Tuesday 19 June 2012
After 230 miles of cycling, I'm home at last!!
Home at last! What an amazing 4 days I've just had. I set off on Friday morning knowing no-one in a group of 36 people and I've come home with 36 friends. Special mention must go to my room mate Julie Daly who was a brilliant room mate and she's way stronger than she thinks. She set off on Friday on a mountain bike with no clips and no cradle on her pedals and managed to make it to Portsmouth with only a few bruises. Thankfully Expedition Wise (our organisers) had a spare road bike and Julie was soon flying.I'd also like to mention Mike, Aussie Paul and Tony (Ward), with whom I cycled for the best part of 2 days. Guys, you let me take the lead and I gather you regretted it! Special mention too to Tall Paul who was an absolute gentleman. He caught up with me on Day 1 when I was cycling mostly on my own and stayed with me for quite a while was I was on my own. I know he did the same for Julie Daly and Tony (Reeves) and I'm sure for many others along the way. He is a great cyclist and a true gent.
The first leg to Portsmouth can only be described as OK and uneventful in terms of the cycling. The wind was lashing and at times we had a few light showers but I managed to get to our first stop before the rain came down.
After the pub, our final stop was in Portsmouth at the Travelodge by the port. We had 4 rooms between us in which to shower and change before a very mediocre carvery at the pub next door!
Dinner over, we walked from the hotel (minus our bikes which were on a van) to the port to board our ferry to Caen. When I'd asked JDRF who I would be sharing with, I didn't realise that on the ferry night I would be in a cabin with 3 other women so it was quite a squeeze.Despite having cycled 74 miles, it took all of us ages to get to sleep. We arrived next morning in Caen and after disembarking we were re-united with our bikes to begin our 85 mile ride to Evreux. For some of the way I teamed up with the above mentioned Tony (Ward) which was great.
At this point, some of the gung-ho chaps who'd ridden hell for leather the day before decided that enough was enough and asked (yes asked!!) if they could ride with me. Who wouldn't be flattered at that? I of course said yes.
So from then on had constant cycle companions and it certainly makes the time go quicker when you're chatting to people. It was great to find out people's stories and really get to know them.
We had a second morning stop at another equally pretty village and we sat in glorious sunshine to have our coffee. No pain aux raisins here but I did buy a Bounty to eat on the road. (As it happened I ended up sharing out my Bounty so only had half of one bar which hit the spot).Lunch that day was interesting. We arrived at the designated stop point and walked into the restaurant. Layed out at each space was a pasta salad and a piece of bread. I tucked in and felt full at the end of it and thought that was the meal. However, the chef came out with hot plates and began to serve something he called "boeuf" which was actually ox tongue. Not one of my or anyone else's favourites.
We gave it a miss and went for a coffee to a local bar, Much better.
Lunch over it was back on the bikes and a 23 mile stretch on an old train line which has been converted to a cycle track. Although the cycling was rather boring with nothing to see on either side, it made a welcome relief from pot-holed roads. By now I had got into a routine with Mike and Paul and occassionally Tony and we made it in good time to our next stop. It was helpful to think of each day in the various stages rather than in a chunk of 85 miles.
When we arrived here, the local firemen were training up the new cadets in a field beside us. It was quite mesmerising to watch them instead of think how sore my undercarriage was. By now, any opportunity to raise myself out of the saddle was most welcome. Some of the guys - actually most of them - were complaining of sore butts but that wasn't an issue for me!
Our final ride on the track took us into Evreux where we camped for the night at a budget IBIS hotel in the centre of town.
By now I was feeling very tired indeed so a quick meal out was followed by a stroll back to the hotel and to bed. Julie and I slept very soundly that night until the alarm went off at 5.30 the following morning.
A hearty breakfast watched over by a little Hitler in the Ibis restaurant was followed by more cycling once we had been briefed on the day's challenges. Immediately on leaving Evreux we had to climb one of four steep hills and because it was almost at the beginning of our day's ride, my legs felt a bit stiff but I made it up and quickly caught up with Mike and Paul.
I broke my no-caffeine rule and decided that perhaps a shot of caffeine was exactly what was needed to help me get up all the hills so I had an espresso at our first stop.
This was the best lunch yet. We started with this scrumptious rice salad followed by fillet steak and boulangere potatoes. Both were so tasty. After a dubious dessert we left, safe in the knowledge that we were inching every closer to our final destination.
A final break on the outskirts of Paris with 14 miles to go and no toilets was interesting for some but for me it was like from home from home. I just imagined I was in Black Park and sought out a secluded spot.
We stopped to regroup beside a beautiful waterfall in the Bois de Bologne.
I must confess that at this stage I was seriously worrying about the state of my ladybits. I decided to be practical and turned my back as re-lubed myself. Not pretty but very necessary.
At this point, the slowest riders went to the front and the faster ones went to the back and we cycled into Paris in pairs. We made slow progress due to heavy heavy traffic but eventually we saw the Arc de Triomphe ahead of us. I was with Tony Ward on this bit and I was very worried that I wouldn't get out of my clips in time and that I would fell into him. I needn't have worried as this never happened.
We finally hit the Eiffel Tower and ahead we heard screams as friends and relatives had gathered to greet us. We had made it. All 229 miles! Yes my undercarriage might have been sore but the only other mishap on the way (for me) was that my chain slipped off. Apart from that, there were no serious problems to report at all.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation had taken 36 riders across the channel and set them down in Paris all in one piece. If you haven't sponsored me and would like to do so, you can go to www.justgiving.com/sarah-liveing1
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