes and ourselves from our homes in Buckinghamshire to Crystal Palace, ready for our start at 6am tomorrow. We are staying at the Athletes Lodge which seems kind of fitting, though not sure if we are really worthy considering some of the fantastic athletes that must have stayed there in the past!
More tomorrow evening…
Day 1 – 97 miles, 6250ft of ascent and 7 hours in the saddle.
Up at 5am for breakfast at 5.30. Stand around in the freezing cold (in shorts!) to register and finally get going at 6.45. All the preparation and excitement and we are finally off. And then within 2 miles we are lost! Very frustrating, but we are soon on our way again and really begin to put in the miles.
By 9am we have our first water stop and sit in the garden of a sadly shut pub in glorious sunshine – a chance to try and rub some feeling into numb toes.
There’s a great mix of people here, of ages ranging from 20 to probably over 60 and they are all riding for great causes. Some of the stories they have to tell are heartbreaking. Notably there is a group riding for a charity in support of children’s eye cancer. One of their riders is blind and rides at the rear of a tandem. Amazing.
Despite a little rain, all goes well and we reach the last water stop with 15 miles to go and 2 hours to do it in. Easy! Except they forgot to mention the three terrible hills we had to climb they were bad enough, but doing them after 80 miles cycling . . . Yeuch!
Anyway on the ferry now, just enjoyed a pleasant supper of fish and chips and my last English beer for a few days.
Looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 – 74 miles, 4250ft of ascent and 5 1/2 hours in the saddle.
Hard going this morning, temperature down to 7C (forecast at 12) and all pretty cold and miserable. And that’s without all the aches from yesterday. .
About 11am we decide to take a diversion into Montreuil sur Mer and have a coffee It’s a complete lift and turns our slog into a trip.
By the way Montreuil is lovely and well worth a visit….despite its name it’s nowhere near the sea!
After that we’ve cracked it and it’s all a pleasure. It’s a French bank holiday, therefore everything is closed including le Musee de Crecy. We do get to see the battlefield though which is very evocative.
Eventually we coast into Abbeville, a city bombed near to extinction in 1916 and 1940 but they’ve done a great job of rebuilding it into a new and modern city.
That includes the abbey as well which had a bomb dropped on it in 1940.
A bit to eat, a little wine, and we go to bed hoping for some sunshine tomorrow.
Day 3 – 72 miles, 3900ft of ascent and 5 hours 20 mins in the saddle.
‘Ou est le cafe?’ Decided to make it more of a trip than a hard slog today by stopping at a couple of cafes on the way. However despite cycling 70 miles and passing through numerous beautiful French villages, not one of them had a cafe! We even took a 3 mile diversion to a small town thinking it would have a small cafe or a bar – it didn’t.
Weather a bit kinder today, bit warmer but still a strong headwind. Some great stories on the road but also some heartbreaking ones. A number of people are riding because a loved is suffering or recently died and that makes it all the more poignant and worthwhile.
Cruised into Beauvais about 3.30 and finally found a cafe; treated myself to a coffee and a rhubarb tart – hey, after 250 miles I think I’ve deserved them.
Will sleep well tonight.
Day 4, final day – 56 miles, 2900ft of ascent and 4 hours 11 mins in the saddle.
Final day and we are all relieved to find out its only 50 miles. It shows how far we have all come when this distance seems too easy. The sun is out and all is well with the world.
After yesterday’s farce we continue the search for a cafe and come off the bypass to go to the centre of Meru, a very pleasant small town. And at last we find what we are looking for and enjoy a cafe au lait with the sun beating down on our faces.
After 30 minutes soaking up the French atmosphere we set off for the first water stop, only to get told off by the organisers as we were the last to arrive and they were getting a bit worried about us! Ah well.
We put our heads down and do a bit of peloton riding to arrive for lunch in the middle of the pack. One of the group says his farewells as he is continuing on cycling to Biarritz – mad.
We team up with the front riders for the next 9 miles and get a tow by tucking in at the back. Cycling like this is really different and a real blast. Finally the whole 93 riders regroup at the holding stage and we ride the last 2 miles en masse with escort cars through the streets of Paris.
Plenty of Parisians wave and cheer, and then, round the next bend, the Eiffel tower comes into view. We don’t really see it til we are on top of it, and it’s a fantastic sight, and for the first time the magnitude of our achievement sinks in.
A number of riders have family members there to wave them home and some massive banners, it all brings a lump to the throat. We park up under the tower for pictures and suddenly Champagne appears and for a moment we are as one. We have raised more than £130k between us and proud of each other and what we have achieved together.
All in all a great experience and would recommend it to anyone. If you are thinking of doing this or a similar event I have only one piece of advice; just get on and do it, you won’t regret it.
Guy Allen
Guy has raised £1450 so far and he can still be sponsored at http://www.justgiving.com/Guybike
