London to Paris!

Day 1 - Wednesday 28th July - London to Dover

Despite my nerves and the ridiculously hot rooms in the hotel, I'd slept fairly well. I dragged myself out of bed after the 5am wake up call and started getting ready. It really was just going through the motions - I didn't feel like we were about to set off on an epic bike ride. I couldn't take it all in and just focused on the little tasks that needed doing.

Down at breakfast we caught site of Kate - I was glad to see she had turned up and was still up for it! At the breakfast table we got chatting to fellow cyclists and introduced ourselves to Jai and Duff who would turn out to be wonderful cycling companions during the trip. Breakfast was a rather rushed affair, so our conversations about training and kit were cut short as we all went to get ready and take our bikes and bags out to the green by 6:15am. Out on the Common, everyone seemed pretty calm and relaxed. Families were there to see people off, others were doing last minute checks on their bikes and some were beginning to stretch. As we stood around, I began to feel more nervous again and I was glad when we were gathered round for the day's briefing. We should follow the orange arrows, we shouldn't worry about them being taken down if we stopped as they would stay out for 30 - 45 minutes after the last person had gone through...there would be regular toilet stops so we should make sure we were drinking plenty of water. Our team leader could be reached by mobile in an emergency... Our only deadline for the day was to be at the ferry by 5pm. Wow - a huge sigh of relief, we'd thought it was 4pm and I'd lost many a night's sleep worrying about that...5pm should be more achievable. Then that was it. Suddenly we were all lining up on the road and everyone was off!

I was too distracted by traffic and not knowing where I was going to contemplate the enormity of what we were embarking on, so I just got on with it and kept pedalling. The group was soon split up by junctions and traffic lights and this distance between us grew as we hit the first hill. We'd been warned about Shooters Hill as we set off, so I was quite pleased to find that I'd climbed it without much bother - and even more delighted to find that I'd come down the other side at relatively good speed without many leaning issues! My confidence was soon brought to heel by a big London Bus who got rather close for comfort and almost knocked three of us off our bikes in one go. I was so focused on the roads, the traffic and looking out for arrows that the morning flew by. We headed out into the Kent countryside and after one long climb, during which the rest of our cycling buddies disappeared up ahead of us, we stopped at the top for a quick drink and snack. Just around the corner we were stunned to find we'd made it to our first water stop. I didn't think we could have covered that many miles so soon due to all the stopping and starting coming out of London - so it was great to realise we'd made such good progress towards the looming ferry deadline.

From the water stop onwards, things started to go downhill. After making good progress, we came to a junction with no arrow and no idea which way to go. Others caught up with us and had clearly followed the same route. We'd made a small detour and after consulting the map, Kate decreed that we should turn right and head through Coxheath to get back on track. She was right and we soon found ourselves heading along the main road, where we rejoined the arrows. Phew! The ferry was still in sight! Not for long though - at the end of the road we came to another junction with no arrows. Two separate parties consulted the map and decided we should go straight on...we were both wrong! About three miles on we stopped to check the map again and found we were not on route at all. A call to Jason confirmed our fears and revealed that the arrows had been taken down as they thought everyone had gone through... We made plans to meet the van in Kingswood. We thought we could take a shortcut back, but despite asking in a pub and being given directions to a road known as 'gravelly hill lane' we never found it and carried back on to the junction where we'd gone wrong. The correct turning was just down the road and we soon found the van. We had a quick stop to restock on water and the crew gave us some snacks to keep us going. We were now up against the clock, so we pushed on to do the next 6 or 7 miles to lunch (not 67 as I thought I'd heard the crew say!) We sped along and soon came to the arrows indicating the lane we needed to turn down for lunch. What a relief!

Lunch was our only indoor stop of the trip and had a flushing toilet and everything! Little did we know what luxury this was and how we'd long for such facilities later in the trip! Quickly filling up on pasta and a slice of cake, we had to get back on the road again. We still thought we could make the ferry, but we'd have to keep up a good pace...and not get lost again! I had a very scary incident on a very long steep hill where I couldn't brake hard enough to stop my bike. The hill just got steeper and steeper and I kept gaining momentum. I skidded past Duff with my foot dragging across the floor in an effort to stop. Spying a rocky gateway to one side, I attempted to pull in and stop, but just couldn't so had no choice but to continue down the road. Turning a corner and finally seeing the bottom of the hill I shouted down to who I initially thought was Ant in his red top. It was actually Kate in her pink top. Kate thought I was joking to start with and then realised I was serious. I really couldn't stop and was heading for the junction at the bottom. I knew the others had gone left, so just hoped there would be no traffic and that I could finally slow down on the flat. Kate had other ideas though and bravely put out her hand to stop me. She did a superb job, but it knocked her off her feet and she later showed me the bruise she'd got as a result. Thank you Kate!

I was rather shaken up after this experience and no doubt in other circumstances would have sat down and cried. However, we had a ferry to catch and I didn't want to hold everyone up, so after a brief stop to try and regain the feeling in my hands, we pushed on again. We seemed to be making good progress until we came across an orange arrow directing us up a no through road. Visions of our Brittany trip loomed in my mind as Alison bravely went to scout out the route and see if there was a cycle path in sight. Whilst we were waiting, the van pulled up behind us and Jason did much scratching of his head! They took the van up to explore the route and confirmed it was definitely not the way to go. He sent us on up the road believing we could rejoin the route further along. We caught up with him in a layby where he was on the phone to several groups of cyclists who had all got lost. Many had gone much further than us, some had ended up on the A2...and a lucky few had made it to Dover before the arrows went haywire! By this stage it was clear we wouldn't make the ferry as planned. This was disappointing, but as there was a big group of us, Jason said we'd be able to get a later ferry. We were all determined we weren't going to be taken to Dover in the van, so this was good news!

