Day two report

Well what a day, that was probably the best days cycling I have ever done. Everything was perfect, the weather was hot with a light breeze and riding in a group that was led by a support car with outriders on motor bikes closing every junction. Not only did the support make you feel special the ride had an even pace that let you cruise, eating the miles up while having the oportunity to chat riding side by side. This is as close to being a pro as I will ever get, talking of pros someone said today that we will do something that Bradley Wiggins won't and thats make Paris. There were several people fall today, nothing serious that I heard of thank god. I have to share Ian Wright's fall, sorry Ian. As the group slowed to a stop the rider by his side lost his balance and put a hand on Ian's shoulder, this sent Ian still clipped in heading in to the biggest bunch of stinging nettles ever. While there were several explitives and much laughter amoungst the group, Ian took it in great spirit and the defining image was of him stuffing dock leaves down his shorts, a top guy all round. As for me I had one near miss with a guy falling in front of me and the heat took its toll in the afternoon, I have never drunk so much and not needed the loo. So I actually feel great at the end of day two and am looking forward to tomorrow already, thanks for all the support and "Roll on Paris".

London Paris day 1

Well we finally set off today and what a great experiance. In my eagerness not to be late I was the first cyclist at Greenwich this morning, at least there was no que at regestration. It was a bit chilly and the waiting around was doing nothing for my muscles, but with all the photo and media stuff done we set off shortly after 8am. The morning London rush hour was not great with lots of stop start action but once into Kent we were racing along, one long decent saw me doing 43 mile per hour and what a thrill that was in a large group nose to tail. The first stop saw Ian Wright throwing his bike on the floor and cursing the hills. The second stint was the long one of the day and I hooked onto a group with a good average speed and got pulled along for what was many a mile. We had left the busy roads and found some quiet country lanes, in full sun this was what I had dreamed of. Lunch stop was around 62 miles with only 13 left to the coach stop, this turned out to be the hardest part of the day. The legs felt dead after the stop and the wind had picked up and was in our faces, on top of this the timed hill climb loomed, I was not in a good place at this point. Well what a hill, I did make it with out stopping but I dont know how and I sure did not break any records. Two miles later I was hit with cramp and struggled to the finish, It was a brilliant day and I have met many people, I finished ahead of Wrighty and Geoff Thomas so was very satisfied. Many more challenges lay ahead in the next three days but as I say "Roll on Paris".

The final Count down!

 Well it has been quite a journey and to my regular blog readers you will remember this:

 "Welcome to my new blog, I am a first time blogger and have been inspired by the challenge I am about to embark on. I took up cycling in March this year to take part in a charity event, riding 62 miles and raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. This has unleashed a passion that has seen me cycle over 1200 miles this year and turned me into what is commonly known as a MAMIL (middle aged man in Lycra).
In my wisdom or a moment of madness I have signed up to the very challenging London to Paris ride next June, covering 460km in four days with 300 other cyclists, all with one goal. Supporting vital work to beat blood cancer, we can and will win if we can all pull together and this event alone will raise in excess of £300,000 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.
I will be putting myself to the ultimate challenge and enduring hours of training in all weathers to be in a position to achieve my goal."

This was my first blog back in November 2012 just after signing on the dotted line, thinking how far away June was and wondering weather I had gone insane. Well I think the answer is probably yes, but let me tell you one thing as I sit here three days before setting off I would not have changed a thing. From training in all conditions during a winter that never ended to the hours on the bike riding a loan furrow, every minute of pain, worry and fear has been worth it. For one I have transformed from an over weight, unfit and lethargic man fast approaching middle age into a trim energetic guy who enjoys shopping for clothes that look good rather than just cover up the portly belly. The tail of the tape reads as follows. Total weight loss two stone nine pounds, inches lost from waist six and miles cycled since my first blog 2,000, WOW WOW WOW.

Further more I have to thank my wife Angela, she has been my rock, supporting me throughout. She has not only put up with the hours of training but been my motivation during the freezing cold, all while campaign managing my fund raising. As always Angela has shone and out done any expectation I had, or could have dreamt of in the amount we have raised. As we speak our total sponsors sit at £1,456 and is expected to go beyond the £1,500 mark before the off on Thursday, I truly love this woman of mine.

