London to Paris (L2P) cycling on road Thursday 15th – Saturday 17th June 2017 Last year, Steven just happened to ask me if I wanted to do the London to Paris cycle ride…. I said yeah, why not? Without thinking about it properly! I thought it would be an easy ride through the park thingy! I had been busy running after the London Marathon and had the all clear from the GP, so felt ready for a new challenge. So, after paying in full (£380) for the cycle trip including ferry, hotels, van hire and the Eurostar…. it was time to think ahead for the L2P. Steven then mentioned to me that he was worried about me using my old mountain bike for the trip! He said that it was too heavy and wouldn’t be able to keep up with the others in the group. So, we went shopping to look at the road bikes and to try some out. I then decided to buy a brand new sports bike! I have to admit that it was quite an irrational and rushed decision on my part. I Looked at second hand bikes on ebay etc but having had bad experiences of second hand bikes in the past and problems with my daughter’s bike, I decided to go for a new one. I went ahead and bought a brand new sports bike from Evans bike shop. This particular bike cost me £900! Ouch! Now I understand why Steven hid the true cost of his bike last year when he did coast to coast cycling! This time it was my turn! Haha. I bought myself a lovely Bianche bike – a specialist Italian hand-made bike. Once I had picked it up, there wasn’t much time to get a lot of training in with the bike. I only managed to do the CFC Stratford 30 miles a couple of weeks before the L2P event and then realised that I was quite naïve in thinking that I could do it without training. I had so much to learn, especially with gear changing and uphill cycling. Day One – Thursday 15th June Three guys Nick, Chris (both hearing) and Mike started from home to Trafalgar Square and met us there. The night before we went over to Gareth’s house (hearing, CODA who also has a deaf wife) who was the organiser of the whole cycling trip and gave him our clothes, bags and our bikes. The driver for the event was Marcus (deaf & Gareth’s baby brother!) who put all the bikes and bags into the hired van. We then met him at Waterloo Place, just around the corner from Trafalgar Square, which was our starting point of the London to Paris cycling trip. After a sleepless night at Steven’s house, we caught the train from Harpenden to Kings Cross and met up with 3 other deaf guys on the train – Adam, Simon and Gary who were also with us for the L2P trip. We were all pretty nervous and made our way to Waterloo Place to meet everyone. I was petrified at the thought of cycling with all of them knowing that I was the least experienced out of the lot. However, it was reassuring to know that there would be a van beside us in case anything happened. We were running a bit late but eventually arrived. Everyone got changed into their cycling gear and began to get their bikes ready. I arrived in my cycling clothes with a fleece jacket and a small rucksack for money and drinks. After several group photos at Trafalgar Square, we started off together along the embankment, over the bridge and through places I was familiar with like Brixton, Croydon, Purley and a couple of parks with cycling paths. We were cycling on the specialised cycling path along the road, it was beautifully smooth tarmac a lot of the way and of course being in a city, we stopped at many traffic lights along the way. I felt quite confident with my cycling at this point until after we went through Purley. We cycled up a big hill where we saw the beautiful skyline of London. That was the point when I realised that I had some big problems ahead of me! The roads soon became very hilly along the way. It was less busy on the roads through the countryside, but I did start to struggle a bit with the hills. I was at the back of the group cycling alone at this point which was really tough. Gareth and Steven supported me along the way and eventually Mike helped with some instructions on how to cycle properly uphill. Marcus met us at the top of the hill and also met us at different places along the road to make sure that everyone was okay. It was really reassuring to know they were somewhere behind me (they stopped at places and moved to catch up with us). Eventually we were in the Redhill area and suddenly I was in Bletchingley village! Oh gosh I thought….. I had to stop here and say hello to my dearest old friend Mark (also godfather of my daughter). Everyone stopped at a shop over the road opposite Mark’s café Lamington. I went over and just walked in the café. Mark was dumbfounded as he watched me walk into his café. He was putting a slice of cake onto a plate when the cake fell apart he was so shocked! (He later put that piece of cake into a takeaway bag along with carrot cake and some cheesey scones for me!) Unfortunately, my visit was right in the middle of the busy time at the café and Mark struggled to serve all of us outside the café with water as well as his regular customers. It was an unexpected visit for both of us! It was also good to see Lulu who was helping Mark out on the day. During the stop, Mike checked my bike over as he thought that my saddle was too high for me and put it down for me. There were then photos taken outside the café before everyone took off again! I felt a bit of pressure as I tried to sort out my saddle knowing I was holding everyone back from arriving at the hotel in a good time. Everyone wanted to get there so they could eat and relax and get to bed at a reasonable hour. So, I decided to