London2Paris.co.ukThe 2009 London to Paris Bike Ride

The time has come where we shall have to reap what we sew. There is no getting out of the London to Paris bike ride now

Therefore it is now time to ask you all to dig deep and help support our challenge by sponsoring us and the charities that we have chosen to support:

• Multiple Sclerosis Society Head Office
• Mind National Association For Mental Health
• No Panic

Any support is much appreciated and will encourage us through the more difficult times during our challenge.

Click here to to find out more and sponsor us

There’s a really good cycle event coming up that Apple and I are going to attempt. We think that it’s a good chance to see what level we are at and how the training is going before the big London to Paris bike ride event.

The event is over a couple of days, the first day is off-road and the second day is the one we are interested in.

Event name:

Ride It! West London, Great Missenden

Event date:

2nd August 2009 – from 8:00am.

Location:

Ride starts close to Great Missenden station.

Distance:

Fun – 12 miles
Short – 30 miles
Medium – 60 miles
Long – 90 miles

Cost:

Adults are just £10

Description

Leaving Great Missenden, we weave through the same hills as the Off road ride, just on tarmac. Keeping to as many back roads as possible, the routes pass through many picturesque villages, past a few windmills and up to some great viewpoints before returning to the event centre. With loads of pubs in the area, there’s also opportunities to have a swift refreshment, contemplate what’s to come and enjoy the day.

Full details about the event can be found here on the Ride It! website including entry details, maps and gps files, route info etc.

I’m not sure which distance we shall go for yet, we should be aiming at the “medium” 60 miles route but due to the holly nature of parts of this route I’m thinking more the “Short” 30 mile route…. Although a part of me thinks that we should be pushing ourselves as much as possible!

Anyone else fancy joining us? This would be a great opportunity to cycle together before the London to Paris bike ride in September.

Hi all,

I hope all is going well with everyone training for the big London to Paris bike ride in September.

I wanted to start thinking about sponsorship and see what you all thought.

A few choices to think about – should we:

1. all find a common charity we wish to get sponsorship for and have a team charity
2. each find our own individual charity to get sponsorship for
3. not worry about charity sponsorship at all

If we want to go down the sponsorship route then I will add details of this onto our site so that people can visit our website and complete the whole sponsorship process online.

Let us know what you think.

I came across this website a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post it: http://www.enjoytheview.eu.

It’s a personal site from a couple of guys (Paul and Mark) from the UK who completed the London to Paris bike ride on their own in 2008. They have a few blog posts from their trip on their website which are really interesting to read and have a load of photos taken from their trip on there too. Their tips and suggestions are a real help – thanks Paul and Mark, it’s a great site.

The guys have a couple of videos that show some of the highlights of their trip London to Paris trip which I have added below:

London to Paris by bike (Part 1 of 2)

London to Paris by bike (Part 2 of 2)

Next week is “Bike Week 2009″. “Bike Week is the biggest nationwide cycling event in the UK. A national celebration of cycling, Bike Week helps you get more out of life – by getting you on your bike and exploring your local community”.

There are load of cycle events happening all over the UK to celebrate Bike Week 2009 so take a look at the official website to find out something near you: http://www.bikeweek.org.uk.

Apple and I are planning to attend an event in London to get some on-road practice in, to help to keep us focused and motivated by cycling with lots of other people in formation.

Here’s some details of the one in London we’re gonna attend:

Event name:

Open Garden Squares Weekend Ride

Event date:

14th June 2009 – 10:00am – Approx 5:30pm.

Location:

Ride starts outside Marylebone station.

Distance:

Adult beginners /easy ride (Not sure on exact distances!)

Description

Use your bike to visit some of the 190+ London secret gardens specially opening to the public this weekend.

The ride is free but you will need an £8 ticket to visit the gardens. You can buy this on the day or in advance – see their website.

Participants may choose to leave or join the ride along the way.

More info on the London “Open Garden Squares Weekend Ride”

Montagu Square, London. An example of what you get to see on the way.

