So the massive day has arrived. It’s fifteenth July, 4:15am and the alarm sounds. Fifteen minutes later, I’m prepared and it’s time to load the automobile with all our issues, together with the bikes. My buddy Craig is up, having stayed at mine after travelling from Bristol the night time earlier than.
I take the bikes and match them on to the roof racks, with a body cowl on to guard from the clamp and the wheels tied down tight, with each locks locked – and double checked.
We head off in the direction of my different companion Lee’s home earlier than assembly the entire gang at Ben’s home for 5am, leaving at 5:15am, with all 4 bikes on. Lee and Dave are within the again, with Craig and myself within the entrance.
It’s a stupendous sunny morning in July as we go away Kingston, with zero visitors and a transparent drive to Folkestone and Le Shuttle. We verify in rapidly, and now it’s time for a (a lot wanted) espresso and breakfast.
Breakfast consists of coffees all-round, with loads of bacon, sausage and eggs to go alongside, the morning repasts of elite athletes, naturally (properly, we have to hold our vitality ranges up). A minimum of the minted Tao water went down properly (and didn’t add to the calorie rely).
With our Euros purchased, we’re prepared for the 8.20 depart, however it was not prepared for us, a slight 20min delay however fortunately we’re all aboard and in single file collectively.
With pleasant chat between us all and questions round who was the place within the climbing pecking order and who can be on the entrance starting to be thrown round. After a lot debate, we determine
Daz, Simon, Craig ought to be on the head of the pack, then the center group simply behind Steve, James and Ben, adopted by the remainder of us the primary peloton (outlined by the Oxford English dictionary as the primary subject or group of cyclists.)
Half an hour later, we go away Le Shuttle, with the sat-nav exhibiting 585 miles to our vacation spot – a small village known as Boucy. Our 4 automobile convoy made mild work of the French Toll twin carriageways, stopping twice to replenish each the automobiles and their occupants. The €9 meal deal, which included any drink, cake and baguette, the sugar and carbs can be wanted.
Astonishingly, at round 5pm, the rounds went eerily quiet – the small matter of France competing within the World Cup Closing I think – and by about 7:30pm we ultimately reached our vacation spot after greater than 14 hours on the go. We managed to drive previous the home we had been staying at twice – with the native roads giving us an amazing style of what lay in retailer for us – and our poor legs – over the approaching days, with steep climbs and tight hairpins in every single place.
With all of the automobiles emptied and rooms chosen, we wanted to refuel within the method of the elite athletes that we had been pretending to be, so we headed up the mountain to the Boucy Ski Station.
Unsurprisingly, the locals had been in temper, due to their 4:2 victory within the World Cup Closing and we settled down in a neighborhood pizza café with 13 pizzas and 13 beers ordered. Excellent vitamin for the times forward.
We make our preparations for the morning – up at 7:30am, breakfast at 8, go away by 9. However now, it’s midnight and all of us want some slumber.