Following some more scratching of heads, we were informed that we needed to go back the way we had just come. Jason offered to put people in the van and drop them back on route. However, he couldn't take everyone at once, so I decided it would be quicker to cycle back. This would also save taking Trixy apart (which usually causes issues!) and would save us standing round in a layby getting cold whilst a huge cloud was looking rather threatening overhead. Back down the road, those who had gone in the van were still putting their bikes back together. The threatening cloud also deposited its contents on us, but it was just a short shower and the thunderstorm that Duff had threatened was on its way never materialised.

Getting back on track again, spirits were temporarily lifted but we were all tired and beginning to wonder if we'd ever make it to Dover. After walking up a steep hill with several others, I also opted to walk back down the other side again as I didn't want a repeat of my earlier experience. As we got to the bottom of the hill we could see the others trudging up another hill. We started to walk up, but were soon told to stop and turn around again. Having re-consulted the directions, our leader decided we should have turned off. Heading along the path another couple of guys caught up with us and having navigated using the map all afternoon, weren't convinced we were going the right way. However, we decided it was at least best to all stick together and carried on. Turning off onto a hill, Ant's chain came off, so we had to stop again and then walked up the hill to a flatter section where we could get back on. Then there it was - a sign! Four miles to Dover! Hooray! Pedalling on with spirits renewed again, we were delighted to know we were nearly there. Then came the news that our ferry had been delayed due to bad weather and that we could still make it. Our leisurely end of day pace turned into race pace again as we made a last dash to the docks. It was down hill into Dover and then across town towards the ferry terminal. As we came in towards the terminal, the famous white cliffs loomed high next to us and I couldn't help smiling as I realised we were here and that we were going to make it!

At the Docks, staff were waiting for us and quickly handed out our tickets. Cycling around the terminal we had a quick stop off at security where the guards seemed a bit bemused by us and weren't really interested in searching our packs and then it was back on round to the vehicle lanes where we were on the look out for lane 211. We were finally reunited with our fellow cyclists, some of whom had experienced a very long wait and I was actually quite relieved that we'd arrived late and didn't have to hang around for ages. Standing amongst the trucks waiting to board, we fuelled up on snacks and did our stretches. Then it was on to the ferry for the final leg of the day's journey. The cafes weren't open when we boarded, but we were quick to jump on the case as soon as they did! My lasagne and chips went down very well, followed by a recovery shake for pudding.

Coming off the ferry we still had another 5 miles to cycle to our hotel. In the chaos of over 60 cyclists leaving the car deck, I lost Ant and waited to find him. By this time, everyone else had disappeared and I had no idea where to go! We followed the traffic around and finally came to the exit, where we could see fellow cyclists bombing down the road on the other side of the fence. At last we were out and on our way and I was very grateful to Jai for leading us so well. It was dark, we were tired and in a strange place and we had to remember to cycle on the other side of the road. Our hopes were briefly lifted when we spied a Holiday Inn, but this one wasn't ours and the arrows directed us further out of town. We were beginning to wonder where on earth we were going, when after climbing a hill and heading across a very impressive roundabout structure, we saw the triple orange arrows that indicated our turning which took us into the hotel car park! Hooray - we had arrived! With the clocks going forward and the ferry being delayed, it was now 10:30pm. No time for socialising, just a shower and straight to bed, ready for our 7am wake up call the next morning. I was relieved to have made it through the day, but having done almost 100 miles on a day that should have been just 85 miles, I was worried about how we'd cope the next day...and the next two days after that. I tried to put these thoughts aside and settle, as what we needed most was rest and sleep.

Day 2 - Calais to Arras

Heading down to breakfast on Day 2 I really wasn’t feeling too well. I helped myself to a bowl of muesli thinking this would set me up well for a morning of cycling, but it was really sweet and sickly and I only managed to force down half of it. Trying something less sweet, I went for a plain bread roll but only managed half of that before giving up. I had a decidedly dodgy tummy and went back into the hotel twice to use the facilities whilst everyone was getting ready outside. This only served to make me more nervous about being on the bike all day.

Fortunately once I was on the bike and we were on our way, I felt much better. My stomach thankfully settled and I began to enjoy the ride. It definitely felt good to be on the move and the nerves disappeared as we pedalled along. We’d been told the first section of the day was flat and this proved to be true. We covered ground quickly cycling along next to a canal and then through quiet flat roads. If the rest of the trip was like this, then we’d be ok! That was a bit optimistic and we knew there was a climb before the morning water stop.

We had an impromptu stop when Duff wanted to put her jumper in Jai’s bag, causing Jai to have a comedy fall moment! He’d unclipped his left foot and then gone to put down his right foot - leaving him to gently fall into the grass verge at the side of the road. A quick exchange revealed he was fine and quite enjoying lying in the grass, so we all enjoyed the moment! Just then, the van turned up to check we were ok. Kate had a squeaking on her bike, so Jason stopped to have a look and oil the bike for her. It later turned out that the pedal bearings had gone, which was promptly fixed by the all-knowing Jason at lunch!

Having climbed a great big hill, we were optimistic of a water stop just around the corner. That didn’t materialise though and we found there were several more hills to conquer before then. We had started to climb a long but not very steep hill when I started to feel really low on energy and called to Ant to say I was going to have to stop. We told the others to carry on as I tried to rectify the lack of calories I had taken on at breakfast. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, but I was feeling better and managed to eat and drink a bit before carrying on. Just around the corner the others had decided to stop too, as they had been flagging and were glad of the break. I was extremely pleased we had stopped, as we had a few more hills before our stop and feeling re-energised, I managed to attack all of these without having to get off the bike.

