My Journey....London to Paris: Beauvais to Paris

GREAT SUCCESS!!!!!!

Well it took a little longer then anticipated, but Rich and I finally rolled under the Eiffel tower today at around 6pm ending an amazing journey.

We left Beauvais at around 9:30am and only had 58 miles left to go. Unfortunately finding an easy and quick way into the heart of Paris was a lot more tricky then we thought. We made excellent time over the first 25 miles and had a very fitting stop in Isle de Adam for lunch. This was a very pretty spot and Rich and I were both happy to sit there and reflect on what we had done while refueling our bodies.

After lunch we set off again on what would be a wild last day. We cycled through part of the national forest and powered up some monster hills before coming back into civilization. We found the route that we had planned and dropped off our small winding country road onto what turned out to be the French equivalent of the M1. After breaking our first law of the day and upsetting a number of truckers we got off the motorway a few exits later and realized we were now completely clueless as to how to get into Paris.

We eventually found a road that ran along side the motorway and followed it into the north of the city coming out beside the Stade de France. We found a bus stop that had a map in it and helped us re-orientate ourselves. We followed a new road that we expected to lead us back to our original route. After a few minutes Rich and I found ourselves in the middle of a construction site. The road was blocked off by a wall of rubble and rubbish covered in signs that said 'Danger! Work Site. Do Not Enter.' Determined not to let anything stop us from accomplishing our goal, Rich and I threw our bikes over the fence and quickly cycled past the shocked looking work men and truck drivers. Second law broken!

Following the Seine we made our way along the D1, our heads constantly scanning the horizon for any sign of this blasted tower. Once again our path was challenged by a tunnel that threatened to force us off our planned route. The tunnel had a big sign with a cyclist on it, which Rich later informed me meant that we were not suppose to cycle through there with the traffic....law number 3 broke!!!!

Finally at just a little after 6pm we crossed the bridge d'Lena and cruised our way under the Eiffle tower. Our bodies were sore and broken. In fact the pain got so bad I had to take a knee under the Eiffel Tower. We both felt incredibly proud of accomplishing our goal and thankful for all the support and messages we have recieved. In particular, we would not have been able to accomplish this without our support team....thanks Kaity, Mom and Brayden.

Total trip stats:
Miles: 285.77
Total Time: 29.25 hours
Elevation Gain: 10, 028 feet
Caloires: 19, 496 burnt

Side note: not one single flat tyre, broken bike or any other mechanical problems....WOW!!!!

Day 4 done!!!!
Trip done!

But still time to donate:
http://www.wcrf-uk.org/fundraising/events/runners/Ben_and_Richard.php