put my bike in the van and rode with Marcus to the hotel. I think I made the right decision in doing this as I lost a bit of confidence, especially at the last part before arriving Marks café. I really enjoyed riding through London, I thought it was going to be awful but surprisingly it wasn’t! I would definitely ride again in and around London. I was amazed with Marcus keeping up with everyone especially the front two riders Nick and Chris (apparently they rode to work everyday). Mike admitted that he enjoyed being with the 2 front riders even though he went back a bit to ensure everyone had stayed together including his wife Mags, Simon, Gary, Gareth, Steven and Adam. There was a lot of hilly countryside roads at the beginning and then a very busy road towards Newhaven. I have so much admiration for everybody for riding up those hills. I hadn’t realised how much was actually involved with cycling. There is a lot of skill involved with changing gears and stuff. I also still had a bit of a cough at this point and wanted to save myself for the best part later on during the cycling trip and maybe on less hilly roads! John also came with me in the van and helped to keep Marcus company as he’d had a bit of a health scare recently so he took it easy and rode a bit now and then. I didn’t know John or Marcus at all before the day and as we were getting to know each other we realised we all had connections somewhere in the deaf community! We know of someone! Also, Marcus and myself went to the same deaf school but during a different era but we know a lot of the same people…. Small world! Strange how we never crossed paths before, but maybe we did and just didn’t realise! It was the same for John who is related to John Hay and his wife Shirley. At one point the gap between the riders became wider and wider meaning most riders rode alone not together! Thank goodness I was off the road otherwise I was embarrassingly far behind! Two of the riders weren’t happy and one thought that he had been left behind and may be lost (He was really anxious because he realised that he have no phone with him so no access to MapMyRide or contacts). We reassured him that he just had to keep on going straight ahead and he would be fine. Eventually Steven, Adam and Gary became one group. Mags eventually caught up and stayed behind Mike. Gareth and Simon stayed together. They stopped at the last 7 miles and rode together as a group for the last part of the journey to the Premier Inn at Newhaven. I was in awe of the riders as they all looked really whacked! I really admired them all. We were then allowed to put our bikes into our rooms, which was a brilliant opportunity to prepare the bikes ready for the next day. (We did put our bikes into bed and took a quick photo!! Haha!) After a quick shower we met up at the hotel bar next door and had a beer. I have to say that the beer tasted so gooooood! I was knackered but knew that others were worse than me. I could see Steven bearing up with the tiredness of the journey and feeling so hungry that he could eat a horse! Simon recommended a good restaurant (from his work friend I think) down the road called The Ark. We all went down there and enjoyed a good quality meal. I would have eaten anywhere and wouldn’t have minded staying at the restaurant next door to the hotel and having cheap steak. However, the service and food/drink at The Ark was particularly good. We got to know each other a little more over dinner and the guys wanted a few more beers so headed back to the hotel bar to discover it was closed! Haha. I was planning on going straight to bed anyway, especially after the previous night’s awful sleep. I went into a lovely deep sleep! Day Two – Friday 16th June It was a shock to wake the next morning and see Steven opening the curtains saying it was time to get going. The thought of more cycling worried me! My bottom was hurting like hell (another reason why Mike moved the saddle down a bit on my bike after discovering I had a sore bottom so soon into the event). I got up and got dressed into my Bianche cycling gear that Steven had given me for my birthday the previous week, also put my fleece jacket on top as it was seven in the morning and a bit chilly. We put our bags into the van and cycled ourselves to the ferry terminal down the road. We were all feeling relaxed as we cruised along at dawn. There was a bit of a chill in the air, but we knew it would be warming up later on. We then collected our tickets and went through passport control.There were a bit of a wait as there were many others waiting to be processed and around 200 people cycled onto the ferry. We then got off and walked with our bikes over the ramp into the ferry for safety. We were led to an area where we parked our bikes against the wall in twos. The van went separately and joined us later (he joined us at the back of the long breakfast queue!!). We assumed that the ferry crew had used straps to keep all the bikes stacked up to the wall like the motorbikes to stop them falling all over the place. We then enjoyed eating our breakfast, it was four long hours ferrying cross the English channel. Steven and I went walking about outside. The weather was very nice as it was warm and sunny out there and people were relaxing on the decking chairs. It was at this point when I Looked out to sea and thought of Andrew Rees (old deaf school friend) swimming across the English Channel – how amazing was that?! I met a couple of lovely riders on the ferry as I noticed one of them had an electric bike so I asked if we could swap bikes! She explained that she can now enjoy