Our water stop was in a forest clearing next to a church, with several benches around. It was a lovely place to stop, but I was beginning to reflect on my fitness and just how much further we had to go on the trip. I worried that we’d not done enough training and that we just weren’t ready for this. I was surprised at how many people were coming in behind us and it became apparent that others were beginning to struggle too. I tried to push my doubts aside and focus instead on eating some more calories. The trees provided enough cover for ‘nature stops’ and after applying another layer of sun cream, we decided we should push on. The first section of the ride was glorious - lots of downhill sweeping roads allowing us to cover ground quickly without much effort. Beyond this though, we soon began to flag and it felt like forever until the lunch stop. It was clear that the rest of the group were better hill climbers than us, so we began to lose them and had to plod on at our own pace. Without either of us having a reliable cycle computer we had no idea how far we’d come since the water stop or how much further it would be until lunch. Further on, we caught up with another cyclist who was also hungry and who was beginning to wonder if we’d missed the lunch stop. I was hoping it was true as it felt like we’d cycled miles and miles! That wasn’t the case though and as we turned a corner, we spotted the arrows indicating our lunch stop. What a relief!

I still wasn’t feeling very hungry at this point, so stuck with the cold buffet foods whilst others tucked into warm pasta. I was really worried about our slow progress and how tired I was feeling and knew we couldn’t afford to stop for too long at lunch. My mudguard had become loose as we were cycling along and had begun rattling extensively on route. Ant had a look at it whilst I went off in search of nature cover (there wasn’t any!) and when I came back, Jason had fitted a new screw and we were good to go again. The others had headed on whilst Trixy was being fixed and as were pedalling, we caught site of Duff and Jai at the top of a hill. We would never catch them with a hill between us, so we carried on at our own pace, but were soon able to catch them along a flat. We had a glorious afternoon of riding and things started to seem much rosier again. We had our first sighting of a war cemetery and I slowed as we passed. My reflective mood was broken when Duff came up behind us and exclaimed that we looked like Power Rangers! We were surprised to come across the afternoon water stop so soon and were delighted to find that our hotel was only another 11 miles along the road. There was very little cover here for a nature stop, but given that I hadn’t been since our morning water stop several hours ago, hiding behind a large tree in the park had to do! It was a bit close to an electricity pylon for my liking too, but sometimes you just have to get on with it! We’d not long left the water stop when it started raining. I was in the front, so pulled over to put the waterproof cover on my bar bag and we all decided to go for our waterproofs too. The rain didn’t last long, but it was getting chilly and a bit windy, so I was glad of the extra layer.

Heading into Arras was a bit stressful. Cycling in towns is always tricky and cycling in foreign towns where you don’t know where you’re going or what lane you need to be in is even more difficult! Once again I was grateful for Jai’s confident leading skills. We were completely flummoxed by one set of traffic lights that changed to green for a ridiculously short amount of time, before turning red for ages! A bus and Duff and Jai got through, but we didn’t, so we had to wait patiently again. We tried to decipher a French sign which we thought meant that cyclists could cross the road whilst pedestrians were crossing, but we weren’t confident enough in our interpretation, so waited for the green light just to be sure! At last we were outside our hotel where our bikes were to be stored in a room off the lobby. It was nearly 6:30pm and we had an hour to shower and change and get ready for dinner. This seemed like a luxury compared to the day before! We were also told that we were over halfway to Paris now, which was extremely encouraging and worth celebrating! My knee was feeling a bit sore, so over dinner I used a make-shift ice-pack with ice wrapped in a tea towel to try and soothe it. A couple of people were so tired they couldn’t manage to wait around for pudding. I was glad I had waited. Although I’m not fond of profiteroles, these were filled with delicious vanilla ice cream, which slipped down beautifully. I couldn’t manage a drink in the bar though and opted instead for an early night…we were after all still only halfway through the trip.

Day 3 - Arras to Compiegne

We set off from our hotel for another 81 miles of cycling. The whole group set out together, making our way up through the town and then following lanes off the main road. Rejoining the main road again, there was confusion about which way to go…there was no arrow. Fearful that we’d spend another day chasing non-existent arrows, Kate opened out the map again and using the handily placed signposts on the junction, we worked out which way we needed to go and were delighted to see a bit further on down the road that the orange arrows had re-appeared again. Phew!

Further on down the route I stopped to take a drink of water, urging my group to carry on as I would catch up in a bit. Just as I was catching them, a group of cyclists behind me spotted that my bungee that was holding my waterproof to the back of my bike was dangling down dangerously near to my chain. I’d clearly done a rush job of putting it back on again that morning and stopped to sort it out. By this time my chums were getting concerned about me and had stopped, taking the opportunity to have a snack. I apologised and explained why I was so far behind - only for Duff to notice that my second bungee had become loose. I got Ant to steady Trixy whilst I re-attached the bungees and tightened them up. That was a lucky escape. The others were now keen to move on, so I missed out on the snack stop and had to get pedalling again. The cycling was easy though and we soon found ourselves at our morning water stop - a children’s playground. I was feeling hungry again now and scoffed two cereal bars along with other snacks and followed them with a good helping of water. Just up from the water stop was another cemetery, so we moved on quickly to allow ourselves time to stop and have a look.

