Deadline Paris…with 17mins to Spare!
After awful weather and torrid conditions eight riders made it to Paris in under 24 hours…with 17 minutes to spare! That is an incredible 265 miles in a day. And one rider who had ridden to support another colleague rode the final 100 miles solo to arrive in Paris in time for a well deserved beer….although he did get lost in Paris.
One article could never really do this tale justice…but I will try my best.
At 15.15 on a wet and cold London day 12 riders set off from Marble Arch with intention of cycling 80 miles to Dover by 9.30 to catch the 10.15 ferry…miss that and game over. This would need to be a fast ride…and it was.
London traffic was…well… London traffic…nothing worse or better than expected…but we were in a hurry so used riding tactics unseen since wacky races to get ahead of the pack. Our support team of Sophie, Kevin and Sheryl were not so lucky…vans cannot go between parked cars (although Kevin tried a few times).
With some degree of urgency we managed to miss the first scheduled pit stop and charged on with the van chasing us, meeting and refueling us at a petrol station (which was appropriate), and then ploughing on towards Maidstone. First minor hiccup at this stop with a member of the team in minor disagreement with a car owner that his bike was worth more than their car…time to leave we thought…
The next real challenge was understanding the shortcuts provided by Martin ‘Foodie’ Bean…one of which must have shaved at least 3 minutes off and meant going along a cycle path and carrying bikes down steps (it was becoming more a cyclocross than a road ride)…and the punctures always come in ‘twos’ issue that was seriously beginning to put in time our ferry departure plans.
Then came the hill…at 75 miles the last thing anyone wants to do (except perhaps Ian Stanton and Mark Beaumont) is encounter a hill that saps the life out of you…460ft in 1.4 miles was not pleasant for anyone. After that it was plain sailing into Dover (all down hill) and one of the highlights…riding onto the ferry! Most of us got a real kick out of doing that.
The ferry consisted of Sophie, Sheryl and Kevin force feeding us pasta prepared by Ian Ainstess (always a worry…), drinking copious amounts of fluid (not beer…) and preparing ourselves for the French leg.
The landing and disembarkation from Calais was of equal fun…until we got outside…the weather had followed us and to cap it all if felt windy…it wasn’t going to be a pleasant morning. Following a puncture almost immediately the team set off for Boulogne and the first stop.
It was wet and windy and the first hill came as a bit of a shock to everyone, but with the van providing lights and encouragement we all arrived for the first morning stop. Still on target…just.
The next 6 hours proved to be probably the worst cycling experience anyone (bar Mark B) have ever experienced. I will never ever book a holiday in France in June – it was cold and miserable with rain and wind that was really trying to kill us. The salt rain that came down in buckets while we were on the flats after Boulogne was quite simply painful…and wet weather gear means…stay in your house not get on a bike! This section claimed two scalps…leaving 10 on the road.
After Abbeville the road started to rise again and the team had to tackle a number of difficult climbs before the next stop in Beauvais…at which point they were behind schedule with the supposed easier riding roads behind them!
Beauvais was when the team looked at their lowest – tired and in some cases not quite of this world – as ever the support team provided much needed cheer, sustenance, and encouragement. Next stop was Pontoise but before that the team had to tackle a difficult 368ft climb in under 0.5mile to reach the highest point of the ride (771ft)…but at least this did mean that they were downhill into the next rest stop.
As ever the trusty support van was waiting at the gateway to the town – threw food and drink at them and told them 18 miles to go in just under an 1.5hrs…not only had they made up the time but now it really did look like they could make it!
And so to Paris…with the support team waiting for them to appear from the Ave de Wagram…which they duly did at 17mins under the 24 hrs…’boshing’ their way through the traffic at the Arc to arrive at their final destination.
But this wasn’t the end of the tale…Mark Beaumont had stayed behind to support another member of the team…and then he continued on in a solo charge to the Arc. As ever nothing was going to stop this man from completing the journey..apart from the fact that he really isn’t very good in cities and he was the man who after cycling around the word , across continents, down countries, up mountains…couldn’t find the Arc de Triomphe!!! Not a man to be defeated…he bought a map and arrived in time for a well deserved beer at the scene of his original world challenge completion…a bar on the Ave de Wagram.
High and low lights are many…but to pick a few:
- Seeing the team arrive under 24 hrs – exhilarating and quite emotional
- The weather was something not to be experienced again / don’t think any of us have ever been colder..shivering on the bike and loss of feeling in so many parts of your body became common place…warming up was just as painful!
- Getting to the ferry on time and the sun coming out at Pontoise (18miles to go) were real highlights…knowing the two key deadlines will be hit.
- France is a wonderful country…when dry…and the roads make the UK’s roads look ridiculous. Smooth and made for pleasant riding.
- Traffic and roads in London going out, and returning on Sunday were horrible. Why does it take 2 hours to travel 6 miles in one of the great world cities!!!!!!!!!!
- Stupidest comment of the challenge – asking whether Mark Beaumont would be okay cycling on alone…doh!
And a final thought for the reason why we all put ourselves forward for this challenge…to raise money for a fantastic cause…Maggies Centres…and so far with great donations from family, friends, supporters, and colleagues we’ve nearly reached our target of £8,000..take a look at the site: http://www.justgiving.com/ldcarchtoarc/ - so a big thank you to everyone who has helped us on this adventure.
Editor’s Note – The team would also like to thank Mule Bars, Leasedrive Velo, Zipvit_Sports and Evans for their support of this adventure. It was fully appreciated by the team throughout the event.
Well done! Brings back memories of our 24hr ride last summer for the Scope charity. ‘That hill’ at Dover, the relentless mile after mile throughout the night, cold, wet and a long way from anywhere. Desperate fro dawn to break. It was great (looking back)!
Our ride was supposed to be in relay but my team-mate Chris and I decided we’d try and do the whole ride together. We cut it even closer than you, we made it with just under 2 minutes to spare!