A Tale Of Two Towers

From the 23rd August to 28th August, I was lucky enough to take part on a Charity cycle ride organised by Rock FM . The challenge was to cycle from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Blackpool Tower which equates to 500 miles in the saddle, although at the time of signing up we were told 450 miles. Our target was to raise between us £30000 for The Children's Society in Lancashire as part of Rock FM's Cash For Kids Charity. This would give funding to allow to get children as young as 7 off the streets and safe who have through no fault of their own, not had the privileges in life many of us take for granted.

So, after personally probably not having enough training, most of us met up at 4.00am on the 22nd August at the Rock FM studios having said goodbye to our cycles a couple of days earlier. A coach journey took us down to Kings Cross St Pancras station in London to catch the Eurostar to Paris. Once in Paris, an interesting taxi journey took us to the Novotel near the Eiffel Tower and once we had managed to cause chaos in the hotel with our bikes, it was time for a walk to the tower and then prepare for the next morning with a few very expensive beers.

A bit of waiting

"We have one of these in Blackpool"

Day 1 Sunday 23rd August

So day 1 on Sunday 23rd August came and after a few last minute checks we headed for the start at the tower. First puncture of the day came for one of the cyclists on leaving the hotel. This was to be the first of very many between all the cyclists, some gaining more than others. A quick team photo and we were off. The weather was fantastic and 7am in Paris was very quiet.

Jason giving last minute advice

I am ready to go

The Team

So we headed off to the first water stop at Marly-le-Roi. The format for each day was to follow the markers that were put out the night before by Global Adventures, who incidentally did a brilliant job. We would have an organised water stop at approximately 1/4 distance, a superb lunch provided by Extreme Catering half way, another water stop 3/4 in to ride and then a meal together in the evening. We were also soon to discover the meaning of Flatish Hills and that Jason miles were different to physical miles. After approx 76 miles in the saddle in temperatures over 30 degrees we arrived in the town of Evreux where it was time for a wander round and of course some beer and a meal together.

Lunch was always a great spread

Day 2 Monday 24th August

Day 2 was to be a longer day with 94 miles to the Port of Caen where we would catch the overnight ferry to Portsmouth. The weather was much cooler with a bit more cloud and some rain predicted. The morning was relatively uneventful except for some cheeky hills. Then lunch time came at Courtonne and the thunder storms started. The church where we were having lunch even got struck, giving a bit of shock to the caterers. After lunch it was a cold start where we were to go straight up a long steep hill. Here is where something in my knee went ping and from this point the pain got progressively worse. I managed to cycle to the water stop but the pain going up hill was immense and thoughts of not making it started to creep in. After such a great start this was probably my lowest point in the whole week and when you are out in the middle of nowhere on your own it is not a great feeling. So I made the water stop and decided a rest of at least 30 minutes would help. I then set of to the end joining Colette (Tinkerbell), Jack (my room mate for week) and Chris. Lots of banter, singing and riding a nice gentle pace was just what doctor ordered and my knee held out to Caen where it was time for more beer and an evening meal discussing subjects such as, deep heat, sink plungers, satsumas and ice cream tubs. After the meal it was on to the ferry, a night cap and four of us crammed into a shoebox to sleep.

The Church prior to getting struck by lightning

Chris, Colette and Jack

Man fix - woman eat

Nervous about sleeping with each other

Day 3 Tuesday 25th August

So after a poor nights sleep, the ferry docked and we were to head off towards Abingdon with 84 miles ahead. My knee had improved overnight but concious of damage I decided a gentle day was needed so I joined Chris and Colette again. It was also Chris's birthday so much fun and laughter was needed for the day which we had. The weather was typically British with heavy rain at times followed by sunshine and it was not an easy day with many hard hills. As the ride went on my knee started to get much better however, Chris was getting the start of a very sore achilles. Before I started the Tower2tower ride, I had said that if I was fit enough I would support others to get through as much as possible and I had no goals of time. All I needed to do was cycle from Paris to Blackpool. So this day was when I decided I would stick with the group I was with and try and keep morale up through the difficult parts of the day and get us all there. We rode our way to the Four Pillars Hotel at Abingdon and time for some more beer and possibly the worst food I have ever encountered at a Hotel. However, McDonalds did appreciate it. The best bit was, we were now over half way to the end but it was a low point morale wise for many today.

