Set off pretty early on Sunday (3.30am / 1.5 hrs pre MoTime) with Suj with bikes loaded and headed to Dover. After getting parked up, and kitted out we joined the masses getting ready for Wiggles French Revolution.
A fun, escorted trip from the car parks to the ferry gave us our first hill of the day and we hadnt even reached France yet!
We went straight on board the ferry Spirit of France to find we had an entire deck dedicated to just our bikes and the cycling events staff coaches! Suj was particularly pleased...
With nothing to attch the bikes to we were convinced the bikes would end up a mass of metal and carbon, a giant ball stuck together with twisted handlebars, and released High5 gel.
With trepidation we joined the queue for free tea and criossants.
Some slept, some wandered around, everyone got confused trying to find the registration desks!
We were told on the ferry the last ferry was at 4.30pm which caused further confusion as a) it was supposed to be 6pm b) we were already running an hour late by arrival and c) we werent sure if it was Blighty time or Le Time they referred to.
Regardless we arrived, and found our bikes hadnt become a giant ball of bikemould. Rejoice!
And so the brave 700 souls set off for a little cycling adventure.
I had hoped to avoid a repeat of the Huntingdon sportive, where Suj was struggling with the tank she had, now she had a road bike (Sensa Romagna Special) and true enough while we still went much slower than everyone else, we kept a steady pace...
...Until the first hill and we both discovered she had real trouble selecting the right gear. Because she had a few issues with the bike and had to send it back, she had done a sum total of about 80 miles on it, and hadnt quite done the hill training she probably should have done. While she would be close behind on flats, she quickly lost ground up the first, and remaining hills.
The wind was pretty bad, even moreso at the coastline. At times on downhills had to really focus on keeping the bike steady.
The first big hill was a bit of a steamer to be fair, not too bad for sesoned cyclists, but a few already walked up it, Suj, to her credit, made it up, albeit with enough time for me to take a snapshot of one of many JC stauettes located on top of hills...
The number of JC statues felt a little wickerman at times, but despite that the countryside was very nice!
The first big downhill section was the Escalles hill, a sweeping left and right twisty road that I had seen on streetmap and warned Suj about. I took it relatively easy to try and keep Suj from going too fast, but despite this we had a little "bump" at the bottom as Suj found her brakes werent quite as sharp as everyone elses, or she hadnt been using them hard enough! She came off slightly but no harm done after a quick check, though I think it made her even more cautious thoughout the trip.
Sony had loaned me a AVS100 action camera, but hadnt thought how I was going to attach it to my helmet, so had to use a handlebar mount that unfortunately made the built in antishake pretty redundant (the roads were better than UKs but still not great at times).
We cycled down many quiet country roads, as ever the event was organised superbly well, with signposts warning of dangerous corners, and stewards directing us and traffic at intersections. Regular maintenece vehicles went past, and medics on motorbikes were never far away.
The stuff I had read about cycling in France wasnt wrong either, many a time I heard the cry of Allez Allez from people sat outside houses, wandering roads and generally mulling about to see what the wheezing was all about. Even the dogs seemed to want to come out and say hello, at least I think that was what he was wanting to do! Car drivers were incredibly patient, not a single beep nor a massively revved engine as they passed the whole trip. Bliss.
As we came to the first pit stop, 20 miles in, it was clear from our pace and Suj's hill struggles we would never get close to getting back in time if we did the Epic, so we decided to take the split when it came and do the standard. Still a pretty tough 60 miles, with 3,658ft of climbing (thats 60ft per mile
@Nigelnaturist!).
The pitstops were an oasis of fig rolls, jaffa cakes, flapjacks and bananas but we couldnt stay for long, so onwards we went and noticeably picked up the pace a little.
When we got to the second pitstop, 40 miles in, Suj was really struggling. Her hayfever had caused an issue where the back of her throat was swollen, and her larynx kept closing. After seeing a medic, she decided she was going to push on, but the next (very) big hill finally stopped her in her tracks and she decided to call for a pickup.
I felt bad leaving her, but had spoken to the emergency guys and was told help was on the way for her and would be safely transported to Dover, where I would meet her. She insisted I carried on to get to the ferry in time, so I pushed on, a little quicker than previously on the trip, and even passed people!
Making it into the Calais port just as Cycling Events were distmantling everything, just enough time to pick up my goodie bottle and medal, and headed to the check in desk, passport in hand. After finding I had missed the 'last' ferry by 5 minutes, along with a bunch of other riders, we had a 50 minute wait for the 'last last' ferry.
To my delight Suj turned up, and we made our way back to Blighty together.
Sitting on the ferry Pride of Canterbury along with a lot of other exhausted cyclists we took time to don our carefully prepared celebration of all things French for a finishers photo.
Suj's was much deserved as although she hadnt quite done the distance she had done remarkably well for someone with only 80 miles under belt on her bike, reaching 47 miles and a LOT of climbing. It was far tougher than the New Forest sportive, and IMO was nearer to RideLondon, albeit less mileage, especially with the wind.
We even spotted the same ferry which had taken us to Calais many hours ago.
We had an escort through an empty Dover Port which was great fun, dropped Suj off at home, and got back home some time shortly after 10pm.....a long day!
Fun times around Dover Port -
http://app.strava.com/activities/154510172
Definitely a sportive I would recommend to anyone with some miles under them, its challenging, brilliantly organised, fantastic scenery thoughout but I wouldnt recommend doing it without a bit of prep work first.
Heres my youtube video of the ride, condensed into a few minutes...
Strava is missing a 400 yard part where I had stopped it while waiting for Suj at the top of a hill, and forgetting to start it again until the start of the next one! D'oh.
http://app.strava.com/activities/154555163
Happy
everyone!
