SteveCycles

Click here for the route map (the english bit)

Click here for the route map (the french bit)

Evening Folks,

You find me ensconced in an Airbnb in the town of Marle which is some 70 odd miles further south than Cysoing. I’m at the end of day 3 now but here’s day 2………

The Folkestone weather was similar to London’s the previous day with the continuing Baltic easterly wind coming in off the North Sea. Folkestone isn’t too far off sea level and the route to Dover ferry port involves a 2 or so mile climb followed by an 8 mile downhill. The climb up Dover Hill is brutal. Halfway up it feels like you heart is going to burst out of your chest and your breakfast burst from elsewhere! This hill concluded the climbing for England and it was a relief to start descending for Dover. However, the wind had other ideas which meant pedalling all the way down. I even stopped at one point to spin both wheels as it felt like the brakes were sticking.

Following the quick check-in at the port, I, together with a group of other cyclists boarded immediately and within minutes, I was in the exec lounge with coffee and croissants. I think I mentioned the German film crew lady yesterday so I won’t bother with it again.

The crossing was flat calm and within 2 hours, we were in Dunkerque. On arrival at the car deck where the bike was, I was soon joined by my fellow velo-ists. 2 of them were a retired couple off on a tour of the Western Front from Belgium down to Basle in Switzerland. The others were a group of lads who were pedalling up to Bruges for a night on the beer before cycling back the next day.

The temperature on the car deck was so, so cold. One of the Bruges group turned to me and in a broad London accent said,

“Fackin ‘ell! ‘ave we docked in Norway or what?”

This bloke turned up at the port in a puffa-jacket and flip flops in you so it’s hardly surprising he gave such a response.

Once out of the madness which is Dunkerque port, I was away from the traffic and making good progress inland towards the town of Bergues. I did pass through the small hamlet named Le Coq Hardi which the child in me found highly amusing. Translate it as you wish but I’m assured it had something to with a chicken!

Following lunch at Bergues, progress was swift on flat French/Belgian roads and the miles soon passed. Last time in September, I routed the ride through Ypres as I wanted to see the Menin Gate. This time I went via the town of Poperinge. This is the location of the not-so well-known Talbot House which was a rest and recuperation place for allied soldiers during the Great War. The name Talbot House was shortened by the troops to T.H. or Toc H (Toc being the Morse code saying for the letter T). Hence the name Toc H. We had one in the town where I grew up and I always wondered where the name was derived.

Anyway! Enough of such trivia. Again like last time, I passed a few WW1 allied cemeteries and stopped at the ‘New Commonwealth Cemetrie’ in Poperinge. You dont appreciate the scale of how many were lost until you see row upon row of white tombstones. Some identified, and many not. Poperinge cemetery holds in excess of 650 troops. Many of them lost between the 24th and 26th April 1915. This just one of numerous resting places for thousands of young men lost in Northern France during the conflict.

I arrived at the destination in Cysoing at around 6pm to find nobody there. My Airbnb host had actually forgotten I was arriving and thought it was next month! I envisaged having to ride on further in search of a hotel but within 20 mins she arrived, gave me a key, showed me where everything was and then promptly disappeared again. There was also another Airbnb guest staying. Her name was Lionelle (spelling?) who was in the area for a big party that evening. What happened on returning from the party however will have to wait until tomorrow.

All in all a grand day on 2 wheels mixed with baguettes, pastries and some strong French coffee.

Au revoir folks. Until next time!

Click here for the routemap

Good Morning,

I’m currently sat in the Executive lounge on a Danish Seaways ferry. By ‘Executive’ it means you get your own keycode to get in, a complimentary pastry and unlimited vending machine coffee. As an added bonus today, we are joined by a German film crew led by an 18 stone Frau who is constantly barking orders to her minions! All this for a bargain £10.99!

Well yesterday’s ride down from London caught me by surprise as soon as I stepped outside the door of the Airbnb just off the Edgeware Road. It was bitter! 2 degrees max. Failing to consider this possibility! I had only packed shorts, fingerless gloves and no warm top. Out of the wind it was ok but once moving the wind chill dropped considerably. Downhill bits made me teeth hurt and I was relieved when the relatively flat route from central London produced a decent hill to pedal up.

By the suburb of Eltham I was frozen and sought hot coffee in a Tesco Express. Whilst in there, I approached a young spotty youth who was replenishing the Mars Bars and asked,

“Excuse me, do you sell gloves?”

There was a pause……. Not a short one but a verging on awkward one. He then averted his gaze upwards and squinted slightly as I waited with great anticipation for his reply. You could hear the cogs turning here. You could see here was a chap that didnt really pay attention at school. Without a word, he disappeared for 20 seconds and then returned clutching a packet of bright yellow Marigolds. Well I guess technically he was right. I asked for gloves and he produced some from aisle 3. Obviously my reply was lacking context. I then explained that I was after the type of gloves that keep your hands warm. His reply being,

“Oh right! I fawt ya were cleaning or summink!”

Cleaning? Dressed as I was? Cleaning?

I pressed on and out into suburbia. The sun was trying its hardest to percolate the morning mist without much success. By 9am it still wasn’t showing any sign of warming up and by Dartford I’d had enough. But wait! What is this? Like a shining light by the roadside there appeared………….. a Halfords! 20 minutes later I was kitted out in cheap Chinese-made cycling apparel in the form of leg warmers (lycra type tubes), gloves and another top. Not the best quality (in fact, with it being the end of the season, it was all the crap they couldn’t sell over the winter or even in the spring sale!). Beggars can’t be choosers and I was warm at last!

