London - Paris
Discussion
A guy down the pub is in training for this at the moment. I think he said its about 80 miles in the saddle for 5 days. He wasnt into cycling before but has gone and bought a Dale mountain bike but with very skinny tyres. Probably a good choice as i think the hunched nature of a racer would probably get to you if not used to it. Some of his mates are going to try it on their halfords specials. I guess its not a big issue unless your racing anyway.
I think something like this is proably a pretty interesting thing to do if you can find the sponsor money to back you. I would imagine thats the hard part.. having enough mates with pockets deep enough to get you over the minimum sponsorship.
I think something like this is proably a pretty interesting thing to do if you can find the sponsor money to back you. I would imagine thats the hard part.. having enough mates with pockets deep enough to get you over the minimum sponsorship.
Trust. I'm doing the Action London - Paris in August. Wanted to do the one next weekend for the Champs-Elysées finish of the Tour, however I was way, way too late for it. (Only applied 3 weeks ago).
They gave me a week to get the fund-raising in place before I had to cough up myself, but managed to get the grand in 3 days! Hard core sales coming out...
Definately an amazing thing to do. Something that'll stay with you for the rest of your life, something that (I know this might sound a little corny - but it's true) sets you apart from other people, something that lets you lift your head. It's a massive challenge that you overcome, words can't really describe what an experience it is.
Best not to get a Halfords special tho to be fair, you need a bike that'll get you there. Although the apparent difference between a £400 bike and a £4,000 bike might at times seem basal it isn't. Bikes and their set-up seriously affect the transfer of effort into output, the lengths of time you can cope with, etc.
Having said that a lot of these organised trips have mechanics in cars/vans so you should be fine...
They gave me a week to get the fund-raising in place before I had to cough up myself, but managed to get the grand in 3 days! Hard core sales coming out...
Definately an amazing thing to do. Something that'll stay with you for the rest of your life, something that (I know this might sound a little corny - but it's true) sets you apart from other people, something that lets you lift your head. It's a massive challenge that you overcome, words can't really describe what an experience it is.
Best not to get a Halfords special tho to be fair, you need a bike that'll get you there. Although the apparent difference between a £400 bike and a £4,000 bike might at times seem basal it isn't. Bikes and their set-up seriously affect the transfer of effort into output, the lengths of time you can cope with, etc.
Having said that a lot of these organised trips have mechanics in cars/vans so you should be fine...
Cheers. I was all set to do one in Sept but work commitments ruined the idea. So I'm looking at one next July. I'm 38 and want to do it before i get too old. Must be having a midlife crisis. I'm looking at getting a Specialized Allez Elite 30 - 2007. The 2008's are out soon so the price has come down on the 2007.
I did it in 2006 for Motor Neurones Disease.
It is actually a very easy thing to do it just sounds a long way...to put it in perspective it's the same as London to Brighton and back twice in three days.
The range of people who did the ride was amazing....at one end you had roadies on £4,000+ plus bikes at the other there were people who hadn't ridden since childhood who dug out a mountain bike from their shed with buckled wheels and tbh I thought wouldn't get as far as the Elephant and Castle let alone Paris.
They did....which is testament to the support that most charities organise for these rides.
To support the ride I did there were (all on bikes in the Peleton);
> a leader
> 3 mechanics
> 2 Doctors
Plus 2 support trucks with spare bikes and mechanics carrying all your bags and enough food for everyone.
The only downside was that to ensure everyone made it they stopped every 10miles for a food and drink stop which for roadies was very tedious.
However, easy riding chatting to people who you wouldn't normally ride with in some lovely countryside added to the experience plus a few 10mile Time trails, sprints, hill climb races to spice it up further.
(OK I enjoyed it so much that three weeks later 10 of us did it again in 2 days just for fun)
It is actually a very easy thing to do it just sounds a long way...to put it in perspective it's the same as London to Brighton and back twice in three days.
The range of people who did the ride was amazing....at one end you had roadies on £4,000+ plus bikes at the other there were people who hadn't ridden since childhood who dug out a mountain bike from their shed with buckled wheels and tbh I thought wouldn't get as far as the Elephant and Castle let alone Paris.
They did....which is testament to the support that most charities organise for these rides.
To support the ride I did there were (all on bikes in the Peleton);
> a leader
> 3 mechanics
> 2 Doctors
Plus 2 support trucks with spare bikes and mechanics carrying all your bags and enough food for everyone.
The only downside was that to ensure everyone made it they stopped every 10miles for a food and drink stop which for roadies was very tedious.
However, easy riding chatting to people who you wouldn't normally ride with in some lovely countryside added to the experience plus a few 10mile Time trails, sprints, hill climb races to spice it up further.
(OK I enjoyed it so much that three weeks later 10 of us did it again in 2 days just for fun)
Im planning to do the MAG 3 capitals challenge next june, London - amsterdam - Brussels in 3 days. Should be fun!
just got a 2nd hand cannondale off ebay (dura-ace, carbon fork/stem, excellent condition -£300! bargain) and loving it so thought i may as well put it to good use! it will give me something to train for as well
just got a 2nd hand cannondale off ebay (dura-ace, carbon fork/stem, excellent condition -£300! bargain) and loving it so thought i may as well put it to good use! it will give me something to train for as well
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