We are here!
Arrived in Rouen very wet after 4 hours cycling through heavy rain.
All the team are ok and doing well.
A quick thank you to Trish and Mark who have helped us get this far, now they just have to get us home!
Another big thank you goes out to ‘Regenthill’ our kit sponsors as we are attracting a lot of support on the way as we passed through several French villages this morning.
End of day 1
Arrived safely I’m Portsmouth.
6 hours ride time with an average speed of 15.1 miles per hour and climb over 8000ft (2.5 Ben Nevis’).
Keep the donations coming in please.
We are well on our way after a great send off from St Joan’s & St John’s.
We’ve currently made it through:
Denham
Windsor
Frimley
Farnborough
Farnham
Alice Holt Forest (Halfway)
More forest
Wrong Turn
Bigger Hill
Lost the Bus
Another Unnecessary Hill
Sideways Rain
Portsmouth!
With less that 24 hours til departure each ‘athlete’ will no doubt be adhering to his own pre-tour preparations:
Early nights
Massage
Sewing
and preparing large amounts of food!
For the 80 mile first leg ALONE each rider will burn approximately 3000 calories in addition to the regular 2500 burnt by daily existence.
It’s important too that we recognise the vital role of our families – allowing us to disappear for hours at a time for training, the extra meals, the weekend away itself and of course last minute kit repairs by Mrs Lynch!!!
Without their support we not have been able to pursue such a massive challenge and fundraising endeavour.
But I am making my own jam sandwiches!
We’d like to thank our generous kit sponsor Regenthill. Thanks to them every traffic jam and impatient driver will know the name ‘Udayan’.
Front View (for those who will line the route to cheer us on our way…)
Rear View (what Liam will see from the back of the peloton….)
Allez! Allez!
School Chaplain Liam spent the three-and-a-half hours duration of the school Open Evening cycling non-stop.
It’s not quite the same as hitting the road but the visiting parent and generous JOA students were impressed enough to donate over £125 in cash plus some SMS donations.
With a week until departure we finally got some serious team training in. We’ve all been attempting our own training despite various set backs; Mr McLaughlin was knocked of his bike a month ago and has been awaiting a replacement for much of that time whilst Mr Walsh had to stop riding because of a bout of bronchitis.
Set backs aside we were able to train as a team for two rides this weekend; the first covering the opening 35 miles of the route of Stage 1 (Rickmansworth – Portsmouth) and back totalling 70 miles. The second ride looked to recreate the climbs of Stage 2 (Le Havre – Rouen) with 55 miles through the hills of Herts, Beds and Bucks including a gruelling ascent of Ivinghoe Beacon. The views from the top (see picture) almost compensated for the deep burn felt in the riders leg muscles.
This week the riders will be concentrating on eating well to meet the energy demands of next weekend.
Please visit the Just Giving Page to donate.
We will be riding to Rouen and back in 4 days.
Days 1 and 4 will be the toughest taking us from Rickmansworth to Portsmouth. And if the 80 mile distance wasn’t enough to get the lactic acid flowing, the 6+ climbs surely will.
Rickmansworth to Portsmouth
Days 2 and 3 will appear somewhat easier covering ‘only’ around 55 miles each day – with several gruelling climbs including the final ascent before the descent into Rouen at the end of day 2 which should make for a ‘fun’ start to day 3!
Le Havre to Rouen
We will try to keep you up-to-date with video and pictures from the route as we go.
The Road 2 Rouen 