If anyone wants to take part in this event then let us know. You don’t need to register, you can just turn up on the day. We’re gonna take our bikes down on the train and then try enjoying a day on our bikes and a bit of sunshine too (we hope!!). Might see you there then.

This has been the toughest week so far, long hours at work, recovering from the bank holiday and the seemingly endless amounts of alchohol and burgers that were consumed and the worst of all, chronic pains in my knee which I thought I had said good riddance too…

Still training in the gym, which I realize is not the best preperation for a trip of this proportions but I have no bike, and taking this into consideration I felt that this was better for me than just simply sitting at home and exercising my fore arm whilst honing my crisp eating skills, which are, quite formidable.

So far this week I have done a total of 1 hour 20 mins on the gym bike and done a grand total of about 21 miles which isn’t that bad, but when calculated into practicing on the road, this distance will be greatly reduced….

With regards to the team there are a few nicknames to be decided on, one of the names I would like to suggest for instance is Ed ‘The Cracken’ Moore…. this is a reference to his record breaking builders crack, which has continued to grow even though Ed himself has stopped, in the middle of this century it will be somewhere near his ears…

Another is Alan ‘8 meals’ Bull, this is due to his amazing ability to be lighter than your average 4 year old but still manages to eat the equivalent weight of a Killer Whale in food everyday..

Another is Scott ‘The God’ Metcalf, due to my intelligence, wit, and never ending pearls of wisdom which are revered throughout the western world, it would be the entire world but I don’t want to be arrogant and anyway half of the eastern part don’t speak my language so would not be able to understand me, so they would just have to be content with my intense good looks instead… I know some people would think this is arrogance but its not, its truthfulness, a huge difference..

There is also Apple ‘ The Apple’ Bull, a wonderful person with a wonderful personality who continues to take the mickey out of me to hide her love for me in front of her husband…

I’m signing off now, I’m salivating about what idiotic comments I’m going to write next week already..

I don’t know what made me want to do this. But strange enough, I’m so excited about it.

But I still need to do a lot of training. When I say a lot of training, I mean a lot!

I’m the person who is not so fit, I’m very lazy when it comes to exercise so I think it’s a good excuse for me to make myself fit again after giving birth to my beautiful Alishia just 5 months ago.

I’m very excited about the fact that I will be able to say to everyone that the first time I went to Paris was by bicycle.

So bring it on!!!!

You never know one day I might decide to do London to Thailand if it can save me the money on the airfare there, ha ha ha.

I am pleased to confirm two new members of the London to Paris bike ride team. These two were crazy enough to agree to this challenge today, and my best wishes go out to you with the training!

• Luke O’Sullivan
• Dave Gillham

Welcome to the team guys and I look forward to trying to keep up with you both who I’m sure will fly through the 200 miles that’s between us and Paris.

So there have been lots of people saying how interested they are in completing the London to Paris bike ride in September. But as always with these highly challenging events, actually getting people to commit to doing it takes some time as there is lots to think about and consider and the reality of taking part in such a challenge can be quite overwhelming. Most will decide against doing it but there is always a few who are really up for it.

A few of us had the chance to meet up yesterday to chat a little about the trip and what equipment is needed and of course what training is needed.

So, in terms of “the team”, we now have the first 4 confirmed members and the date has been set for the London to Paris bike ride.

The team so far:

• Alan Bull
• Apple Bull
• Scott Metcalf
• Ed Moore

The date: Thursday 17th September 2009

Unfortunately, Darren Clarke was not able to confirm that he will take part in the bike ride. Although, if you do change your mind Darren, there is always room on the team for you mate!

I’m expecting a few more people to confirm over the next few days and shall post back then with details and will update The Team page shortly after!

If you’re reading this and are interested, then please let me know. The more people the better I say!

After discussing the details of the trip I’m wondering whether you need to talc up before riding whilst wearing Lycra?

Finally checked the training plan and now I’m starting to think I need to really pull my finger out.

Also I’m now wondering whether you can get Lycra Hot Pants for men?

I have also foreseen a hidden danger whilst bending over, will other people park their bike where they really should not?!