We had a beautiful morning of cycling, passing several cemeteries and stopping to admire the amazing view down over the Somme. This was the kind of cycling I enjoyed - the views and the points of interest helping the miles to pass quickly. After lunch, our pace and enjoyment began to ebb away again. Despite being pretty much flat, the wind had really got up and we were constantly cycling against it. It became very tiring and we felt like we were pedalling and not really getting anywhere. The wind was a mixed blessing as it was also very hot and on the rare occasions when the wind dropped, the heat of the sun was intense and made me glad to have the wind back again. On the way to our afternoon stop, Ant spotted a shady area and suggested a quick stop for drinks and snacks. Ducks and geese waddled around in the garden opposite us as we refuelled and then got back on our way again. It seemed to take forever to reach the water stop, but it was at a beautiful spot with a lake and trees surrounding us. We had a slightly longer break here than normal and prepared ourselves for a long afternoon battling against more winds. We knew there were some hills to come too.

The wind continued to engulf us and slow us down and I was really starting to struggle again. The big hill defeated me quite early on. I was just too tired to find the energy to attack it, so I got off and walked. It had been the first time I’d got off all day though, so I tried not to be too hard on myself. After the hill the riding seemed a bit easier and I picked up my pace a bit, not realising that the others were getting left behind. We eventually came across a big looking town down below which we assumed would be our destination for the night. Re-inspired again, I pedalled off down the hill. By now, my knee was getting really sore again and I found it was better to keep pedalling slowly than to coast on down hill sections, so I was pushing on ahead. Coming into the town, we were hopeful that we were nearly there, but we soon found ourselves being diverted out of town again and onto a very busy main road that we had to cross. A polite driver stopped to let us through one side of the traffic and we finally managed to get all the way over. Back in town again, we continued to follow arrows. The group was splitting up tonight, but our hotel continued to be indicated by orange arrows, so we kept following these. Ant got cut up on a roundabout which shocked him a lot more than I’d realised at the time and we still had several junctions to negotiate. We soon came across a cyclist heading for the other hotel who had already been and found ours and said it was only a couple of minutes ride from where were. Thank goodness! There were numerous ‘STOP’ junctions on the road and we’d be warned to make sure we stopped at all of them, as a cyclist had been fined the previous week for not stopping. At last we saw the arrows directing us into the car park. We were in a motel tonight and we had to keep our bikes with us in our rooms…which was interesting, as the rooms were tiny!

Once more we had an hour to get ourselves ready for dinner. My knee was really sore again, so I took the opportunity to have a quick soak in the bath after I’d showered. Before dinner I went in search of an ice pack, only to find the hotel’s ice machine had broken that morning. Someone offered me some gel, which I gladly accepted and which certainly seemed to help a bit. Dinner was once again interesting. We had a delicious starter of spinach tart, followed by salmon in a white sauce served with pasta. This was just a bizarre combination and although I normally love salmon, I just didn’t fancy it and struggled to eat half of it. We had talked about sitting outside for a drink after dinner, but tiredness set in again and we all pootled off to bed. By this time I was really worried about my knee. It was really painful, I was struggling to walk on it and I was really concerned about getting back on the bike for the final day. There was no way I could give up so close to the end, I would just have to take lots of painkillers and get on with it as best I could. Lying in twin beds opposite each other, Ant and I tried to work out how to stretch different muscles that we weren’t aware of before that were now starting to hurt. We had a good laugh as we attempted different positions that just weren’t working. It was a bit of light-hearted relief before an unsettled night. I’d been up at 2am and had hardly been able to walk on my knee again. Then I was up again at 6am doing my physic exercises and trying to get my knee ready for action. This is not how I’d wanted the penultimate day of our trip to end.

Day 4 - Compiegne to Paris

I woke up feeling quite sick again today and despite trying to eat some breakfast in the hope that I’d feel better once I got going again, I really struggled. A small bowl of cereal and a plain bread roll was all I’d managed. Back on the bike I was relieved to find that my knee seemed fine, but the sickness and tiredness continued and I was soon flagging behind the group. Ant had been leading the group, but came back to cycle with me and I just had to take it steady. Climbing up our first hill of the day, I really thought I was going to be ill and had a horrid taste in my mouth. I dropped the gears right down and plodded on slowly, determined to keep going if I could.

Taking a slow and steady pace, we carried on cycling for an hour or so before I started to feel better and began to pick up my pace. It was good that I’d perked up a bit as there was a big hill climb to come. This was a really long and windy hill, one of those that you think must end just around the next corner, but then continues to climb…and climb…and climb! Amazingly, I made it all the way up on the bike and smiled to see the orange arrow at the top of the hill with a smiley face on it and a congratulatory message chalked on the road. We then had a long straight stretch of road, where we picked up a good pace again and just before the water stop, we caught up with our cycling buddies who had been taking the opportunity to get up off their saddles as much as possible along the straight.

As we had shorter mileage on the last day, the water stop seemed to have come round very quickly. I now felt able to eat more again, so gladly devoured cereal bars and snacks whilst Ant wandered off to take some photos. Keen to get on to lunch and to our final destination, we set off again. We made good progress on this stretch, although it was windy again and I was just beginning to flag and get really hungry when we came across the lunch stop. Now the excitement and nerves were beginning to surface again. This was our final stop before Paris! Sitting in a green park having cycled through quiet French countryside, it seemed hard to believe Paris was only 20 miles away. We were all due to gather in a park in Paris before completing the last section of the route to the finish at the Eiffel Tower in convoy.