cycling with her husband who was into cycling with the use of the electric bike. She can charge up the bike and rely on its power to get her up the hills! Amazing. She also asked me questions such as where were our bags and luggage etc. I also enjoyed looking at the other cyclists and groups of cyclists. Anyway, we got off smoothly and safely. I realised that I had a wobbly back tyre so Mike quickly took off the wheel and sorted out the bearings and put it back together for me. All was sorted and off we went cruising through France! Riding on the left side of the road felt a little strange at first. We rode on the road for 7 miles before we came across the cycling path (old railway path) which was 30 miles long passing cafes and bars. It was practically flat but no freewheeling though as it was an uphill gradient so we have to peddle most of the time. There were many road crossings in-between and many other cyclists and groups of cyclists. It was great to be part of the cycling community! We stopped at places for water drinks and snacks. There was a nice clean toilet block somewhere along the way! I fell off the bike at one point as I was still stuck in my cleats on the grass laughing my head off. Steven had to help me out! Luckily no one was about! Steven and I cycled together most of the way and the rest of the group broke away. We met up nearly towards the end of the cycling path along with meeting Marcus and his van where we topped up with water and had some sweets! A nice treat! I got a mini Mars bar. There was a pretty chateau where we took photos. Steven used MapMyRide to lead us to the hotel at Gournay-en-Bray. It was very much a French hotel (Hotel Le Cygne) which felt like it was stuck in a time warp! I managed the hills, especially so during the last 10 miles before the hotel. I built up my confidence with gear changes on the flat routes and built up to the gentle hills. I was amazed with myself and felt so good. I enjoyed the ride much more as I was feeling good and confident rather than frustrated and miserable. The guys already had a head start with beers at the hotel and even sent a photo of them drinking beers to us as were still cycling. The beers were waiting for us on the table when we arrived! Marcus and Mike greeted us upon arrival which was a lovely feeling. Gareth was at his bedroom window looking down at us putting away our bikes into the garage and took our bags out of the van so we could go for our lovely showers (we had showers whereas the others got a bath! Ha) The hotel was very old fashioned a bit like a boutique old hotel in a quaint old sleepy French village. Luckily we managed to get a table at the restaurant a few doors down. At first we struggled with the French menu then the chef came out to greet people and discovered we were English so we sorted out the menu and got what we wanted. I got peppered steak with chips, which was just perfect as the protein stopped me feeling hungry later on. My bed was calling for me so I had to leave them all and go up to the hotel on my own. They all had a few more beers! The room was nicely dark with a lovely breeze from the open window….bliss! I woke up in the middle of the night in the pitch black and had to check if my eyes were open or not! I put the lights on and discovered that Steven was gone from his bed and found him on the toilet. He had found it difficult to find the bathroom door and probably woke me up in the process of feeling his way round the room! Day Three – Saturday 17th June I had already agreed with Gareth and Marcus the previous night that Steven and I would have a head-start before the others and so we cycled off straight after breakfast. I was determined to make it all the way to Paris. So we checked out of the room and set the bikes and everything up ready before breakfast. The French hotelier ensured that we got all we needed for breakfast. As I picked up a jam packet, he said to use his homemade jam instead and it was fab! We then ate French stick with yummy salted French butter and his jam! The others were amazed when we told them that we were ready for the off. Adam and Gary quickly checked out and joined us because they wanted a relaxing ride with no pressure to begin with! I took Ibuprofen for my bottom pains! As well as Chamois cream (I don’t think the cream helped much!) The four of us stayed together and we had a good laugh along the way. The French country roads were fab, hilly but manageable. That’s when I started to get the hang of using the gears on the bike. It was the perfect place to learn gear changing and the whole cycling thing! There were a few hills that were murder – I did try cycling all the way but there was one long hill that I had to get off and walk on and met the others at the top. Somewhere in the beautiful countryside between villages we stopped at a farm track and took a left and managed to get onto a track with MapwithRide app. Steven had his bright orange jersey on which he had to change as it was attracting all the flies!!! (Later I found out that Chris did the same with his yellow jersey (amazingly enough Steven and Chris were wearing the very same jersey – a black and white one from Aldi with the famous crane on the clothes!) At this point, I think this was probably the best part of the whole trip. We went very fast downhill and uphill chased each other along. About three hours later (one hour before lunch break) the other riders caught up with us. Adam and Gary went along with them. Steven advanced ahead with Mike and Mags though I was behind him. It was hard for us to look behind properly without being