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London to Paris - A Ride for Charity

June 21st, 2010 - Posted by Mike - RKC Owner

The Route

Paul Fairburn writes…

My wife Jo Fairburn, friend Helen Pearcey and I, decided to take on a challenge this year to raise money for Everyman – the male cancer charity. We were inspired to do it because our son Josh recovered from cancer last year. This was undoubtedly because of the research and hard work done over the years to combat cancer – and we’re keen to see this continue.
We decided to do the ride with Skyline (www.skylineoverseas.co.uk). They organize rides like this all the time, and you can choose which charity you support. On our ride there were dozens of different causes being supported, with 78 riders signed up.
Preparation
Jo and Helen headed to Red Kite to research some bikes last November. The team in the shop were great. I joined Jo and Helen when they went in to pick up their bikes, to get one for me too. Cycling 290 miles to Paris on my mountain bike or my Brompton wouldn’t have been a great idea…
The ladies bought Trek road bikes, and I got myself a Specialized. They served us well, and got us to Paris, which is the main thing.
Training in January wasn’t easy, with all the bad weather. So I bought one of those rollers to do some training in my garage. They work – but it’s not the same as proper cycling. I did catch up on some TV shows in the garage though!
We kept popping back to Red Kite, to buy more gear. Clothes, accessories, gunk cleaner, etc. etc. We became regulars. The staff in the shop have always been great – very helpful and full of useful advice.

Jo and Helen joined Red Kite’s Belles on Bikes – to get some free tips. What a great idea! They picked up some great advice, which they passed on to me.
Our training progressed over the months, as we built up the miles. We weren’t going very fast. “It’s not a race” was Jo’s refrain, when I mentioned speed. The only problem with going “steadily” when cycling to Paris is that you have to catch a ferry in Dover on the first day!
We planned training routes around Warwickshire and Worcestershire, using the Veloroutes website. But lately I’ve discovered www.GPSies.com. This is very good for planning a route, and better than Veloroutes. You can print maps and altitude charts, and download the route in multiple formats for your navigation kit, if you have any.
I used an old windows mobile phone and a free programme called Bikedashboard. But if you’re lucky enough to have an iPhone, there’s an App for that. Obviously.
I pushed myself a bit harder than the ladies, and soon regretted it. I developed ITB Syndrome. That’s painful – on the outside of the knee. One solution to this is to stop exercising for a month; rest; and build up the exercise slowly after that. That was clearly not an option with only a few weeks to go to the 290 mile challenge.
I visited Red Kite again, Mike fitted me with Time ATAC pedals/cleats to keep my legs in the right position. Then I had a course of physiotherapy, and lots of Voltarol (Always read the label). My knees hurt a bit; not enough to stop me training though. Would I make it to the ferry in time on day one?
The first day London-Dover (and then on to the hotel in Calais) is advertised as 95 miles. We trained steadily, increasing our mileage each weekend. But the longest we managed before the actual trip was 70 miles. Would we get to Dover?!
The 4 Day challenge
Day 1
We woke up at 5am on June 2nd and made our way to the Crystal Palace registration point. The weather was good, though the day before had been very wet.

We signed in, put tags on our bikes, put our luggage onto the Skyline van, and waited for the briefing.
The Skyline people are great, and the event was very well organized. The route was marked by fluorescent cardboard triangles. Follow those, and you’re fine. The briefing warned us when to expect water stops and lunch… and hills!
We set off at around 7am, to get out of London before the serious traffic.
Here’s a chart showing the altitude variation over the first day’s ride from London to Dover.

The Skyline team warned us about the nasty hill at about 22 miles. But the hardest were the ones before Dover. The “Downs” is not a name I’d have chosen for them.
The Kent countryside was spectacular in the sunshine, and after 91 miles of pedaling we made it to the rendezvous point in Dover.
We caught the ferry to Calais, and due to the time difference it was about 9.45pm before we docked in Calais. We then had to cycle to our hotel – another 7 miles away. We got to bed around midnight, expecting to start pedaling at 9am the next day.
The total mileage for the first day had been 99 miles, according to my bike computer.

Day 2
The briefing told us to expect more hills on day two. But at least we were only going to cycle 72 miles.
The lunch stops were always pleasant – on Day 2 it was particularly nice. A wooded glade by a small pond.

The next hotel (Ibis) was in Abbeville, and the only thing we had to arrive in time for was dinner at 7.30pm. Easy!
I think this was the day we passed a sign claiming that the temperature was 31 deg C…

Day 3
The route from Abbeville to Beauvais was hillier, I swear, than day 2. But the briefing underplayed it - a lot. The best thing about it was that once we’d hit the peak altitude, the descent to Beauvais was gradual and easy. The road was fast… and so once we’d make it to the highest point it was great!
(You may have realized by now that I’m not a hill-thrasher…)
This shorter day meant plenty of time for a drink and the evening meal. Much more relaxed than the first day’s mad dash.

Day 4
This was the highlight. The big finish!
The day started with a long hill we hadn’t been warned about… and it did involve the most traffic and lots of potholes, but at least it was the shortest distance; 53 miles.
We all enjoyed a leisurely lunch stop, so that the fastest and slowest riders weren’t strung out too far. We rendezvous’d at the Bois De Bologne, and then rode together to the Eiffel Tower.
The best thing about riding in convoy in Paris is the way we could ignore red lights and bully our way round those huge scary roundabouts. Like the one round the Arc de Triomphe! Sheer weight of numbers got us respect.

If you’ve considered doing the London to Paris Challenge, our advice is to do it. You’ll have a great time as long as you train for the hills. I’m the wrong side of 50, and I can do it… so give it a go. And consider raising money for Everyman (www.everyman-campaign.org) while you do.
Thanks to Red Kite for all the help and advice. And thanks to my physiotherapist for keeping my legs working…

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