Heading out of town, we lost Jai and Duff at some traffic lights and never quite managed to catch up with them again! Our route took us out to a main road which had a cycle path running alongside it and a large bank of electricity pylons provided the first signs that we were coming into the outskirts of Paris. The cycle path wasn’t as ideal as it sounds - it was littered with rubbish, odd bits of car remains and glass. I stopped at one point fearing I’d got a puncture, but I hadn’t at all which was a relief. I didn’t want to be held up this close to the end! Coming up to a roundabout a group of cyclists were shouting at us - over the noise of the traffic I couldn’t work out what they were saying and it wasn’t until we pulled up alongside them that they explained they were warning us of oil on the road - which we had just cycled right through! Unfortunately one of their group hadn’t been so lucky and had come off her bike. She seemed ok and her group were helping her get her bike back in shape, so we headed on again.

At the end of the main road we came to a busy roundabout where the traffic in the opposite was all stacked up. I looked at my watch aware that we were still some way off our appointed arrival time in Paris and that the roads from here on in were likely to be busy. Coming up a hill after the roundabout we spotted Jai and Duff stopped at some lights up ahead. We tried to catch them, but the lights changed again and we watched them disappear out of sight. From here on, we didn’t see anyone else for ages, so we just kept following the arrows and hoping for the best. We did quite well for a while, until I got to a roundabout which had been signed straight ahead. So I got in amongst the traffic to go straight across and then sailed past some orange arrows directing us off to the right! Doh! Ant hadn’t seen the straight ahead arrow and being behind me had turned off at the right junction. Making my way back across to him, I struggled to cross the road and was glad when a confident French couple appeared and I was able to tuck in behind them as they weaved their way through the traffic. At this point, another group of cyclists had caught up with us, so we followed them for a bit. I was extremely glad to be with a group as we had to make a left turn involving us cycling right across a busy lane of traffic. We were now coming into the city proper. The roads were very busy and it was getting stressful. Several people thought we should be nearly there and we celebrated as we caught sight of the river. This was a celebration too soon! Checking their cycle computers, many observed we had done more mileage than we should have done and were worried that we might have missed the park. We decided to plough on and keep following the arrows, which fortunately turned out to be the right decision.

We were still some way from the park though and with too many lights splitting up the group, we weren’t able to stay together. Behind us, Alison and Ruth had caught up, so we were glad to see some more friendly faces as we tried to pick our way through the chaos. Alison was shaken as she’d come off her bike when she’d not come out of her cleats properly. We agreed to stick together as we battled through the lanes of traffic, constantly having to come out of the cycle lane to go around buses, or cars parked in the lane. It was quite unnerving and I think it was only fear that kept me going! There was no way we could walk as it was just too far, so we just had to keep going. After a particularly long battle with a dustcart in our lane which we didn’t want to overtake as we needed to turn off the road shortly after, we finally found ourselves on a straight section of road where one of our crew was waiting at the bottom to direct us into the park. Thank goodness for that - we had made it. And - joy of all joys - there was even a toilet here! The others were all enjoying ice creams and drinks in the park, but we’d been told there were only a couple more people to come in after us, so we shouldn’t get too comfy. Instead, I made use of the facilities and then we made up our recovery drinks, ready for the end of the ride.

We headed into the park for a quick briefing on the final section. Jason would go ahead in the van, we’d have two outriders with us and we would all go in convoy, up to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs-Elysees and on to the Eiffel Tower. I was really nervous about this bit, but glad that we would be travelling in convoy. Luckily there wasn’t much time to think about it. We were all lining up outside the park and as the lights changed we were all urged to get across in one go. Setting off we were all a bit close to each other for comfort and as someone had a wobble in front of me, I had to drop back to avoid a collision. I’d hoped to stick with the middle of the pack - but I actually found that being taken out by other cyclists was more of a danger than being taken out by traffic! At the back of the pack, we got separated from the main group by several sets of traffic lights, so each time the lights changed we were racing to try and catch up. Duff had a very admirable fight with a rude bus driver, but eventually had to give in, as a bike wouldn’t come off very well in an incident, leaving us further separated from the group.

Jason held the group in the square so we could re-group and set off again. We soon found ourselves heading up towards the Arc de Triomphe. It was as chaotic as it had promised to be! Cars were coming from everywhere and we were urged to just keep going, despite cars very obviously being in our path. We eventually negotiated a route around and followed the arrows that directed us down the Champs-Elysees. I couldn’t believe we had just done that! I started feeling really emotional and welling up with tears, but had to check myself and re-focus as we weren’t there yet. We could now see the Eiffel Tower up ahead and the reality of making it to Paris suddenly started to hit. We first came down a road right next to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower and it was amazing! I was so excited to be there, but got a bit cross with other cyclists who were so busy paying attention to the Tower that they weren’t paying attention to the road…especially those that were trying to take photos and kept jutting out in front of me. There would be time for photos later… Then a final circuit took us around to the other side of the Eiffel Tower and our finishing goal. We nearly got taken out by a moped on the final few feet of our approach, but we managed to wiggle our way through and hope off our bikes. We had made it!

Emotions were running high and there were hugs and congratulations. I had to work really hard not to burst into tears. A year of training, of high points and low points, had finally culminated here, right under the Eiffel Tower. However, there wasn’t much time for contemplation. There were photos to be taken, Kate couldn’t find her husband who was meant to be meeting her there…then we were supposed to be in a group photo. Oh - we haven’t done photos in our charity t-shirts… Ah, we still need to find our way back to the hotel. And that was it…we were back on the bikes again and heading to the hotel. I felt like I couldn’t quite relax until we had finally parked our bikes, so it was a relief to make it to the hotel where I sad a last thank you and goodbye to Trixy before we headed into reception for a plastic cup of bubbly! There were t-shirts, Eurostar tickets and breakfast vouchers to deal with, luggage to collect and rooms to find…but at least we had plenty of time until dinner.