So last week saw the final part of the training, ninety miles in total, finishing with a very social ride on Sunday. Once again I met up with the guys from the Tour De Tendring, it was a great opportunity to catch up with the last minute preparations and offer each other the encouragement that would quell the nerves. We have all bonded in a common cause and I am sure we will as a group conquer the challenge ahead and have some laughs on the way. We mused over a coffee before parting knowing the next time we met would be in Greenwich on the morning of the 6th of June, our own personal D day and the culmination of effort that has left me with a great deal of satisfaction. All that remains is the final preparation of kit and essentials, no more training to do, no more planning of routes. The next two days will see me fuelling on carbs and dreaming of Paris, riding down the Champs-Elysees on Sunday afternoon (in the sun Ha Ha), the roads closed allowing the triumphant peloton to glide through and cruise to the finish at the Eiffel tower. Everyone of us amazed and jubilant at our accomplishments and above all else the pride of completing the challenge that we all set, raising money to help put and end to blood cancer. "Roll on Paris".



Paris looming large!

 

This week was always going to be hard to get any serious miles done on the bike, work had to take most of my focus with the bank holiday looming. As well as work there was the finer details of insurance, currency, bike service and kit to sort out. Sitting here on Sunday evening only eleven days away from the start of London Paris it seems mad to think how quick it has come around. I did get a couple of twenty mile rides in this week, the first was after work on Wednesday and the second with a group of lads from UK cycles. I picked up some great tips from the guys who all have good experience of group riding and cycling etiquette, thanks John for the invite and making me welcome. The last two weeks has shown me a great side of cycling, as up till recently I had trained alone and been missing out on the friendly and all welcoming attitudes of the cycling community. Its been a real eye opener and added to my anticipation of the ride to Paris. Well its late as I write this due to my fund raising quiz tonight. I would like to thank the people that came to support me and in the process have a bit of fun. We raised another £150 tonight which takes my total to £1,310 and in sight of £1,500. So with my eyes closing I will have to say sorry for a shorter blog and see you soon, Working again tomorrow so hopefully some miles to be done on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please keep following and if you can please donate to such a worthy cause. "Roll on Paris"

New friends

 Well it was back to the bike full on this week, I totalled 170 miles and met some great people along the way. With Paris getting ever closer, three weeks away, preparations have really hotted up.
 The week started with a 50 mile ride on Tuesday, it was a day with lots planned so an early start was the order of the day and with he alarm raising me from my pit at 5.30am I did question my sanity on my day off. Getting out by seven it was great to hit the roads with little traffic, the rush hour was all heading in the other direction, I felt good and was soon eating up the miles. It was my normal route out towards Southend, Wakering and Wallasea Island, a path that has become well worn over the last few months and one that only held the challenge of time and how quick I could master it. Well I impressed myself arriving home at an average speed of 16 mph and in time for a slightly late breakfast at 10.20. Later in the week my shift patterns at work allowed me to cycle home on Thursday and back on Friday, this was a very useful additional 56 miles to my weekly total. It still amazes me the difference in car drivers attitudes when your on the road in the evening rush hour, these people must lead very stressful lives to hurl that kind of abuse at cyclists.
 During the week there had been a lot of activity on the London Paris facebook page and with ride packs due out and new contacts made I was getting more excited or maybe nervous about the impending challenge. Having done all my training alone I was keen to get together with some other riders to experience a bit of group riding, so I was delighted to make contact with a group of guys also doing the London Paris ride. We arranged to meet at the "Tour De Tendring" on Sunday, a 60 mile sportive from Harwich to Clacton and back. Before that we were all waiting with baited breath for the rider packs to arrive as promised from LLR, true to their word we all had them before Sunday and so would be sporting the full kit for Paris, at least we would look the part if nothing else.
 So Sunday came and I waited at Harwich for my new companions to arrive, Lee and James dully obliged but we were two men down. Keiran had not risen from his bed and Georgie was catching us up later. There were many riders and we set off with the pack, soon to be joined by Georgie and later on Keiran. I had a great day sharing stories and learning loads about group riding, thank you Georgie. Best of all I felt I had gained new friends, how four strangers all be it with a shared goal can make you feel so welcome and belong within the group from the first minute amazed me. By the time we had finished the ride I felt I had known the guys for far more than four hours and look forward to meeting up again on the 6th June, what amazed my most was the pace of the ride as we all did our fastest ride and I finished the 60 miles at over 17 mph.
 With new experiences and new friends I feel far more confident now than I did a week ago, with only 17 days left and the fund raising going well I am starting to look forward with excitement rather than fear, all that remains are the final preparations and a few more miles. "Roll on Paris".

Target practice!

