London to Paris – 29th June 2013 -
3rd July 2013
Guiding the Student Adventures ride in aid of
Breast Cancer Campaign & Practical Action
'Ouverture'
Asked to
assist on this only a few weeks before the event, this was a wonderful opportunity to accompany a
group of around 80 students on their fund raising ride to Paris.
On the night before the 'off,' I drove to the Hotel near Croydon to check in, meet the team, get briefed and
attempt to get some sleep. About 5 and a half hours were available but a mixture
of nerves and anticipation led to only light cat-napping. Up at 6, a wolfed breakfast and a rushed start for 7am that involved packing luggage & bikes and a bleary-eyed drive to our starting point at Crystal Palace.
Day 1 - London to Newhaven
At Crystal Palace we met the students, re-assured parents, checked bikes, briefed the group and were finally ready to go.
Ready to roll...??.....err... momentarily had to bring the cavalcade to a halt as I realised that I hadn't screwed the top of one of my bottles back on and after dropping in an energy tablet it had fizzed-up and blown the lid off somewhere further back. I could hardly dismount at this moment and go hunting for it, now could I??!!
I discreetly placed the bottle on the kerb edge and rolled forward: I could survive with just one bottle!
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| A quick Briefing on road safety - Crystal Palace 8.45am |
At 9am we
rolled down Annerly Hill.
Déjà vu – the same starting route as last years
London Night Rider but this time in the daylight. We hadn't gone two miles down the road before one of the guides radio'd that we got our first puncture! Well I guess if it was going to happen it was best to get one out of the way early on.
As we were riding at a slow pace I noticed a young lad go past on a nice road bike and quickly realised it wasn't one of ours. Minutes later we saw a commotion at a set of traffic lights and saw him sprawled on the road, having been hit by a car. Not the most positive of starts for the inexperienced and nervous amongst us. With plenty of helpers at the scene and an ambulance there within minutes we were able to continue and slowly picked up the pace
Getting out toward the rolling countryside near Addington the lanes narrowed and rural Surrey & Sussex beckoned. Near Woldingham there was a long & fast descent which claimed our first 'tumbler'. Thankfully this resulted only in a grazed knee and upon reaching the first water stop in Tandridge, the lady concerned had recovered her nerve and was willing to continue.
From here we broke away from the M25 boundary and headed to Turner's Hill for a lunch stop at the Crown Pub. The climb up to it was probably our first significant hill climb and this gave some of the stronger rides the chance to 'dance' their way up and get to the pub first.
At Turner's Hill the sun broke through and provided a beautiful afternoon's riding down to Ditchling village where we convened for our afternoon refreshment stop. I regret not getting a photo here as the Downs offered a stunning backdrop!
We turned off in the direction of Lewes and made our way to Newhaven from there. The front riders arrived in Newhaven at about 6pm: Not a bad day's riding.
Our ferry crossing was a late evening one and we had time to kill. Unfortunately the ferry port cafe wasn't up to the task of feeding a group of 80 hungry cyclists! After getting increasingly flustered, the manager decided to take no further orders 'for some time' just as we arrived at the front of the queue! What food was slowly appearing for the lucky ones was delivered gruffly a la 'Basil Fawlty-school-of-catering'.
Despite years of avowals never to set foot in one again - MacDonald's was our salvation! Well. let's face it, we'd be working this off very quickly in the morning.......and the Hot Chocolate did actually taste like Hot Chocolate.
While we waited to board I had an interesting conversation with two ladies who were doing L2P (unsupported) and taking the 'Green' route to Paris, the Avenue Verte. With all their kit having to be carried on the bikes I checked the weight of one......ouch... heavy indeed. By their own admission, they hadn't done much cycling in the past but both had a sparkle in the eye and an admirable spirit of adventure that convinced me they would complete the journey and love every mile.
