Day 3 - Abbeville to Beavais 68 miles

I was definitely feeling my muscles a bit at the start of day 3.  We didn't have to leave until 8.15 so had plenty of time for breakfast before setting off in somewhat chilly conditions.  The first 20 or so miles before the snack stop were beautiful but full of yet more challenging climbs, and we were certainly ready for our first break.  A banana and  a drink was enough to fuel us up for the next stage, which had a few more 'undulations' and then some windy open fields, but also some very pretty (but practically deserted) villages.
Lunch was at a gorgeous village by a church, and soon we were off again for the last 25 miles. The afternoon was less picturesque, with a lot of riding on busier roads, and we were pleased to hit the outskirts of Beauvais at 60 miles.  We were slightly less pleased 7 miles later, still cycling and not yet at our night stop, but eventually it appeared and we were set for a restful evening.
Next stop; Paris!!!!!

Day 2 - arrived in Abbeville

Today was a slightly later start (9am), but the first 25 miles was very challenging, with some huge climbs on tired legs. However after the first water stop the terrain got easier and the main problem was dragging Jenny out of the little cafes.

Lunch stop at 50 miles was by a pretty pond but lots of mosquitos.  

After that the last 20 miles didn't feel too bad, and we arrived in Abbeville with time to spare before dinner.

london to Calais - 97 miles!

So here I am in a motel just outside Calais with day 1 complete!
After a restless night with very little sleep we were up at 5am this morning to shovel down a big bowl of porridge before heading to Crystal Palace for 6am registration.
Nerves kicked in when we arrived to see over 100 keen cyclists gathering, but once we'd registered and dropped our luggage to the support vehicle we were keen to get started as we were very cold.
While waiting for the briefing we spotted a couple of cyclists communicating in sign language, so we introduced ourselves and they seemed very happy to have two more signers to chat to!
After a short briefing we set off just before 7, and though the first few miles through London were slow the roads were were  were fairly flat.  10 miles in we hit our first huge hill, but we sailed up it no problem.  After that we cycled well to the first water stop at about 30 miles, and after a short stop we had a great ride to the lunch stop at 58 miles with just a few demanding hills.  We were amazed to be among the first cyclists to arrive!
A long lunch of bread cold meat salad and chatting and starting off again was tough. The last 30 miles to Dover had some horrific hills, but it felt fantastic arriving in Dover with nearly 2 hours to spare before the ferry.
The last few miles through Calais were done in a leisurely convoy; and after 97 miles we can say we have successfully cycled to France.  Today, 75 miles to Abbeville.........

Finished training and ready to go!

Well this is it. We are on our way to London ready for a 6am start tomorrow.
We followed last weeks 90 miles with a trip out to the Purbeck hills the next day. We joined the lovely friendly and very fit Wessex CTC and they took us on a beautiful but very strenuous 70 miles up and down the Purbeck hills. It was a very tougjh day but a good way to finish the training.
All that was left to do was packing and eating..... Next update will be from France!

... and another 90 miles

We had a slightly quieter week, and then headed bravely back to the New Forest for another 90 mile ride.  I spent the previous 24 hours with a horrendous sore throat and then stayed up half the night coughing, so I was really not in the mood for an early morning start on the bike.
Nevertheless, the training schedule called, and off I went to meet Jenny at our 15 miles midway point.

The weather was clear for the first 30 or 40 miles, but the wind was very strong which made for very tough cycling, especially up the hills.  By the time we had stopped to repair a puncture for a stranded cyclist, we were taking far longer than we had planned.  However, some roaming pigs cheered us up....

A few miles more and the rain started, making us pretty wet and cold for a bit, and after climbing yet another steep hill the sign at the top seemed a bit redundant.....

But in spite of the cold, the wind, the rain, the random cows in the middle of the road, we persevered and made it to the end of the 90 mile trip.  Just one more 65 mile trip to do tomorrow, and we are officially ready for the London to Paris trip.......

