London2Paris.co.ukThe 2009 London to Paris Bike Ride

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.

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.

It’s been real hard work in the last 4 weeks. Before deciding to attempt this challenge, I was far too lazy for too long – not doing much in terms of exercise and eating far too many ‘good things’ and through the winter I was very much turning into a couch potato.

So because of this I have started my training with a pretty bad level of general fitness. I have certainly paid this laziness in the last 4 weeks. Starting in week one with getting out of breath very quickly, feeling dizzy and sick and with legs that felt like jelly – and that was from just 30 minutes on the bike!!

Still, having this challenge to aim for has mean’t that I have had to push myself. I contacted a few people who already cycle long distances, visited a few online forums, read some books and from all this I set-up a training plan which you can see on The Training Page. This has now become a constant reminder of what I need to do, when I need to do it to get me to the point where I can achieve success and power myself from London to Paris by bicycle.

By the end of week one, I was pretty sure that I had gone mad agreeing to do this trip, but thankfully I pushed on with the training and I am now starting to feel the benefits of it.

Yes, I am exhausted after the weekly 2 hour cycles and my back-side hurts from being on the bike saddle but at least the legs are getting there and the dizziness gone. I have been quite surprised at how quickly the body gets back into regular exercise. The weekday cycles are enjoyable (when the weather is good) and I am now just concentrating on trying to keep up the pressure on myself, slowly increasing my average speed and trying to build up the strength in my legs. I’ve got a long way to go for sure, but I think I am on track and am looking forward to the big cycle trip itself so much that the training time I have had to put in is now starting to become a pleasant routine.

Here’s an interesting stat that I found whilst researching for the training plan:

In terms of intensity and endurance, comparing cycling and running is about 4:1. So a comparable cycling distance to running a marathon is about 100 miles.

Now, I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. If that’s right, then that means in just 4 days cycling from London to Paris we would have done the equivalent of 2.5 marathons!!

Anyway, here is where I got the stat from, it’s a rather useful guide: An Amateur’s Quick Guide to Long-Distance Cycling

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..

As stated in my last post, the realisation that I would have to pull my finger out became a reality.

So as I am lucky, I went for a ride whilst at work in full kit. And comparing my efforts with the training plan, pleasantly surprised. 10.2 Miles in 1.12hours with an average of 8.4 miles per hour.

I feel I should note that it wasn’t all fun , I did reunite a lost child with her mother.