Feeling Nostalgic

Hi everyone,

Well I know this was originally a place to track my progress cycling to Paris, but now that the ride is over, I have been feeling a little restless and a little nostalgic. Work has been busy but I have been desperate to get back on the bike and do another decent ride...maybe not to Paris... but a solid day trip at least.

Last week I had a whole week off of work, and as the sun was shining, I decided to cycle from Leicester to Broadway (in the Cotswolds just before Cheltenham).

I set off at about eight am and convinced Kaity and Brayden to meet me for lunch. Despite getting a little lost, I eventually invented my own way and finished at the Broadway Tower for a well deserved ice cream cone. The whole trip was about 70 miles and it took me just over 5 and a half hours. My elevation gain was 2, 454 feet and I burnt almost 5000 calories.

 

 

 

Final Numbers

The final numbers are in.............


Online donations: £2,478.06
Bike a thon: £4,265.66
Cash donations: £120.00

For a grand total of...................£6, 863.72
Or $10, 744 Canadian dollars for my Canadian friends.

 

Thank you to everyone who has supported me physically, mentally and financially over the last few months. There is no way I could thank each and every person who has helped me towards this cause. With your help we have made an amazing step towards stopping cancer before it starts.

Bike-a-thon Success

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I updated the blog. Things have been busy. A few weeks ago, Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School held it's first ever bike a thon to help me raise money for cancer. Children aged 4-11 took part in the event gathering sponsors and riding as far as they could around the school. When we first started organising the event, I was hoping that every child would bring in at least a pound which would have raised close to £700 towards my total. The children have gone above and beyond all expectations raising over £4000.00.

 

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who took part and helped me organise the event. And congratulations to the 5CK Owls class who raised the most money in the whole school and won the prize of shaving Mr. Wells' head and face.

I will be putting together all the money in the next little while to try and figure out how much we have raised in total

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

Getting the bikes ready for the last day 

 

Gilly looking ready to go!

 

 

Brayden giving me a kiss for good luck

Day 4.....BRING IT!!!!

 

 A perfect stopping point

 

 Exhausted after finishing

 

 Two very happy boys!!!

Abbeville to Beauvais

Hi everyone,

Well after two very difficult and slightly disappointing days, today was a huge improvement. Yesterday we didn't make it to Abbeville, so we had to drive back to Hesdin and start where we had left off. We knew we were going to have to work hard in order to make up the extra milage and put ourselves back on schedule.

As we jumped back on the bikes at 8:00 am it didn't seem like a likely outcome. We were both still very sore and tired from the last two days. But after about ten minutes on the bike (and a healthy dose of Paracetamol) we began to loosen up and started flying through the miles.

We limited ourselves in terms of stops and breaks only resting for a couple minutes at a time to take on some snacks and fluid. We shot through the towns of Airaines, Poix de Picardie and Grandvilliers in record time. The weather was perfect; bright blues skies and shining sun but with a lovely cool breeze to keep us going.

We rolled into Beauvais at 6:00 pm feeling very proud of ourselves and greatly relieved. We had made up for our mistakes in the first two days and had absolutely crushed day 3! Even more satisfying was the fact that tonight was the first night where we got a decent meal. The cottages we were staying in had a kitchen in them and my mom had kindly cooked up a huge pot of chicken pasta with bread salad and dessert. GOOD EATING!!!!!!!!!!

Today's stats:
76.9 miles in 7 hours and 2 minutes
Elevation gained 3,320 feet
Calories burned 5,293
Top speed 38.9 mph

Last day tomorrow...shorter distance but getting into Paris could be tricky. The end is in sight though...nothing is going to stop us now!!!!!

Day 3 done!!!!!

Getting ready to leave from Hesdin

Powering through French countryside

 



 I think we've made a wrong turn

 

Never been so happy to see a road sign

 



Delicious home cooked meal



Calais to Abbeville

Good evening everyone,

Well after yesterday Rich and I thought things could only get better......We were wrong!!!!!! Day two was almost worse then Day one.

Last night we got to our hotel very late which meant we had some very unhealthy burgers from Burger King and didn't get to bed until well after midnight. As a result we didn't set off today until about 10:30 am. Nevertheless, we were determined to make up our time and finish a little late in Abbeville.

We started off slow. Our muscles were really sore from the day before, but after about an hour in we began to feel really good. After two hours we were in Desvres which was just over 25 miles into our day. The conditions were still very windy and a bit cold....but at least we didn't have any snow.

After Desvres, the lack of sleep and food began to kick in. We struggled up some big hills and fell way behind in our expected time. It was 7:30 pm and we had been on the bikes for well over six hours, but we were in a village called Hesdin and still had another 20 miles to go. It was getting dark and even colder so we decided (very begrudgingly) to call it a night.

That was a hard decision to make and I feel like we didn't achieve our goal....hope tomorrow is better.

Day 2 done!

 

Leaving Calais

 

Looking back at our first climb of the day

 

 French countryside

 

 Gilly climbing another hill

 

 My new summer home in France??????

 

Not the most stunning view I've had on this trip



London to Dover

Hi everyone,

Well the big day is finally here. Richard and I pulled up under Big Ben in the freezing cold and snow....not the best way to start.

We set off at about 6:30 am  and made super progress getting out of London. We stayed on main roads as far as Dartford before we ventured off into the country. Unfortunately the wintery conditions made those roads very difficult. Some of the hills we were climbing were covered in ice, and our wheels were spinning wildly.

After 40 miles we arrived in Maidstone and stopped for lunch. We had made really good time and were still feeling really good. We decided to change our route due to the horrible conditions and avoid the small country roads. Instead we decided to travel along the A2 straight into Dover.

The last half of this trip was not nearly as enjoyable. Getting out of Maidstone involved climbing up the longest and steepest hill ever, and then it seemed like a steady climb all the way to Dover. We got in 15 minutes later than anticipated which meant we missed our ferry and had to take a later one. Both Rich and I felt very sore, cold and tired once we finally got aboard.

We did 85.82 miles (138.1 km for my Canadian friends) in about 9 and a half hours. Our total elevation gain was 3,242 feet.

Hope tomorrow isn't nearly as tough as today.
Day 1 done!!!!!!!!!!

Good start to the day...

Icy back roads

 

Gilly re-charging 

 

Setting off again from Maidstone

 



 

 

 

Exhausted on the ferry to Calais