90 miles in the rain

The day finally arrived for that terrifying 90 mile training ride. The forecast was for torrential rain and thunderstorms all day, but there was no staying in bed - we had both taken the day off for this and couldn't afford to cancel it, so by 7am we were on the road and heading towards our meeting point, 15 miles away from our homes.  By the time we arrived we were soaked to the skin and really not looking forward to another 75 miles, but it was great to meet up and have company in our misery :-)
I had downloaded a route from the internet so we didn't really have any idea where we were heading, but it turned out to be a really beautiful route looping around the New Forest, Boldrewood, Lyndhurst, Lepe, Beaulieu,,,,,,,,,
Jenny was very pleased with herself, having stayed up late the night before baking flapjacks and packing an amazing calorie-filled lunch box to fuel our efforts.  Imagine her mortification when we had our first snack stop, only to discover that she had left the food behind, together with her first aid kit, puncture repair kit etc....
However, in spite of the rain and managing on my (more meagre) rations, we got through the first 40 miles pretty quickly, with just a couple of nasty hills to slow us down, and decided to stop for hot chocolate at a pub to warm up.  It was a great idea, and we felt so much  better setting off again 30 minutes later, until we unlocked the bikes and discovered that I had a huge puncture.  It took more than half an hour in the rain to finally fix it enough to set off again, but the pressure was low in the tyre and it didn't feel great.
Suddenly I found I was really struggling on the hills, and felt like I was trying to cycle a  tractor, so we stopped again and had a go with Jenny's pump and managed to get another 20 psi into the tyre. That made a huge difference, and before long the weather cleared a bit and we were cycling happily again.  By the time we reached  Lepe ( about 57 miles) the sky was trying to brighten and we were almost enjoying the ride.

However, we didn't stay dry for long, as we discovered that the road had turned into a stream, and the only option was to ride through it unless we wanted to backtrack about 10 miles....

Undaunted, we pedalled on with wet feet and stopped for lunch at a little pub near Beaulieu, where we got chatting with a lovely retired couple who had been keen cyclists for decades. When we left the pub, they sponsored us too!!
We had a short drink stop at 70 miles to chat to some New Forest Ponies...

The next 5 miles were pretty good, with not too much rain, and all too soon we reached our "meet point" near Rhinefield and sat down for a quick New Forest ice cream before parting company to do the last 15 miles back home on our own.  It started raining quite hard again, and I can't pretend to have enjoyed the last few miles, particularly the final hill back to my house, but the sense of achievement as my odometer clicked over the 90  miles was worth all the effort.
Just a few more training rides to do, and Paris here we come!

New bike for Jenny, and long distances are getting easier.

I am really really pleased to announce that Jenny has a lovely shiny new Specialized Elite road bike with all the trimmings, made possible by the government subsidies provided to employers by the cycle scheme. If only my employer would sign up to it <sighs>.
Having survived my very long trip out over the South Downs, my next ride was an easy 16 miles to Marwell Zoo, and it was good to realise that this does feel like a  nice short ride now.
On Sunday Jenny and I were booked for a 30 mile Sky Ride in Bournemouth, so we decided to up the mileage a bit (!) to meet our training program demand for 60 miles.  We set off early in the morning and met at the 15 mile point between our two houses. Usually I get there a few minutes before Jenny, but this time she beat me by at least 10 minutes, so the new bike is clearly a very good investment!  A quick 15 miles back to Bournemouth for breakfast, and by 10 am we were at Hengistbury head to meet the rest of the Sky Riders. We didn't have a great start, with poor Jenny having a fall, a chain jam and a puncture all in the first few miles, but after some hectic pedalling to catch up with the group, the rest of the 30 miles was a really pretty route and not too challenging.  We got to the end of the ride not really feeling like we had done 60 miles, and could have happily done more, so we must be getting more stamina.  Also, it was really noticeable how much easier Jenny was finding the hills on the new lightweight bike.
A couple of days rest, and then a 25 mile round trip to Winchester got me out of bed bright and early.  What should have been quite a pleasant ride became a bit stressful as my chain came off twice - once when pulling away in front of a lorry.  Not long afterwards and another big lorry decided it couldn't wait 30 seconds for me to pedal along a narrow section of road, and hurtled past me on a corner nearly taking me off my bike.  Heart pounding and adrenalin pumping for the next few minutes, I had barely recovered when my GPS ran out of batteries, and I realised that for the first time ever I had not brought spares with me.  This shouldn't have been a problem on a local ride, but I managed to get myself quite lost in Winchester and had to resort to Google Maps on my phone to get me back on track.  Even so, I made quite good time so it wasn't all bad news.
Our next ride is the longest yet - 90 miles in one day.  We have a tentative route plan which involves a fair few hills,  and the weather forecast at the moment is predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms, so this could really test our resolve..............................