Our room was stunning. We didn’t quite have a view over the Eiffel Tower, but we did have a fantastic view from our 12th floor room. The window was huge, giving an amazing panorama and we stood and looked out for a good long time before getting ourselves organised and ready for dinner. The reality of what we had just done hadn’t quite sunk in yet - but we sent messages to friends and family to let them know we had arrived and excitedly read all of the congratulations messages as they came back in.

Back in the lobby I found Kate and she had been reunited with her husband, so all was well! We found Duff and Jai in the bar and went off to find ourselves a table for our celebratory dinner. The food was lovely and it was a nice evening, but I felt a little disappointed at being stuck in a big white hotel room with no windows and no inclination whatsoever that we were in France. We could have been anywhere in any city and I wanted to feel like I was in Paris! After dinner, a group of us rectified this situation by heading up to the top floor of the hotel to seek out a view of the Eiffel Tower. Feeling like naughty children sneaking around, we finally found the view we’d been looking for at the end of a corridor outside of someone’s room. We tried to stifle our giggles and excitement as we crept around, but we were all delighted by the view. Back in reception, we contemplated joining the others for a drink in a bar across the road, but we opted for bed so that we could appreciate our day in Paris the following morning.

Day 5 - Paris and Home

For the first time on our trip there was no wake up call, so we opted for a later more leisurely breakfast. I wasn’t feeling sick or nervous this morning, so enjoyed a delicious plateful of scrambled egg on toast, followed by some fruit and my first cup of coffee of the trip.

Before we could enjoy Paris, we had to negotiate getting our bags to the station, so following Kate and her husband Mo who had been studying the Metro map before we’d arrived, we headed for the station and bought day tickets for the metro. The locker systems at the station caused a bit of confusion, but once we were all sorted we headed back to the Metro and back into the centre of Paris. We were keen to revisit the route we had cycled the previous day and to take some photos. We got a bit confused with our directions and found ourselves walking up the Champs-Elysees in the wrong direction, but it didn’t matter. We were still here and from the Arc we found our way down to the Eiffel Tower. It had taken longer than I expected on foot and when we got to the Tower and found that the top section was closed, our hopes of going up it were dashed. We were all hungry and tired, so headed down to the river to find some food. We settled for an outdoor sandwich bar overlooking the river and the calories at least filled a gap. From there, we thought we’d stroll along the river towards the Louvre and Notre Dame. Unfortunately it was further than we thought and before we got that far, we had to head back to the Metro Station and back to the train station to check in for our Eurostar Journey home. It was a shame that we’d not made it up the Tower, or made it to Notre Dame or the Louvre. However, it had been a lovely morning wandering through Paris and along the Seine resolved that we now at least had a good excuse to come back to Paris again one day.

Back at the station and with our bags retrieved, we found ourselves amongst complete chaos. The Eurostar trains were all running behind schedule, but it was impossible to work out from the boards what was going on. The stairs up to the Eurostar departures area were surrounded by crowds of people, but staff weren’t letting people up. We eventually worked out from announcements that they were several trains behind, so they were only letting up the people with tickets for the next train due to depart. We soon realised that trains were running over an hour behind, so we sat on the station floor and prepared ourselves for a long wait. We were finally called up to board our train and I tried to get my head round the clocks going back an hour to work out whether we were likely to make our train back from Paddington. I thought we still had a chance, but all we could do was wait and see. I couldn’t settle on the train - I was worried about missing our connection and busied myself on the journey with re-packing my panniers ready for getting back on the bike again, changing back into my trainers and checking and re-checking the map of London, which showed us the route from St. Pancras station to Paddington.

Arriving in Paddington an hour and a half late, we had around 45 minutes to make it to our train. It seemed unlikely, but we had to try. We said our goodbyes to our new friends on the train and as soon as we got to the platform we dashed off following the signs to the coach station where we were to be reunited with our bikes. It was quite a hike and I was glad to find Jason there waiting for us. It soon became clear that the brakes on both of our bikes hadn’t been readjusted properly since the wheels had been put back on, so Jason did some quick tinkering to get us on our way. We had no idea which way to go and hoped that we’d find some black cabs at the station. The rank only had a couple of taxis in it though and neither of them were black cabs, so we got on our bikes. Checking the map, we set off in one direction, realised it wasn’t the one we wanted and then sailed off in the other direction again. A commuting cyclist confirmed he thought we were going the right way, so we ploughed on down Euston Road for a bit. It was a nightmare though - traffic wasn’t as light as I’d hoped it would be at this time of the evening, but because it wasn’t ridiculously busy and jammed up, the traffic was flowing quickly. We kept finding ourselves in bus and bike lanes, which then turned into lanes going left when wanted to go straight on. At one point I was cut up by a taxi turning left and then a bit further on I had to stop as I couldn’t get across the traffic to get into the lane to carry straight on. Just behind me a bus tooted as I had pulled over in his lane - so I hopped off the bike and refused to get back on again! I was just too tired. My panniers were heavy and felt unbalanced, I wasn’t sure where I was going and it just seemed too dangerous to cycle in those conditions.

Some fellow trip cyclists sailed passed us waving and I was gutted that I didn’t have the confidence or experience to be able to do that. Having given up on cycling, there was nothing for it but to walk as fast as we could. We passed another couple of stations on route and I was still hopeful that we’d find a black cab that could take us and our bikes, but it wasn’t to be. As we got closer to Paddingon, we realised we weren’t going to make our train unless it was running significantly late. Not knowing what else to do though, we carried on to Paddington knowing that we’d have to re-evaluate our options once we got there.

