Sponsored ride to Paris

The only comparable thing I've done is the Dunwich Dynamo - 120 miles overnight from Hackney to the Suffolk Coast. I'd have called myself barely fit but I'm clearly built for stamina... trained 20k laps round hyde park a couple of times a week, and a few 50m weekend rides. Attempted 80 miles to Oxford the weekend before in the blistering heat and had to give up about 20 miles short, halfway up the longest hill ever. That severely dented my confidence but when it came to the actual event it was one of the easiest rides I've ever done! Doing it overnight and therefore out of the sun was a huge help though - weather is a pretty big factor...

In theory I think the distance is doable. In practice what would put me off is 3 days on the bike will get pretty damn saddle sore.

Saddle soreness shouldn't be a problem as long as you do plenty of riding leading up to it. The worst thing you could do is have two weeks off the bike before the event.

You're not going to encounter any mountains between London and Paris, so that won't be a problem either.

All you really need to do is get your endurance up, so basically just try riding further and further at the weekends. If, by June, you're struggling to do more than 60 miles in one day, then I'd say this ride is a bad idea.

BTW, I'm not really saying that from a position of knowledge. I've never ridden 270 in three days. The most I've managed was about 200 and that was eighteen years ago.

Ulp, I have just told the charity that I want to do this...

Awesome! You'll be fine! It'll be great.

I feel like a fraud - it's 60 miles a day, not 90. But that also made me confirm - am sending off my application form today...

60 miles a day for that kind of thing will probly be more fun, really. i worked one summer for a cycle touring company. we rode from seattle to maine- 5400 miles with an average of 80 miles a day. days ranged from 65 to 100 miles or so. it was more fun for folks to do the shorter days and have plenty of time to poke around the towns, take detours (read: bars) etc.

the long days seemed always to feature bunches of old weirdos leaving at 4:45 am and trying to be the first group to the destination town. it was like, ok, now its 9:30 am, and youre in the middle of f'ing north dakota w/ nothing to do all day--what you gonna do now old timer?

note, they liked being in the middle of nd with nothing to do all day, i think, as long as they were first. one night a group of youngish badass girls on the trip secretly got up at like 2:30 and rode to the destination and then sorta mocked the old guys when they got in, and the guys were legitimately PISSED OFF.

i misused "legitimately"-i mean they were actually, amazingly (to me) pissed off.

Well, it's all set - gulp!

I would be really grateful if any of you guys could sponsor me - here's my Justgiving page. Thanks masses in advance.

I will, no doubt, be asking for no end of advice over the coming months, so I also hope I don't try anyone's patience too much...

Cheers,
Mark

Does the ride end at the Arc de Triomphe? Will you come down the Champs-Elysées just like Le Tour? Awesome.

I also think this event calls for a new bike. A beautiful touring bike.

SPwaking of Bikes, Cycle surgery has some nice Wilier Triestinas in the sale right now.

I think it calls for a new bike too :) And yes, we finish on the Champs Elysées, which will be pretty sweet.

Did you do this in the end Mark? How was it? I've just signed myself up (on the spur of the post-watching-TDF moment) to do a London-Cambridge ride next Sunday.

He's one day in I believe, they left from round here at stupid o'clock this morning. No word on how it's going though.

I'm going to attempt to update this strange blog thing on the go during my ride to Paris over the weekend - have a look if you're interested at all.

http://lanternerouge.tumblr.com/

-- Mark C, Thursday, July 17, 2008 5:53 PM (2 days ago)

From the your daily bicycle log thread.

Thanks for that (x2). Bizzarre that I should have remembered and revived this thread at exactly the moment the ride was taking place. For some reason I thought it had happened in June.

Hello chaps,

Sorry I haven't updated much lately, but I had a BLAST. It was just about the most worthwhile thing I've ever done in terms of both the trip itself and the training (and shopping) that happened in the 6 months before. In a sense the trip itself was TOO good and next time I do something similar my expectations will be too high.

It was great because:

1) The weather improved throughout the trip. Crystal Palace Park on a cold summer morning at 6.30am is no fun, and we were there well over an hour. The rest of the day wasn't too bad, a breezy sidewind and the occasional shower, and the ferry ride wasn't so choppy as to make me seasick. The next day the sun started to break through, and by the afternoon it was mostly sunny. The final day the weather was gorgeous.

2) Both days in France were accompanied by a strong nor'westerly tailwind. I cannot emphasise enough what a massive difference this made. At one point I cut back to drop to another group and the effort of cycling 300 yards the wrong way was more than the previous 3 miles. Instead, we were cruising from 23mph up to almost 30mph on the flat and near flat, and had some glorious downhills thrown in.

3) The trip was beautifully run by a group of very professional, pleasant people. Nothing went wrong barring a guy missing the start, a woman bringing the wrong passport, and half a dozen small injuries, the worst of which was a faceplant that required 7 chin stitches. I managed to avoid falling off (one wobble when I veered off the road tarmac at about 8mph was the closest I got).

4) the Focus was a dream. No mechanical failures save a tube valve that blew up as I took off the cap in order to inflate it further. I might have to fiddle with the front derailleur too but that's as expected on a new bike. It was also the best bike in the pack - a few other carbon numbers but mine was specced the best, and I felt lucky/smug/proud. It got a lot of compliments and interest and I could probably start charging commission.

5) the other riders were great, specifically a pair of 40-something mums from Harrogate who had exactly the same approach to fun as the three of us did. We bonded better than I could have ever imagined. It's worth noting that they were absolutely up there with us at the front, despite have ten years on us and being the theoretically weaker gender. On a level playing field we'd have been creamed. But Ros and Chris, I love you both, thanks for helping make it all so fab.

6) as per 5), Harry, Matt and I were, astonishingly, the strongest riders in the entire group. Half a dozen or so people could keep up with us but none were faster. Obviously me having a nippy bike made a difference but, I hope, not too unfair a one. It felt fantastic to know the training had paid off.

7) Northern France is, for the most part, stunningly beautiful, perfectly undulating, with the smoothest roads and barely any cars. The cafes were perfect and the booze flowed freely. It was genuinely gutting when we got to Paris because at the very least the leading group all wanted to keep riding till we hit ocean.

8) I raised about £1,800 for charity.

There were less fun aspects but they were few and far between, with only, really, the waiting being a consistent problem (but also, during the road stages at least, an inevitable function of being speedy). And even then it was never pointless waiting - corralling 70 people was always going to be a massive effort and it was done pretty much brilliantly.

So, as an introduction to group cycling it was gentle but intense, really inspiring and the best fun. I'm really sad to be home even though usually it's a comfort being back in my space after a holiday. My subconscious still hasn't accepted that the riding's over, in that context at least.

Sounds awesome. Would like to be fit enough to do it myself. (And will be)

Congratulations, sounds fantastic. I'd like to do another long road ride (did the Dunwich Dynamo a couple of years ago) but good weather really does make a hell of a difference and that's kinda hard to guarantee.

I remember my first charity one. London Southend, aged 12 I think, headwinds all the way. (My dad and I raised a bunch for shelter and got joint 3rd in fundraising won, cycle helmets and met Robin Cook).

joint 3rd in fundraising won, cycle helmets and met Robin Cook

An alternative triathlon of sorts.

your bike adventure sounds awesome mark!

yeah that sounds great, good job.

The Roald Dahl Foundation would like me to write a tour diary for them. I think I could enjoy that. Might post it here first though it'll probably verge on both the cheesy and the unsalacious.