The team have raise over £22,000 so far and the contributions still seem to be coming in…. what an effort!

It sounds like the team have been training hard and every-one’s physically ready, but don’t forget to give yourself a few days off before we go, time to taper off as they say.  My final ride will be on Sunday (the London to Brighton) and I’m just going to take it nice and easy and enjoy the day.  I can’t do anymore than I’ve done and my experience from doing it back in March tells me that it’s worth being well rested up before we start. 

Also If you can get to your local bike shop before we go then it’s worth getting them to give it a quick check over, however a certain amount of spares will be taken and we have a spare bike in the support van if all else fails.  There are cycle shops along the route (at least in Boulogne and Aberville so we can get parts if needed, they all seemed to be very helpful)

As before, if you’ve got any questions about logistics or anything then let me know, I’m taking the whole of next week off so I have plenty of time to run around for people if needed.  We have a final pre-event meeting over at the James Whale Fund on Monday where we’ll do our final checks.

Everyone should have received their Arch to Arc tops by now, and here’s a picture of one of the riders modelling it for us …nice hip work Trevor!!  Makes it all seem much more real, the excitement for me is palpable.

The Official Arch to Arc Shirt

I’ve been forced into riding my push-bike into work this week due to a flat tyre on my motorbike   I was only intending to ride in one day this week, but never mind at least the sun’s out.  My BMW dealership love to delay things, I almost feel guilty asking them for anything, it’s like they’re doing me some big favour allowing me to buy one.  Anyway, enough of that I could rant for hours on how badly I’ve been treated as a customer.

As for next year’s ride, I’ve been plodding around the streets of London during my Lunch-hours going into as many cycle shops as possible asking them to put up a poster and leaving them with a batch of leaflets, they’ve all been pretty nice about it so far and CycleSurgery and Evans Cycles have both given me contacts in their head office marketing departments. 

We’re looking to learn from this year’s ride and extend it to 50 people next year so it’s going to mean a lot of leg work to get the riders.  Jane and the kids have agreed to hand out leaflets at the London to Brighton event this weekend to see if tapping into a targeted audience has any impact.  I’m of the belief that doing as many of the Cycling Sportif’s as possible this year and handing out leaflets and talking to people may be the best way forward.  Anyway, nothing to lose by trying that approach.

If you’re reading this and still want to donate then please click on one of the links at the bottom of this blog, if we could get to £25,000 this year … well, wow!!

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The biggest pain I’ve had to deal with is thinking I’d be able to commute to my new job and have a safe place to put my bike, sadly no …..  so I’ve had to purchase a foldaway bike that I can keep by my desk.  I’m amazed at how good it is, clearly it’s not quite as fast as my road bike, but it’s pretty close and has the same riding position.  So I’ve done 120 miles on it this week!

I’ve also got a couple of big rides coming up, the Wantage to Winchester and the London to Brighton.  Both of these are around 50 miles so will be great warm ups for the London to Paris, and dont forget that those of you on the team that want to get together, we have the 22nd May to look forward to.  I hope that everyone on the team has been busy building up their mileage, it’s not long now before the big event.

Jane, my wife’s, been busy and completed the London Marathon in an impressive 4hrs 20mins for the James Whale Fund

London Marathon 2010

Quite a day, I’ve never been to one before and it’s great to see London with no cars.  I might try for it myself next year if I can summon up the energy to do all that training.

The Arch to Arc fund raising is going very well, we’re getting really close to our £20,000 target and it’s made me think that it’s time to start contemplating 2011.

It may seem a little early to start planing the next ride, but to be honest I’d like to see if we can get 50 riders signed up next year.  I’ll be creating a facebook page inviting people to sign up so for those of you who missed out this year and want to be part of it in 2011 then now’s your chance.  Just get in touch with me.

To bring the need of raising awareness a little closer to home for me an ex-work colleague of mine sadly passed away this week of Kidney Cancer (so I’ve been told).  It was a total shock to us and I dont think many of us even knew he’d been ill.  Such a shame, he was a great guy and well liked, and so young.  My heart goes out to his family.

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I had the privilege to meet Tony last year when he and Deb Maskens spoke at the James Whale Fund patient day in London.  Their talk had a profound impact.  To see how much has been achieved by Kidney Cancer of Canada in so little time was truly awesome.

Tony, for me you had the capacity to inspire me and others. The legacy you have left will surely grow based on the foundations you’ve helped create.  You will be sorely missed.  Rest in Peace.