Turning down the road to Paddington Station I realised we couldn’t have cycled this bit anyway as the road was one way. Finally arriving at the station 25 minutes late, the boards confirmed that our train had indeed gone and we were stranded. There didn’t seem to be any sign of staff, but then we spotted that the ‘Today’s tickets’ office was still open, so Ant joined the queue to ask about trains home in the morning, whilst I stayed with the bikes. By this time the reality was sinking in and I was pacing nervously around the bikes whilst I thought about our options…staying at Paddington all night didn’t really appeal, but might be easier than trying to traipse around London with our bikes and luggage. We have friends living in London, but getting to them and getting back again in the morning would be difficult with our bikes - and I was reluctant to leave them at the station overnight.

The queue at the desk was surprisingly long, but when Ant finally made it to the front I heard him dithering over an offer of tickets, so I slipped up to the counter to see what was being suggested. Joy of all joys, there was a sleeper train! It departed at 11:50pm and would get us into Exeter at 4am. It was going to cost us an extra £75, but I didn’t care - I just wanted to go home. Relieved that we would only have to wait another 2 and a bit hours instead of all night for a train, I was ready for a stiff drink, but we made do with sandwiches and a pasta salad from Sainsburys. Once we’d eaten, the adrenalin rush left and I felt shattered. Just as we were about to make our way to the platform for our train, there was an announcement. ‘Could everyone due to board the sleeper train come to the first class lounge on Platform 1. There has been a delay. Please come to the 1st Class lounge for further details.’ My heart sank, it sounded like we may be spending the night at the station after all.

Luckily the news wasn’t that bad. The delay was only 15 minutes or so and we were welcomed into the lounge to wait for the train. The coffee machine wasn’t working and the seats were all taken, so we just propped our bikes up against the wall to wait. We got chatting with some fellow cyclists waiting to board the train. One was a chap heading down to Cornwall for a few days and then making his way up to Somerset to see a friend. The other two (who fortunately had folding bikes, which meant there would be room for all of us!) were heading to the Scillies.

Finally settled on the train, we were reassured that the time lost would be made up. I tried to snooze, but it was really cold on the train and others who were trying to sleep and who had covered themselves with jumpers as blankets were struggling too. I was delighted when we made it to Taunton…nearly home at last! The train was stopping at Exeter for half an hour, so we had no need to rush to get our bikes and luggage off. We needed to use the lifts to get back across to the station entrance and then just a short cycle home at 4am… The roads were quiet, so we opted to stick to the more direct route, rather than heading along the river which would be very dark and a longer route. By the time we’d parked the bikes in the garage and got back to the flat it was almost 5am. It had been a very long day and a tiring end to a tiring trip. Fortunately Ant had booked the day off work and I had got a whole week off, so there would be plenty of time to recover.

Afterword and a Final Poem

Despite the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, I can honestly say that overall I really enjoyed the London to Paris trip. I still can’t quite believe we have done it and I’m sure it will remain one of my biggest achievements for a very long time! We’ve already found ourselves being drawn in by adverts for other long distance cycle rides, so I’m sure there will be another adventure in the future. For now though, I shall be very glad to rest and will enjoy being able to spend a bit more time with friends and family now that we don’t have to be out training so regularly!

I must also say a few thank yous. Firstly I must thank Kate (I think!) for coming up with the idea for the trip in the first place. Special thanks must also go to Kirby for taking us under his wing, putting up with us so patiently when we have been pootling along on group cycle rides and giving us so much good advice. Thanks also to everyone else in the cycle group - you have all been very welcoming and encouraging and it has been a lot of fun. We will be back! Thanks also to all of our friends and family who have put up with us talking non-stop about this for the last year!

Finally, thank you to everyone who has supported and sponsored us. We have raised nearly £1,300 for Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education and every penny of this will be spent directly on supporting deaf children and their families. The funds will make a big difference, so cheers for being so generous.

So - that’s it! The end of the challenge, the end of the blog. It’s not the end of the cycling though and we hope to see many of you on a ride again soon. In the meantime, I shall leave you with this poem summarising the last year:

Amanda's Pedal to Paris Poem

A normal day in the office and casually over coffee
My colleague Kate says, how about a journey?
From London to Paris we can travel by bike,
It’s a fundraising idea I’m starting to like.

I do some research and before I know it,
We’ve agreed to the trip and paid the deposit.
Now we must ride and do proper training,
No excuses now, not even if it’s raining!

We need some help and I find a cycling group,
I meet a man named Kirby who welcomes us to the troupe.
The first outing is a struggle, but we’ve clocked 26 miles,
There’s more to be done, but we’ve survived the first ride.

Training goes well and then in October,
We do a 50 mile ride, no need for a Motor!
All goes well until Boxing Day ice,
I slip and fall, this is not nice!

After trips to the physic and three months of rest,
At last I can ride, I try and do my best.
I can’t go far, but I will get stronger,
Gradually, gradually my rides get longer.

A new goal suggests Kirby, a cycling tour,
We shall cycle round Britanny, who could want more?
Despite my worries and some sleepless nights,
The trip’s a success and we are alright!

Onwards now, more training we must do,
Oh and some fundraising events too!
A pub quiz and a salsa night help raise some money,
Whilst out on the bikes we’re fuelled by oats and honey!