After grabbing three hours or so sleep on board we docked at Dieppe and were transferred by coach, at first light, to our camp site for another three or four hours kip. Not ideal going back to bed as daylight comes and the French Cocks crow!
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| Some 'groggy' souls wandering towards breakfast on Day 2 |
Day 2 - Dieppe to Gournay en Bay
After getting the bikes off the trailer, checking and setting up them up it was time to get day two under way and get used to riding on the 'wrong' side.
Day 2 was a relatively easy ride of about 54 miles, the easiest of the three days. The route was fairly flat, the roads without much traffic: all in all a lovely day's cycling.
For a lunch break we stopped at the Chateau in Saint Saens, a popular destination for English Golfers it seemed. The TV in the bar showed coverage of the opening Stage of the 100th Tour De France in Corsica.
After a re-fuel and (for me at least) a much needed shot of caffeine we were rolling down the splendid driveway and back onto the road to Gournay.
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Arriving at Saint Saens
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| The Chateau - our lunch stop |
Day 3 - Gournay en Bay to Paris
After an overnight stay in a pretty basic hotel (room shares of course), we headed on towards Paris on what proved to be the most challenging day's riding of all. Our approach to the Eiffel Tower would be around the time of the tail end of 'rush hour'!
We had to be on our toes on this day. One of our riders had a light skirmish with a less than patient French driver on a roundabout and had his front wheel clipped and knocked out of position in the forks. I was left to attempt some temporary 'fixing' so that we could make it to the lunch stop and where we might later be able to replace the bike, but we kept having to stop along the way to re-set the wheel and it took us a long time to catch up with the rest of the group.
The riders had been split into two large groups to allow for riding ability and I was with the advance party which converged on the town square in Marines for lunch on the final day. The group waited while the support and guides had to help collect lunch from the local Boulangerie and what a lunch it was! We were still tucking into this at a stop along the Seine several hours later.
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| Cakes and Baguettes galore - Marines |
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| Cakes for 80 and some! |
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Marines - Town Hall
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We decided to keep the faster group back and let the others go on ahead in the belief that we might catch up and all go into Paris together but because of the increasing stop start nature of the suburban roads and a few punctures along the way, we came into town just a little bit behind.
The weather got significantly warmer as we approached the capital and when we reached a stretch of the route along the Seine I half expected Artists to be lining the banks with paints and canvas boards.
There was a delay owing to some tail-enders and two guides taking a wrong turning on the edge of the city center, by which time the Tech was beginning to fail. First my radio then my tablet with the route map and other Guides' equipment starting to go too!
All that mattered not as we could see the Eiffel Tower and at worst we could just follow signs to the center.
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| OK...not far now that's the Arc de Triomphe.... |
Getting through the Monday evening rush hour was probably a bit of a challenge for some on this trip but you'd never have guessed it. The groups kept fairly well together and despite a brief stop to put a chain back on we made easy progress towards the river and felt a massive surge of pride as we rode steadily towards the Eiffel Tower.
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The approach
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OK . so one more set of lights.......so inspiring to stop and look.
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Well.....if you don't do the pose what can you do?! That Tourer weighs a ton!
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Time to take a long look at our achievements and some photos. It was a perfect summer evening as the sun went down on Paris. Though the final day had brought some major challenges we had all made it and everyone could feel justly proud of themselves.
A chance for the guides and the fabulous Student Adventures support team to get some photos together: a great bunch of people who made it a pleasure and a privilege to be involved.
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| Guides & Support Crew |
.....and as the night closed in...and the lights came on...........tired and euphoric guides and crew packed the bikes away for transportation back to London and strolled to the Cafe Le Dome on the Avenue de la Bourdonnais for a well earned dinner.
Day 4 - Free day in Paris!
Metro day ticket and a rush around to see...
................the Jim Morrison memorial at Pere Lachaise, Notre Dame & the Pompidou Centre before the convening at the Gare Du Nord for the Eurostar ride back to London.
.............Fin