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On the Arch to Arc front we’ve got another addition to the riders bringing our total up to 15 which I think is fantastic for the first year, and even better we’ve reached over 80% of our target of £20,000 which I think is absolutely amazing at this stage, so yet again a big thanks to all the riders who’ve been plugging away.  Looking at all the facebook pages and blogs training has started in earnest for most of us …. only 2 months now!! Having done it once I’m really excited about doing it again in a group, it’ll be great fun.

I’m going for a cycle with Trevor Coultart (one of the riders) this evening which should be a giggle, he’s set the course so I’m in his hands.  I seem to be raising my average speed gradually but I have to admit I’ve been playing more music and generally fiddling around at home …. I really should have being out there on the bike.

On the Kidney Cancer front it’s also been exciting times, with the election looming Cancer is getting a good press as the parties jockey for position, if you want to see some of the news and how hard the likes of Clive Stone and Rose Woodward have been working then check out this link and you can read through a selection of press items.  I received a typically patronising letter back from my current MP when I asked for help on the Afinitor issue (so I know where my votes NOT going).

It’s also worth noting that the Kidney Cancer Association (one of the Kidney Cancer groups based in the USA) are coming over this year to hold a Patient Day and the James Whale Fund welcomes them to the UK.  I would suggest you make a note in your diary if you want to attend. It will be interesting to see a different perspective and how they are dealing with this in the US.

Some exciting news is that they’ve unearthed a Kidney Cancer Urine test that potentially identifies certain proteins that can indicate the presence of Kidney Cancer, this will be a big leap forward and should mean early diagnosis is quick and simple cutting down on the number of deaths each year.  Kidney Cancer is known as a silent killer in that symptoms dont often display themselves until the later stages of the disease, and it can often be too late, if caught early enough surgery is usually all you need and this Urine test will go a long way to helping …. so bring it on!!

It’s going to be a busy summer in the world of Kidney Cancer in the UK so watch this space and the news feed on the James Whale Fund web-site to find out what’s going on.

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For those reading this who want to donate then please click on this link and give as much as you’re able, all this money will make a huge difference to Kidney Cancer patients in the UK.

The final leg was harder than I thought it was going to be I guess because my legs had had enough, however I did have the joy of knowing that it was only 44 miles and not 50 (which is what the route had initially told me) that made it much more bearable. Way more hills than the profile suggested, but quite a few of them downwards to compensate a little.

The clocks had gone forward which meant that my 6am start was really 5am and cycling in the dark is never easy, and it was a tad fresh to say the least,  but by 8am it had warmed up a bit and I was back in full light winding my way through country villages. My breakfast was a stop off at a village bakery that had just opened as I was passing through, Warm Pain au Chocalat …. cant beat it. The roads were quiet until I hit the outskirts of Paris but given it was Sunday it’s nowhere near as bad as London.

Once I’d got to Saint Denis I knew I’d finished, it was just a case of navigating myself through the streets of Paris.  My “mate” the Garmin sent me off wrong once but did a pretty good job otherwise, if only the battery on the iPhone was of any use I’d have used that because GeoLives is a fantastic app that places your route on google maps and you can see your position as you go.  Whenever the Garmin failed me I used it to get myself back on track.

Coming up to the Arch de Triomphe is so cool, no matter how many times I come here it’s always an impressive site. Thankfully the traffic was quiet and I could cycle round it a few times without feeling I was putting my life in any danger.  I did get to the middle and took a few photos but sadly the police asked me to take the bike back onto the Champs Elysee, they didn’t have a great explanation as to why bikes aren’t allowed but they weren’t unpleasant about it, and I always try not to argue with people with guns

I also had a welcoming party with Paul and Caroline and their kids and my mother so I wasn’t left alone and it was great to see them!  Straight into a cafe, Streak, Frittes, beer, banana split! (well what did you expect after 14000 calories of effort? Salad and orange juice?). Then a nice Apres lunch walk around the back streets of the Louvre and then to the station. Lots of strange looks from the locals as I was walking around in my Bermuda shorts and flip-flops in the rain (lightest things to carry), but if I offered some amusement…..

The only real disappointment of the whole trip was the lack of little bars and restaurants along the route. I was expecting many many more. Overall it’s do-able, June will be warmer, we’ll have a support van full of food and drink, and each other to push ourselves along.