A 100 mile ride is the peak of our training,
Then three weeks later we’re already saying,
We’re off to London, we must go,
As we are going to cycle to Paris tomorrow!

On day one lost arrows hamper our speed,
But we make it to Dover and the ferry we need.
Days two and three have highlights and low points,
Smiles and achievements, but still fears about joints.

Finally the last day and by Pedal Power,
We have made it to the Eiffel Tower.
12 months of training have brought us here,
What an achievement, oh what a year!

Off to London

Tuesday 27th July

We set off nice and early to St. Davids train station, pedalling along the river. It was strange to be riding with panniers again, but I had lowered my saddle to make stopping and starting easier and we were soon at the station. Out in the lobby we attached the train tickets to our bikes and checked our platform. Luckily the train went from Platform 1 which was right in front of us and didn't require any lifts. I was paranoid about getting our bikes, our panniers and ourselves on to the train once it stopped, but it all went relatively smoothly. We struggled to get the bikes in the stands in the train - Ant's was too long to fit in the space provided and our handlebars wouldn't fit. The racks clearly aren't designed for road bikes!

Arriving into Waterloo we decided to head for the London Eye so that we could truly feel we'd started our journey in London. We also took Kate's advice to travel to Greenwich by river boat. Our first attempt to leave Waterloo station failed when we found ourselves trapped at the top of a long flight of stairs. Heading back into the station we found the disabled access exit which also led us out past a whole host of bikes in racks outside. A brief stop by the London Eye for photos and we headed straight for the boat. The next one was due in 5 minutes, so we waited on the quay. Once on the boat we found the racks really weren't suitable for bikes loaded down with panniers (and people stood around blocking them anyway) - so we had to stand and hold onto our bikes. This proved quite interesting when the boat sped off!

The journey was very picturesque and I certainly felt like we'd been in London, which we wouldn't have done had we gone from one train to another. However, it was a relief to get off the boat and stop having to hold on to Trixy for dear life! From Greenwich we easily found the signs to the park and made our way over. Our first attempt at getting through the park was thwarted as we'd gone via the Maritime Museum grounds and found ourselves trapped by steps. We contemplated lifting the bikes over, but then retraced our steps and found the road route into the park. I was surprised to find the road actually carried on through the park. Ant suggested moving on to the cycle path which we did - only to find it came to an abrupt stop at the top of the hill, which meant crossing back over the road again to rejoin it. I was pleasantly surprised by how short the journey was as we emerged out of the far side of the park and found ourselves looking over Blackheath Common...the starting point for our ride tomorrow. There were lots of lights and road crossings, so it took a bit of time to pick our way across the Common and down to the hotel, but it was great to be there.

In the hotel, we were welcomed by the crew and took our bikes down to the storage room, where one of the crew helped Ant to identify and fix a rubbing noise that had developed on Ant's bike as we'd been cycling down the Common. Luckily this was just the mudguard rather than the brakes. Unfortunately the mudguard had taken a bit of a battering on the ferry boat, but it was nothing drastic and we decided that was the least of our worries considering what lay ahead.

Up in our room, I re-organised my luggage and sorted out what I would need for the next day. Whilst it was great to have someone carrying our luggage during the day, I'd been used to having everything to hand in my panniers. Not this time though - I needed to be travelling light! Just one bar bag for me. Ant could fit my jersey in his bar bag and my waterproof was to be bungeed on to my rack.

Finally feeling as ready as I could, we headed out to find some dinner. Blackheath had a nice little high street with plenty of restaurants. Avoiding a rather mad looking chap in the street, we picked an Italian eatery so that we could have one final fuel up on pasta before starting the ride. The food was fine, but the service was slow and I was tired and keen to get to bed before our 5am start. Just as we were paying the bill, the 'crazy' man reappeared, flinging himself against a car in the street. A couple of people dashed outside but couldn't assist. A few minutes later there was a screeching of brakes further down the street, which we can only assume were caused by the same chap. We were glad to heading back the other way towards the safety of the hotel. There was a beautiful sunset behind the church and across the Heath...but it would be sunrise tomorrow that would see us starting our journey.

Final Preparations...

Sunday 25th July - We do a final ride to Bickleigh and back. I thought this would be fun as Bickleigh was the first place we'd cycled with the CTC all those months ago. Sadly it wasn't as fun as I'd hoped. I struggled with the bike again and didn't feel like we were able to get up any real speed. It was such a relief to arrive at Bickleigh Mill for a break. We were surrounded by people enjoying Sunday roasts which looked delicious, but I didn't think I manage that and then cycle back again, so we settled for paninis. The ride back again seemed better, but I was still very nervous about the 300 miles facing us in just a few days time.

With no more time left for cycling, we turned to our preparations for the trip. Packing and preparing the bikes. I was really glad we'd done the touring trip around Britanny as it meant the whole process of packing our panniers was a familiar and reassuring one. I was confident I was packing the right things as well as a few extras, as this time we wouldn't be having to cycle with our panniers once we got to London.

Setting out to try the panniers on my bike on Monday in preparation for our departure on Tuesday, we bumped into Kirby. He looked rather concerned at the size of our panniers and queried why we were taking food supplies if we were getting fed on the trip. I wasn't taking any chances though - so although I took a couple of things out of my bags before we left, the food stayed in!

Particularly squeaky brakes on Ant's bike had us both up late worrying about whether we could get the bike looked at before we left. We were up scrubbing the rims and trying to sand down the brake pads, but this didn't seem to make any difference We went to bed worrying about whether the bike would be fit in time.In the morning, 10 minutes towing in the brake pads cured the problem instantly! Ah well, at least we were ready to go...