It has been a different week for me this past week. For once the cycling has not been the main focus of my efforts, instead it has been on the fund raising and along the way I have met some great people. The start of the week saw our grand raffle at work being drawn by Maisie, she is a wonderfully brave little girl who has survived Leukaemia and is so full of life. We raised over £600 in the raffle and also got some excellent column inches in the local paper "The Braintree and Witham Times"  have a look via the link: http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/news/10410115.Braintree__Maisie_draws_winning_ticket_at_raffle/?ref=mr

 |The best news of all was the fact that I have now passed my required target for the ride to Paris. All of the riders in the event were charged with raising a £1,000 minimum and this was probably as daunting to me as was all the training. However now I have reached it with four weeks to go I want more and feel that another £400 is not beyond the realms of possibility, so please keep on donating. To support this new challenge we are currently organising a quiz night and through Maisie's grandparents we now have a hall, thank you Mike and also to Jacquie who deals with bookings at The Great Notley church, your enthusiasm to the cause was great and we are looking forward to the church being represented at the quiz. It should be a great night as Angela has been working hard on the questions and I will do my best as quiz master, the problem will be that the stage will go to my head and I am sure the bad jokes will flow, why do all men think there funny on stage. I did ride this week, a good 53 miles on Tuesday at a pace of 16 mph, it was generally uneventful and I felt good afterwards, that was till the next day when I was a bit fatigued and in need of rest. So a few days off have followed, finished off by my wedding anniversary this weekend (23 years) with a bit too much excess if I'm honest. So it will be back to the bike this week and with only four weeks till the ride everything has become large on the horizon and Paris seems so close, so keep on supporting and follow me on my journey, "Roll on Paris".

D day landing...soon!

 It has been a long journey that I have embarked on since last September, after completing the London bikathon for LLR on my once trusty mountain bike, the notion that I would be even contemplating London Paris would have made me crack up. However I had purchased my road bike by the end of September and when announced at the start of November I jumped straight in with both feet without a care in the world, London Paris became a reality. Back then I was over seventeen stone, been riding for only six months and partaking in a diet that may have contained 5 a week rather than 5 a day. Moving forward six months and the month of April has just passed, so how does the progress look and do the figures stack up. Well the tail of the tape is as follows: My weight is now 14 stone 11 pounds, that's another half a stone lost in April, 507 miles cycled in the calender month and a fund raising total at £800. Wow how everything has moved on, after all the bad weather and limited occasions to get out the miles have now flowed, the weight keeps coming off and above all else we are getting closer to the £1,000 target for charity. I have to thank my wife at this point as Angela has been my driving force in fund raising as well as chief motivator during the dark days of winter. So if she comes calling during the next few weeks please give generously. This week I kept up with the increased mileage with another 136 miles done over four rides. Tuesday saw me complete 57 miles in bright sunshine, a long loop taking in Danbury, Hatfield Peveral, Ingatestone and Billericay. The legs felt good and the hills came and went with relative ease, the one incident came at Buttsbury wash. The ford over the road there had run wild during the winter months and the foot bridge had been the order of the day, with the turn in the weather and the river levels dropping today the ford looked ready for the taking. A cautious approach saw me beyond the point of no return, all looked fine to start, it became apparent very quickly though how deceptive the depth is and soon water flowed freely over my feet. Clever that but at least it was warm and I appreciated the shoe design with drainage wholes in the sole, so drying out did not take long. Friday and Saturday saw me commute to work by bike, at twenty eight miles I did the journey one way each day, leaving the car there overnight, it still makes me chuckle the reaction you get from work colleagues when you turn up fully kitted out in Lycra. At least it gives them something to laugh about. So to today and a ride with a difference, I had a busy schedule and limited time so I went for something new for me a real speed ride. My normal comfortable speed is around 15 mph, which I can manage over fifty miles. Today I didn't have a target but set out hard and drove through the peddles the whole twenty miles of my planned route, returning home and with thighs burning I was over joyed at the 18.1 mph shown on my trip computer, what a great end to the week. So June 6th is my own personal D day and now less than five weeks away, how quick have the last six months gone and how far I have already travelled. While I put the finishing touches to my training and fitness please take a moment, stop and think................ Cancer touches everyone's life at some point and with continued research Leukaemia and Lymphoma can be beaten. So If I have inspired you at all with my own personal efforts please just give a little via my link opposite. In return I will tackle my personal challenge and keep on cycling, "Roll on Paris"