Our first London to Paris Cycle of 2015 began on the 14th May. We were expecting 12 riders but unfortunately one person had to drop out at the last minute. It was freezing as we all waited on Blackheath Common for three members of the group who had decided to have the cooked breakfast in their hotel (no-one’s bitter we promise).
After a quick briefing from Danny & Tom, loading the bags onto the van and a quick team shot, we were off onto the mean streets of London. This morning, they really were mean.
Experience has told us that there is a huge difference in leaving London at 07:30 and past 08:00. The traffic intensifies dramatically and every single set of traffic lights we met seemed to glow red as if in anger. We were clicking in and out of our cleats more times than a normal cyclist would do in a month.
Soon we reached the outskirts of London and the traffic lights became more spread out. The spits of rain however were becoming more frequent and soon the heavens opened. We reached Sittingbourne for a quick toilet stop then a further six miles until lunch. Danny had laid out the itchy blankets in anticipation of some cycling drowned rats arriving. They were soon transformed from itchy blankets into luxurious warmth-giving wonder-wraps.
After a great lunch and a few cups of hot stuff, we got back out into the rain and began pedalling towards Dover. Skirting around Canterbury, we were soon riding through the glorious Kent countryside along narrow country lanes.
Then we heard it…”PUNCTURE”. We thought we’d got away with it, but the state of the roads were truly awful, it was only a matter of time. Dennis had been the unlucky one on this occasion but we were soon back up and running (with the help of Dennis’ impressive pump!).
A short while later Tom heard hissing and, upon inspection of his tyre, found numerous pieces of flint peppered around his front tyre, each one capable of a flat.
Another roadside repair and the team were nearing Dover.
As we entered Dover it really started raining, but this was serious rain, the sort that you feel like you’re drinking from a glass if you hold your mouth open. This was rain of biblical proportions. By this stage, we were soaked to the skin. So what to do in such a situation? LAUGH OF COURSE!
We soon arrived at the port and boarded an earlier ferry than expected. Unfortunately, Danny in the support vehicle was unable to get on this ferry due to a backlog of trucks in Dover. This did however mean that a few members of the team were forced to buy some pretty fashionable items of clothing from the Duty Free on the ferry for something dry to put on…
A damp yet content group of hardy cyclists had reached France and the port of Calais.
With their bags still in the UK, there was only one option…a few glasses of wine in the hotel bar.
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