Some lessons learnt:

• Probably best we stay in Dover on Day 1 so we can take our time and not panic about chasing ferry times.  It does mean a very early start the next day but we can rest a bit on the ferry
• Take extra cleats.  I admit there were hills I had to walk and it wore out my cleats which made them tough to lock in.
• Dont wear my carbon fibre shoes, they’re too stiff and my big toes were always numb by the end of the day and quite painful. So I’ll be buying easier to wear shoes.
• Get lights that a) Fit (so I dont have to hold them on) and b) Work.  I suspect we wont need them in June as it will always be light, but just in case.
• Dont ever ever ever carry a rucksack.  If you’re doing it on your own then take an Mountain Bike and stock it with decent paniers.  Road bikes in a group will be fine because we have the van.
• If you’ve got gadgets, then learn how to use them before you go
• Make sure the van is well stocked with food and drink along in the way, there are plenty of lovely spots to stop but few shops except in the towns we pass through.
• Do a lot more hill training to get the legs in shape

All the spare tubes and bits and pieces I took I used none of, but would still have been crazy not to have taken them along the way.  I came across 2 bikes shops en-route (which I needed for lights and cleats).  One in Boulogne sur mer in the town centre, very helpful chap, and the other in Abberville (very close to the hotel and opens at 10am), again very nice and helpful.  I’m pretty sure there will be ones in Beauvais as well but I admit to just wanting to get to the hotel and crash.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things and as I do I’ll stick them up on the forum at this link. As Trevor says, it’s a bit quite on the forum at the moment but as we all get into the training it should liven up a bit.

Am I looking forward to doing it again in June? Yes, but I need a decent week off to let my legs and shoulders recover

I wonder what happened to that lock?

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I admit to having a sense of humour failure yesterday as I was walking down essentially a ploughed up field, but today …… much much better.  The route was flat(‘ish) most of the way and I was able to crack on at a reasonable pace getting me to Beauvais at around 4:30pm and I set-off at 10am.

Beauvais is a lovely little town, great shopping area and a fantastic Cathedral, maybe if we all set-off a little earlier in the morning in June we’ll have time to explore a little, but to be honest I was very grateful for the lie in.

Compared to yesterday this was a breeze and it was nice to kick back a bit and just enjoy the ride.  I’ve discovered that the French seem to have more a fascination for dogs than the English do, all barking in support for me along the route, or just wishing they could leap over the fences and take a piece out of me, I’m pretty sure it was the latter.

I have come down with a dose of fully blown “man flu” which isn’t helping much I just hope it goes as quickly as it came.  I’m coughing, spluttering and sneezing …… Hah, ’tis but a flesh wound.

Oh yeah, somehow I managed to “lose” the 2.8kg lock I was carrying … it must be somewhere, possibly under the bed at the hotel in Abbeville  Boy what a difference that made I can’t wait to do this with no rucksack as well in June.  The hotel must have though I was nuts, but “losing” it was the best decision I’ve made.

So tomorrow, it’s a 6am start with the hope of getting to Paris by noon to meet my Mother (who’s in Paris as well) and friends of ours Paul and Caroline who live there.  Now getting up a 5am to be ready for the off at 6 isn’t so bad, but of course I would choose the weekend the clocks go forward, which means no breaky, so I’m stocking up on some carbs now before hitting the sack.

No rain today, so please no rain tomorrow. I’m not going to pretend this has been easy, I do need to work on my fitness and leg strength fort June.  I ache everywhere, but if it was easy it would be no challenge, and that’s the point.  For me if this raises awareness and money for Kidney Cancer then job done!  Behind the scenes the fund is working hard to get as much publicity as we can and it’s not an easy subject so if anyone has any ideas then let me know and I’ll pass it on, or just contact them direct.

As a quick rejoinder I had a chat with Nick Turkentine today who runs the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer and there are some really exciting things in the pipeline that the fund is working on.  It was a reminder of why we’re all doing this so fellow Arch to Arcer’s and readers tell your family, friends and work colleagues that we need to raise as much money as we can for this event.  Everyone has done so well to date and we’re up above 65% of our target of £20,000.  Click on the links below or the links on the top left hand side of the web-site and give what you can.

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I left the hotel and pedalled my way down to the  ferry terminal, checked in at about 5:30am (as requested), and went to the front of the queue and waited …. and waited, only to discover the ferry was delayed by at least an hour.  No rain thankfully but it was cold just standing about.  I did have one of those bizzarre meetings you have in life, I met Wolfgang Stars from my Dresdner days (head of risk) so at least that passed the time.

Eventually they let me on the boat at around 7:10am.  It arrived around 12 noon so immediately I was on the back foot to try and make up some time.  Boulogne is not a bad little town in the old parts and I found a nice little bike shop so I could replace my cleats, like an idiot I forgot to get my back light fixed and that would come back to bite me later in the day.

