Cycle to Paris - Preparation

So this will probably be the last post I write before the big ride to Paris, which begins on Saturday morning. There is still a lot to do for me, as I am yet to purchase lights, inner tubes and a new front tyre (replace current one with a puncture resistant tyre).

Rob and Josh have started to finalise their own preparation, and actually took to the streets on Saturday, and cycled 33 miles of the route we will take in order to avoid slow progress getting out of London. It only took them two hours, which is a bonus as I get the impression we are all a little aprehensive about making the 6pm Ferry to Calais. In a way, I really hope this is going to be a challenge. I very much doubt this will be like any other cycle I have done so far, but I dont want it to be a simple cycle. I want it to be something we can get to the end of and say 'we put alot into that'. Getting to Paris by cycling slowly will be a bit of a dissapointment really. But I think we have got the distances per day correct, and we have planned to stop off regularly in order to take in the sights and sounds of Northern France.  

Rob managed to get hold of a GPS system to help us out, and if that fails - some road maps (3 of them), which detail the cycle route. I actually think getting there will be fine, its the weather I worry about the most. Although it is October, the last thing I want is a wind swept 4 day ride. It can rain all it wants, but no wind please. We are all continuously checking the daily weather forecast, and at this moment it looks 'ok for october'. Lets hope it stays that way.

Lastly, I will be taking the bike in for another check over with Evans. I don't think the bike needs it personally, but I guess it always helps to have the brakes, cables and gears checked before a long ride, particularly as we will be in another country (hopefully) if something should go wrong.

Ok, that is my update. Next stop, Paris. I will post an update once I am back on English soil, along with final costings and recomendations of food/b&b's etc.

Peace 

IM BACK!

Having had a Great North Run to train for over the last month or so, the cycling has been put on the back burner whilst I put my entire body through the pain of long distance running. I found out a lot about my body over this past month, and have developed a couple of niggling injuries through previous bad habits, such as not warming up/down....ever. Why do I write about this on a blog meant to be on the topic of cycling you may ask? Well, these injuries have had a slight impact on my cycling too, particularly the injury to my hip. I have become very conscious of having a good stretch before setting off on a long cycle, as when I recently returned to the bike following the GNR, I could quite often feel my hip tightening. According to the physio, I have (and always have had) extremely poor hip stability, but luckily a bit of stretching seems to be doing the trick.

Anyway......a lot has happened since I last posted. I, along with my housemates Rob 'the beast' Bennett and Josh 'the power' Flood plan to cycle to Paris next week, over four days with one extra day to take in Paris. All accommodation and travel is now booked thanks in a major part to Rob. The entire trip is surprisingly cheap, and I am looking forward to what will certainly be a big test. The first day from London to Calais will no doubt be the toughest, but Josh and I have a bit of experience at this long distance malarkey, and Rob will add to that experience with a GPS system he has borrowed. It is also worth me saying that should they win this weekend, on the first day we will be stopping off at a pre located pub to watch the England rugby team play their semi final.

In other news, I have seen the light and adopted puncture resistant tyres. For the small price of £27 each, I bought some gatorskin's not so long back, and haven't had a problem with them (yet), which is a great feeling considering I was replacing inner tubes what felt like every week, not so long ago.

I cycled to Windsor with Rob last weekend too, which was both a really nice ride, and a great hangover cure. We took the less scenic route, via the North of Heathrow, on the way. But came back on the A308, which took a beautiful route, through some really nice places. This was also the first long ride Rob had done on his new road bike, which looks cool as! The route will be up on the 'Rides' page of the blog very soon, so keep looking.

I have also finally found a potential cycle team, that trains in Regents Park on a Friday. But I will post a separate blog on this topic later on, when I can gather more intel.

I will now try and continue to regularly update this blog, particularly as the Winter months set in. It will be quite interesting to see how the bike reacts to the cold and wet weather, following what I think has been a really good summer for cyclists in London.

Peace