So what can I say? In summary, I got there. In fact, I feel that I more than "got there" - I could certainly have gone further and I am somewhat envious of the seven people who were doing the full route from London, via Paris and Geneva to Nice. So we will see what the future holds in that direction ..
9th September. Meeting up and getting to Paris.
We turned up at St Pancras, consulted the joining instructions and went to M&S. There was a distinct lack of other cyclists and Discover Adventure personnel and we were a little worried. Fortunately, someone else also turned up - he had a friend who he knew was doing the ride and he phoned him. There are two M&S shops at St Pancras. So we tracked the other one down and, sure enough, there was the van waiting for lost cyclists who had failed the first initiative test. Just Time for John to give us the first two bars of the Grieg piano concerto and also down a full English before boarding the Eurostar. Arrival in Paris was followed by a tour of the Metro and it turned out that the hotel where we were staying was the one where we had stayed on the last night of the London/Paris ride two years ago. That added to the feeling of this being a continuation of the previous ride.
6 pm - here come the bikes. No way out now - we have to do the ride. Just time to put them together (having packed them in the bike bags for the journey), before time for dinner where we all met for the first time. Also there were seven who had done the London/Paris ride over the previous 4 days with just a day to recover.
10th September. Paris to Sens. 84 miles, cycling time 5h 32m.
It is 5:30 in the morning and the alarm goes off. Tempted to throw it out of the window. Temptation resisted! Just one hour to get up and ready for the off at 6:30. At 6:31, two things happened. 1) It started to rain and 2) someone's tube exploded. I sounded like a shot a couple of streets away. At least that gave us a good excuse to go back inside while the puncture was fixed. But after another 10 minutes, there was no more excuse. So it was a case of on the bikes to the Eiffel Tower (cue the first of many puns from John - 'That's a bit of an eye-full'). We posed for numerous photos in the dark and the set off, dodging the Paris rush hour, which was not as bad as the London rush hour. And after about an hour, we were beginning to be clear of the traffic. Each day had a water stop after about 20 miles, lunch after about 40-50 miles, another water stop in the afternoon around 60-70 miles. And lunch was always welcome. Today, the sun was out by then and the sun-cream was needed in some quantity.
Everyone was making good time. Indeed, at the end of the trip, The Discover Adventure staff said that they had never known a group that had finished so early every day. So even with a lengthy extra stop at a cafe in the town before going the hotel, we were still completed by 16:00.
11th September. Sens to Semur-en-Auxois. 84 miles, cycling time 5h 10m.
When asked what the forecast was, Paddy just said, "Rain". So we expected the worst. But as it turned out, there was only an hour of light drizzle in the afternoon. So the morning was very pleasant - somewhat overcast which kept the temperature very pleasant for cycling. By now, Alex was demonstrating that the personal training session with Mr Wiggins had paid off and was way ahead. So John and I were enjoying a more leisurely ride with the chance to take photos. Lunch was just short of Chablis. There were a couple of more interesting hills in the day, but nothing too strenuous.
At the top of the last of these, three things happened. 1) Rain, 2) water stop in the middle of nowhere (but the DA people had provided a gazebo that kept the cakes etc dry) and 3) a message from the office about a small problem. 3) was soon fixed. 2) provided shelter and fortunately 1) disappeared as well. So onwards to Semur. And as we came down the little hill towards the main road, there was a superb view across the village where everyone, to a man (or women - forgot to say - 32 men and 3 ladies on this ride) stopped for a photo.
12th September. Semur-en-Auxois to Lons-le-Saunier. 98 miles, cycling time 6h 29m.
So this is where the hills start. Still not too bad - only one that was long - about 4 miles, all around 6-7%. As most people stopped at the cafe at the bottom (at the recommendation of the organisers), I think I had the pleaure of being first up. Apart from being the day with the highest altitude so far, it was also the longest ride. In the afternoon, John wanted to stretch his legs a bit and went on with Alex and the fastest group. I had the real pleasure of cycling with George and Steve - a father and son pairing from Bath who were two of those who had come from London and were going to Nice. They are amazing. George is 76 and Steve is 50.
