This was the most enjoyable thing I have done for a long time. The weather was perfect throughout which helped, but the whole experience of cycling in a group and finding your own level was just amazing. Each day was a series of short stages with refreshments/regrouping breaks – a chance to catch up with how everyone was doing.
The range of ages was from 21 to 64. There were basic mountain bikes and top end road bikes and there was even a couple on a tandem. There was one participant who had not sat on a bike for three years until the Friday morning and another who is a professional with the Sigma team. A whole range of occupations including a number who work for charities (for whom they were raising funds). Over 30 charities were represented. The whole UK was represented from Belfast to Kent. Two had ridden down from John O’Groats (9 days), even though they live in Wiltshire, because they didn’t think London to Paris was far enough. One of the pleasures was meeting so many people who had special reasons for wanting to help their charities.
14 of us were there to raise money for MNDA. One group of ten had seen a colleague die in April and wanted to do something positive in his memory. Then there were Clare, Pam, Alex and me who formed something of a team together after exchanging emails (Alex is my niece’s husband). We certainly looked the part with the cycling jerseys that Clare had organised.
Suddenly it started and suddenly it was over. Everyone (except Steve, the professional) had not only tested themselves to a greater extent than anything they had done before, but had achieved it as well. Everyone had contributed to worthy causes and hopefully made a little difference to lives affected by conditions that are difficult or impossible to treat.
After three days of cycling, 62 people stood in the shadow of the Eiffel tower, having cycled over 200 miles in 3 days. My own targets were smashed with the 193 miles of real cycling completed in 13 hours 30 minutes of cycling time
The Classic Tours organisation was excellent throughout (even when the signing went slightly adrift). Accommodation was good and food was brilliant. Gideon is exactly the right person to run this type of event and has a wicked way of telling you only what you really need to know, smiling even more when giving the bad news.
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Glad it went well, good weather makes a big difference. Are you going to continue cycling so much now you have nothing to train for?
ReplyDeleteWill take a little break for a week or two and then see how it goes. Would be good to find another challenge!
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