Getting out of Boulogne was quite hilly but then it was flatish for a while and then the hills started again.  Tired from yesterday and now with a streaming cold I struggled to keep going.  For the actual event we’ll need to ensure the van is well stocked with food because I found very few places to eat, a lot of places were shut…..  so I did the whole day on an egg mayonaise sandwich and a pain au chocolat …  not a good move.

The countryside is lovely so we’ll have nice terrain along the way and it was all gentle country roads with very little traffic. With the weather with me most of the day I only got wet a couple of times.

It went a bit wrong around 20 miles from the end.   The garmin decided to take me off down a track that then turned into field tracks …… it is fired!!  so I ended up having to walk a fair few miles to get back onto the road by which point it was dark. I did cycle a bit but with a broken light but I was getting quite a bit of grief from passing drivers so had to walk again.

Huge relief to arrive at the hotel and to get dinner and a hot bath.

Tomorrow the garmin is fired! the 2.5kg lock is fired! (I’m leaving it here as it’s bruised my hips so badly and it’s slowing me down)

Lets hope the weather holds and I can crack on tomorrow! There is a cycle shop in Abbeville so I’ll swing by there in the morning….. sadly it doesn’t open til 10am … shucks I’ll have to lie in  Hope the cold goes.

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After much fiddling with the Garmin Edge 705 at Euston working out how the navigation operated (should have checked that) I trundled over to Marble Arch and then decided to kill the remaining hour or so having breakfast in a cafe behind Selfridges that does a mean scrambled eggs on toast. They also had SKY TV on in the background  which meant I caught the latter end of James Whale’s slot … as if I needed reminding of why I got up this morning

About 3o miles in and am so glad that the route takes us off main roads and onto country lanes.  With the exception of the first 5 miles it’s been pretty quite and uneventful.  I was relieved when the route didn’t go onto the A20 where I thought it would but ran in parallel instead on a quieter main road, so no worries Hugh … no motorways as yet (I’ve gone under the M25 and over the M20 so far. There was a bit of a steepish climb from Horton Kirby to where I stopped for a coffee so I think this looks like a natural mid to late morning stop for the group, the cake is great, tea good and they’re used to cyclists and dont mind us en-mass.  

Not sure exactly how many miles I did since the coffee stop, the garmin timer stopped and I didn’t notice for about an hour.  The garmin sat nav feature is a bit flaky, I’ve gone down the wrong tracks a few times and at one point it sent me down a raod that put me 20 miles out of my way so I had to double back, but I guess that’s why I’m doing it now so at least one of us knows where we’re going.  Of couse the Garmin was off as I was getting lost so I wont be able to see what I did

It got to about 1pm and then the rain came and by 2pm I was soaked to the skin so I held up at the Park Inn next to Leeds Castle and here I’ll stayed until got dry and the rain stopped.  I didn’t have to be in Dover by any specific time because I’m now taking the morning ferry.  So I to relaxed and take it easy…..big mistake.

The route thus far had been hilly but went through some pretty villages to compensate and if we’re not chasing ferry times then we can all chill out and just enjoy the day, walk where we need to and make up some time where we can.

About an hour after I left the pub Mr Cock-up and his entire family joined me and I went totally off course, and it was getting dark. The garmin was next to useless as was it’s operator and it kept on sending me off in all sorts of directions. The rain started again and it became obvious that I needed to stop following the sat nav and just get to Dover. I’ll put it down to experience and have a go on my motorbike when I get back to ensure the route is mapped out properly. Lots of upydowny bits as it got towards Dover. However I reckon my 80 mile ride turned into well over 100 with all the ponsing around I did towards the end. One minute the Garmin said I was 10 miles away and then next it said 15 … nuts!! Bring back the good old map an compass.

Once I got to Dover the temperature dropped considerably as I sailed down the hill to the port and I was grateful for a warm welcome and a hot bath at the Premier inn. I have to say they are good hotels, clean, comfortable, big rooms and quite. Yes the location is always bad but the rest compensates for it.

Got very little sleep to be honest and I was up again at 4:30am to get myself for the ferry …. which of course was late anyway

All in all I had a great day, made some mistakes, didn’t go as fast as I wanted but with about 12kg of stuff on my back it was to be expected (wont need this for the real thing as we’ve got a support van …. phew!!). Also there were a few aspects of the route I wasn’t happy with that need to be looked at. Please, please, please …. no more rain!

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