After the climb up to about 580 metres, there was a long descent down to 200 metres. Enjoy descents while you can. As John has pointed out in the past, there is always a pay-back time for it. Lunch was after the descent and then there was an afternoon of more-or-less flat riding to the overnight stop at Lons. The dinner was excellent - buffet starter which, in essence, means "All you can eat". Just what was needed for the final day. Paddy's breifing for this was ominous - "Hills, hills hill".
13th September. Lons-le-Saunier to Gevena. 75 miles, cycling time 5h 56m.
This is the day we have been looking forward to for the last year. Of course, there are two ways of looking forward to something 1) excitement and 2) trepidation. This was a mixture of large chunks of both and I'm sure that this contributed to the rather sleepless night. The first hill was after 2 miles. So there was no warm up time - the approach was down a slight incline and then the hill loomed with warnings of slow lorries. It was probably only about 14%, but it was a about a mile long over the steep part with a less steep section following. I cycled it, but will confess to a couple quick stops to let the heart rate come down. Then it was a bit undulating to the water break and beyond before a 7k downhill at 6%. I spent most of the 7k working out the altitude loss. This may seem a bit geeky, but there is was a practical side as well. I knew that every metre downwards, whilst very pleasurable, meant an extra metre upwards when the mountain climbs started.
And there wasn't long to wait. The town of St. Claude marked the start of the 20k hill. John decided to take a break with some who had already arrived at a cafe just at the bottom of the hill. I decided to try to get a start up the hill. Again, I will confess to a couple of stops to get the heart rate down. But I cycled without walking. 10k up the hill was the lunch break, just after the road markings that showed the Tour de France had had the end of a timed section on this hill in the past. After lunch, the hill continued. I had the pleasure again of George and Steve's company and after what seemed like a long time, we came across the summit, marked by a statue of a bike, about 15/20 feet high.
Then there was another lengthy downhill before the road went up again. What I didn't realise was that this was now the beginning of the col de la faucile which had formed the subject of so much conversation over the last 12 months. In effect, this was what this ride was all about in cycling terms.
Of course, it was pretty clear that the road was going upwards and maybe there was one place at the start where I needed one gear lower. And, as on the previous hill, I took a couple of stops to let the heart rate come down. But it didn't seem to be too long before the road joined another one and the gradient lessened and I found myself going up the hill at around 16 miles an hour. Then there loomed up a sign announcing that the best view in Europe was about to appear on the right hand side of the road. I was, by now, riding with another participant and we turned off to look at the view. And as we did so, Paddy appeared to make sure we were alright and telling us that we had reached the top of the col. I can tell you that I almost cried - mainly with disbelief that the top had come already. It signalled the end of the uphill. I had spend the previous 12 months preparing for this moment - all the gym work and the tough rides in Richmond, Sheffield and the Peak district had paid off. OK - we still had to get to Geneva, but this was a simple task of sitting on the bike and letting gravity do the job. So perhaps you can forgive the emotion.
There was a wonderful view on the way down. Despite the overcast conditions, there was the lake and the city of Geneva 800 metres below us in height. With a clear day, Mont Blanc would have been visible. And after not too many minutes, we were able to have our photos taken by the lakeside.
14th September. Relaxing in Geneva
It was so good to see Thommy after 17 years. The happiest years of my working life were spent with him in Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Estonia and (of course) Bournemouth. There was a lot of catching up to do. And there was the bonus of being able to meet up with Maria and Terry for a leisurely lunch. If you have read this far, please remember that the reason for doing this ride is because of people like Maria suffering from MND. It was difficult saying goodbye to the others, especially those going on to Nice (the lucky ones). There was the bike to pack away and get to the airport - thank you to Alex for your help with this!. Easyjet were very efficient. They got us back to Luton five minutes early and don't appear to have destroyed the bikes.
I've done my part. the total distance was 341 miles. Yes, I enjoyed it. As I said to one or two people, I can't say that I "enjoyed" every single moment - there were some very tough moments. But despite that, it was enjoyable. Very enjoyable. Now can you do your part and spare a few pounds to help a few other people like Maria? Click this link to sponsor me.