wobbly on the wheels – a bit dangerous if a car or lorry was next to you. I stopped at a traffic light and they went far ahead and left me behind! I carried on and ended up at the roundabout not knowing where to turn. I knew Gareth with Nick and Chris were behind me so I waited and they caught up with me and took me with them and found Steven further up! I was scared for a bit then. We found a pizza takeaway place in a very quiet village. We just looked at the picture pizza menu. Steven and I shared a super fab tasty pizza – instead of tomatoes sauce it was covered with crème fraige cream with sausages of all sorts on top with Orangina. Just what we needed! After a quick toilet stop, we were on the move again into the suburbs of Paris. More towns and surburbs and more traffic lights. I would love to have stopped more at places and explored the villages and towns. However, chop chop, we were moving fast! Steven was really patient and stayed with me until we met up with the others at the Lake. They were paddling their feet in the pools next to the lake in a beautiful shopping town. We stuffed ourselves with McFlurrys and moved on again quickly. It was tough and a very long day! We cycled together along the river Seine on a quiet road on the side. This was where my front tyre got punctured after skidding round a corner – luckily I put my foot on the ground to pick myself up quickly at the busy traffic lights as we took a turn along the river. Chris was behind me and stopped with me and the flat tyre! Why me?! Chris quickly caught up with Steven and they came back together. Amazingly they changed the tyre in 5 minutes flat! Changing tyres and pumping it up again… they were so fast! We were then ack on the road and I carried on and we caught up with others. They were also amazed how quickly I got back on the road!! They put me in the front behind Gareth – I felt more confident cycling together as a group especially in Paris. I felt a little more pressure as I kept up with Gareth so no tagging behind alone! The roundabouts and traffic light systems were weird in Paris. I stopped alone at one traffic light just before the roundabout and the motorbike next to me drove in front of me and took a turn while I was going straight on! I braked hard to avoid a collision and the motorcyclist just smiled at me! Oh crap! Approximately 15 miles later we could see the Arc de Triumphe, along with the famous big roundabout where we throttled along the cobbled streets of Paris. We could then see the top of the Effiel tower in view and it got closer and closer. Marcus and John waved at us past the Efiiel tower! Wow… I was overwhelmed and shed a few tears before we went underneath. It was an awkward place to take photos. So I suggested we move up on the side to get better photos with the Effiel tower behind us. We had several laughs lifting our bikes up in the air! Fab photos. The feeling was amazing, but I was really exhausted along with a very sore bum and neck! However, we weren’t done! We had another 5 miles of riding to the hotel (Campanile Hotel) East of Paris…. more cobbled streets and more of a sore bottom – I had to lift up my bottom off the seat and continue pedalling – hence the reason why I had a black mark on my leg from the oil on the group set. More gentle hills were encountered towards the hotel and my bike got stuck in the gears especially on the 2 gear on the left. So I struggled uphill and got off the bike. I walked for a bit and Steven sorted out the gears and I had to use low gears all the way to the hotel. It was nice to see the hotel in sight! We then stuffed the bikes into the van and chained them to the drainpipe under the basement once at the hotel. When I was in my room, I took off my clothes and lied down naked on the bed dead to the world! It was tough to try and wee at first with a sore bum! Afterwards I had a fabulous power shower to take off all the salt on my body from sweating all day along. I had done 80 miles! Crikey, really unbelievable! I was buzzzzzing and wanted to do it again, yet to do it properly next time and to go the whole hog and complete it faster!!Ha We then headed down to The hotel bar, which was good and we were all happy to stay there all night! We moved into the bar area after the buffet (fab puddings – back on the diet when I got back home!!) The guys loved the beer, especially with “beer on tap” and the opportunity of filling up with 7 pints of beer to share! I couldn’t drink more than one beer as I was really knackered! I was struggling to stay up. I went to bed and the guys partied till 2am. Two of the guys carried on cycling and explored Paris the next day! Crazy people but lovely! Hope they will come if we do it again and we can cycle again together! We all split up the next day to explore Paris we had one full day in Paris. It was Steven’s first time in Paris so we went up the Effiel Tower, as well as to see the Arc and walked along the Champ Elstee and the beautiful Montmarte area. We then had a meal together and a beer outside in the back courtyard on the deck chairs. More beer on tap! We cheered Marcus and Gareth for their hard work and all they had done to make the trip a success. They did an incredible job organising the whole thing…..brilliant stuff! I also want to say Thank you to Steven (same to the others) for being patient with me. He could have gone and left me behind and cycled with the others! Steven – I promise I will be better next time! Losing weight, getting fitter, and maybe spinning classes – who knows! Whats next?! Watch this space
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