Nice pants

Is he?

Adam holding up traffic again

Day 4 Wednesday 26th August

The shortest day was in prospect today with only 71 miles, but as it turned out, not an easy 71 miles. The weather turned very poor at times with driving rain and a couple of people fell off due to the wet bends on the downhill parts. Chris was now really suffering with his achilles and was really struggling with the hills which was making it slow progress. Lunch at Guiting Power was to bring morale down again. Driving rain and wind made it very cold and here we formed a larger group to push on towards Worcester and to the Premier Inn. My only suffering by now was a sore bum from the saddle and all other pain had now gone.

Stretching leg and finger

Day 5 Thursday 27th August

Today was to be a killer of a day. 97 miles to Chester with an extremely hard ride to Lunch. By now Chris was in immense pain so it was up to Colette and myself to try and pull him along by trying to keep up his enthusiasm to finish.. This was not easy as he could not put any pressure on right leg when cycling up hill and having had an achilles injury in my football days, I knew the pain he was suffering. Added to this we were to climb to an altitude of over 1000ft before dropping down a bit so it was also to be a big day for Colette and myself, neither of us had covered a distance like that before. Although I did do a 24 hour ride when I was 16 but that can be discounted now. It was mid afternoon before we got to lunch, so we knew a late finish was ahead. But push on we did, there wasn't much we could do to ease the pain suffering for Chris except support him. He was showing the determination not to get beaten by the pain anyway. By 7.45pm we had made it to Chester. One day to go and the end was in sight.

So Tired

Result of steep hill

Tinkerbell going fast!

Day 6 Friday 28th August

The final day and only 78 miles to go. But oh how the weather had changed. Driving head wind and torrential rain was the theme for the day. Again we decided to help Chris through the pain. We were going reasonably well considering the pain until he sustained a puncture on the outskirts of Warrington. The support vehicle was called as it was too wet to repair and my spare inner tube was not the same size. After 30 minutes we were off and then he got another puncture. This was not good as we were under pressure of time to get to Blackpool. Push on we did. Colette and Jack had already made a move towards lunch. There was no point in four of us freezing in the rain. Chris and I got to lunch as the majority were leaving so we decided to keep lunch down to about 20 minutes max. Colette and Jack had waited. Chris now made the decision to let Jack, Colette and my self push on ahead on our own and he would ride with the Global Adventure tail rider. It wasn't easy to leave him but probably the right thing to do. So Colette, Jack and myself pushed on as hard as we could. We caught the main group up just before Preston and this was a huge morale boost. Being in a big group and in the broadcast region for Rock FM we were getting great support from the public as we moved along. Once through Preston we turned into the wind and the long slog past Lytham to Blackpool. The strength of wind was making the going very tough indeed and was a very long hour at the end. We finally all regrouped at the edge of Blackpool ready for the final ride along the prom past the Tower to North Pier. This is when the pride was felt. The general public applauding, tooting horns was enough to take any pain away and so the ride came to an end. Nearly 30000 calories burned, 500 miles and equivalent climb of going most of the way up Everest. But more importantly I have raised with much help from Jan over £2000, the £30,000 target was broken and likely to be almost double in the end and meeting the kids that this money helps was the icing on the cake. This was an immense challenge that I am truly proud to have been a part of. Out of the billions of people in the world, few can say they have cycled from Paris to Blackpool. I would also like to thank those that have not only sponsored me, but all the other inspirational people taking part that you may have sponsored. Without the money for this cause, the ride is insignificant.