London and Paris 2010 - a tale of two challenges! by Chect

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."
-- Andrew Carnegie

Fun is definitely on the cards for our remaining challengers; another London to Paris event a Caledonian Etape cycle challendge and and Iron Man are all on the cards - you guys are an amazing bunch.  And we now have proof that the L2P has it in abundance.

Its true there's no point to any of this if it stops being fun -perhaps you are finding it hard seeing how 3 hours training runs are fun or completing that long cycle but do you get a kick out of your hard work?  Are you slightly excited about your goal still?  I hope so.  I'm going to add a few tips now in the coming weeks based on our real time experience of L2P to keep you going.  Perhpas the MAY team can add a few comment too.

Top Tips 

Hill work is essential!  And I thought it was all down hill to Paris!! .  Do not ignore your hill training (same goes for any runners reading this) it really does help

Develop a strategy to keep going when the going gets tough - maybe a mantra or a saying you can use to motivate yourself.  Our Tandem team could be heard chanting P-M-A (positive mental attidue) all the way up the toughest inclines!!  

Hope you enjoy the sunshine - remember that sunscreen tip - essential.

Happy training folks. 

Source unknown

We've been a long way in a short time.  It seems unreal that less that five days ago we were at Crystal Palace nervously waiting to set off.  Here is the proof of our photoshoot send off:

So from then onto Dover and 93 miles under our belts we munched our way through a shed load of food on the ferry and finally made it to our hotel 103 miles and many hours later.  My one and only blog (below) suggests the fatigue that was felt by every single one of us.  We had to tackle some massive hills and draw on every bit of strength to get through the rest of the day.

Day 2 - Calais to Abbeville 75 miles

Sunny and scenic with welcome stretches of open roads - un-beknownst to us it was a public holiday and France felt like a ghost town!  Not a soul in sight!  We meandered our way from water stop to lunch and water stop again.  Some of our team going all out and others (such as myself taking it a little more leisurely ;-) its not a race afterall!!)

Abbeville was a welcome sight as was a glass of wine at the end of the day - purely medicinal you understand!  As some of our team will demonstrate

Day 3 - Abbeville to Beauvais 70 miles

By far the toughest day for me.  Legs were tired, body was tired and the scenery was not all that exciting.  Previously I had been occupied with stunning views, and wide open spaces - not so appealing after 200 miles in!!  But the cavalry were on hand!  The CHECT cheering squad extraordinaire had flown in especially from Inverness and boy were they a sight for sore eyes:

Adopting all our fellow cyclists the SMITH CHEERERS aka Mum and Dad!! were on fine form.  Thank you so much guys - what a wonderful boost to the team morale.  And to think you now have a whole new adopted family as a result!

Day 4 Beauvais to Paris  60miles

What can I say?  It was everything we'd imagined and more - sunny day, spirits were lifted and our energy renewed.  The homeward straight was in sight all too quickly.  We were convoyed in after a short mornings ride. Elated and emotional (again!) we rang our bells with all our might.  London to Paris was finally a reality and we've got the Tshirts to prove it!

It's hard to summarise just how transformational this journey has been for me (and I think most of our team) - there were stories shared, friends made and a lifetime of memories created.  We'll continue to share this experience with other L2Pers and I've no doubt there will be other adventures for CHECT but for now I'd just like to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the wonderful team of sportsmen and women who have given up so much to do this event for the CHILDHOOD EYE CANCER TRUST.  Well done gang!  You can hang up those padded cycling shorts now!  Well perhaps until the next time ...

No idea who said that but it sure as heck counts today!  Or alternatively what doesnt kill you makes you stronger.  Take your pick - today was a hard day!

I was trying to think of the most appropriate saying for today's blog and that's the sum total of a day's worth of thought!  Good hey?  Still I've been a bit side tracked with one or two activities, plans, hurdles to over come.  Firstly to get here - the agenda was set - we started off at 5am!!! Waking up in Crystal Palace - departure by 7am for the push to Dover.  Taking in sights of Otford and hundreds of lovely little English villages.  It was heaven.  Challenging sure - we were warned during the briefing that there would be some tough inclines and boy were there - 11miles in and we were faced with a 25% gradient!!! Nightmare!!  Challenging was an understatment ...

Still Lots of stops gave us ample opportunity to eat lots and I mean LOTS!!! Credit to the Skyline team here - we ate our body weight in pasta and sarnies - Brie and PATe in a baguette makes quite a combination.

Anyway I'm borrowing one of our team's PCs so I will be brief... The highlights are many and varied - the weather has been wonderfully kind to us.  Setting off in the sunshine and arriving in Paris to a beautiful sunset.  The sights have been unforgettable - a field of bluebells, cottages and blossom - I can hardly begin to describe how wonderful this experience has been....

So tired and a little bit emotional I will sign off.  Thank you to the CHECT team for keeping going and for flying the flag for us.  We;ve made it to Calais tomorrow on to Abbeville!!! Courage!!

Linden

xx

”There ain’t no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something.” - Thomas Edison

So true!

London to Paris in 4 days. 300 miles by pedal power alone. How hard can it be? After weeks and indeed months of training, our London to Paris adventure will soon be underway. Starting off at 6am in Crystal Palace (yes that bit I am NOT looking forward to) and ending on Saturday at the Eiffel Tower. 

I can hardly begin to tell you how excited I now am! It's been a roller coaster ride. From the highs - the 75mile cycle up to Bonnie St Evenage to the lows - deferring my marathon place to next year. I've gone from being a complete cycling novice with my townie commuter bike to actually enjoying my time in the saddle and donning my not-so fashionable lycra gear.

So I'm hoping I'll be able to keep this blog going over the next few days - technology permitting so do keep posted. You can Send us messages of encouragment or simply donate on line - we're looking to raise as much money as possible in this inaugral event!

So finally to the members of the very first Childhood Eye Cancer Trust London to Paris cycle team - I look forward to sharing this adventure with you! Bon Courage mes amis!!

Final Top Tip for all bloggers - My next blog will include hot off the press info on our celebrity send off! It's happening!

Donate on line at www.virginmoneygiving.com/linden Allez allez allez!!!