Our last day today, 69 miles from Compiegne to Paris. The route today was very good with only two major hills which came early on. We started off with a really nice run out throught the Forest of Compiegne. We had our only rain of the ride this morning with a shower for the first half hour as were going through the forest after which the weather cleared up and was quite hot by the afternoon.
Some nice villages again today and a couple of stunning chateaus including the one above. The run into Paris was relatively flat and fast. We formed up into two groups about 12 miles from Paris and came in behind one of the support vehicles. What was really nice was that as we rode through Paris lots of people at the roadside applauded and cheered us. So then it was across the Place de la Concorde, up the Champs Elysees, round the Arc de Triomphe and down Avenue Kleber to the Jardins du Trocadero overlooking the Eiffel Tower where we finished. Riding up the Champs Elysees in the group was a fantastic thrill although I must say that crossing the Place de la Concorde and going around the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe were two of the scariest things that I have ever done in my life.
So we made it, all 73 of us! After four days, 16,000 feet of climbing, no punctures, 20+ energy bars, 15 litres of energy drink and countless bananas I was sipping champagne with Mrs Claudius in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. I am proud to say that I rode all the route and made it up all of the hills without having to walk up any of them. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I had the privilige of sharing it with a team of 73 wonderful people. That evening we had a fantastic celebration dinner and the following day we watched the Tour de France come into town before heading home.
So well done to everyone in the team Thanks to Alison, Amanda and Hannah from the Christian Aid events team who arranged it all for us. Thanks also to Pete, Brian and the team from Global Adventures who looked after us superbly throughout the event. Thanks most of all to my fellow riders, we did it together folks!
And the best bit of all is that together we raised over £100,00 for some of the poorest people in the world.
Index to Photos (click on the photo for a larger image)
Top to bottom
- A Chateau
- Me at the finish
- The Team at the finish
- The Tour de France comes to town
2 comments:
Yeah! Congratulations!
Now: what are you going to do with this blog?
Post a Comment