Yesterday, Kent played host to some Scando-Baltic headwinds. Nothing too strong but enough to make a difference and to keep things cold. All the way down the A20 from Maidstone, I did battle with this bloody wind.

At some point somewhere, I stopped off at a filling station and was lured to the hot food counter. In the display cabinet were a couple of sausage rolls. Hot pastry containing a few ounces of processed ‘meat’. They looked good, they smelt even better. The fact that pastry induces indigestion in me lasting days didnt even occur. I snapped them up, tucked in and they were………..bloody awful. Why do we do these things to ourselves? We know it’s going to be bad but still, time after time, set ourselves up for a big disappointment! I departed once again feeling pretty sick and kicking myself for not just having a simple ham roll!

25 miles later, the town of Folkestone appeared over the last of many horizons where a warm welcome and bath awaited. All in all a good but chilly day and glad to get this part out if the way.

Mileage for Day: 76.3 miles

Total so far: 76.3 miles

Today is 65 (+ 11miles to the ferry) or so miles from Dunkerque down to the south of Lille. Should be much flatter than yesterday with less winds too with any luck.

Au revoir x

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Wow! What a scorcher the Easter weekend was! Easter in the UK normally signifies the start of the holiday season down here in Devon. It usually kicks in on a Friday evening literally hours after the school bell has rung. The main link road down to the south-west of England soon becomes a slow-moving mass of vehicles conveying umpteen thousand wired children, tripping sky-high on Haribo whilst Dad sits at the wheel silently kicking himself regretting not electing to stay at home and re-tile the bathroom! What usually happens here in Devon is that the weather is fine up until the day after the tourists arrive. Then the heavens open and stay that way for the duration. This then leaves relationships strained as the parents are now under every obligation to keep their little one’s amused and out of the rain. Of course, this also then comes at great cost to the wallet and severely dents the holiday budget! However, this weekend was to be an exception to the rule. The weather was glorious. The tabloids had been banging on about an Easter heatwave but then they always like that sort of thing – snow at Christmas, sea-levels rising for lent, potato shortages on St.Patrick’s day etc etc. Anyway, turns out they were right. It has been the best! This meant for the first time this year, the cycling shorts have seen the light of day! No base layers, no overshoes, no thermal socks and not a glove to be seen! That was on Saturday and three and a bit hours into the ride with 40 miles down, I was feeling wretched and all I wanted to do was get home. The diagnosis? Too much sun! It must have been a shock to the system after months of damp and cold weather. Nevermind, a nap and a trip to the local Indian (restaurant that is, and not a local sort of faith-healer!) certainly did the trick.

Yesterday was better…….much cooler and some cloud cover with a gentle south-easterly breeze. It was to be the last chance to get some good miles in before my little jaunt across France which starts next Monday.  Anyone that has read this blog will know that I attempted this ride from London to the Mediterranean back in September but had to call it a day on day 4 due to a knee injury. Since then however, the knee has recovered and I’ve built up the mileage slowly over the ensuing months. Yesterday’s ride was a good 68 miles and carrying the kit I’ll be taking to France with me. (all in all, it’s about 6 – 7kg ) when packed). Everything felt good, felt strong and the bike appears to be doing everything it should be doing.

Those interested in following me in my quest to pedal to the Med, can view the route details here.

There’s also a tracker that can be found here but I’ll be posting each day for that.

There’s a few other bits on the site as well – Blogs for LeJog in 2014 and France 2015.

Also, if there’s any cyclists that fancy joining me for a mile or two, please look at the route and let me know. I know there’s a good few cyclists in France (2 of which are joining me at some point). Would be great to have some company.

Finally, the reason I’m doing this is for the Brain Tumour Charity so if anyone wants to throw a few pounds/euros/dollars into the pot you can do so by clicking here.

Thanks for reading.

The Iconic Marble Arch in London’s West End. Completed in the 1830s and a little reduced in size (and cost!) from the original design, this monument once stood at the entrance to the then, newly built Buckingham Palace. When Queen Victoria sat in the ‘big chair’, she soon realised that Buck House wasn’t going to be big enough and had the whole place extended (more than just a conservatory and a bigger kitchen methinks!). As a result of the this, the Arch was dismantled and relocated to the top of Park Lane at the end of Oxford Street.

It’s from here on Monday 29th April, I’ll be wheeling off once again in a bid to cycle to Montpellier in the South of France. All being well, I’ll be dipping my toes in the Mediterranean on 10th May after 11 days and 820 or so miles of pedalling. The route will initially take me out of London and southeast through Kent to Folkestone for an overnight stop (70ish miles). The following day will be a quick 10 mile sprint to Dover to catch the Ferry to Dunkerque. After a breakfast of pastries and coffee ‘à bord le bateau’, I’ll then have a refreshingly flat 65+ miles to a little town southeast of Lille.  More details on a daily breakdown of the route can be found by clicking here

Some of you that followed the blog last September would’ve read that I came to a reluctant halt and had to abandon the ride due to a knee injury after 260 miles. So here I am again getting prepared to do battle once more. Anyone that didn’t read it, I think if you scroll down on the blog page, you can enlighten yourself there. It wasn’t all bad and there were some laughs!

The knee took a while to get 100% right but I’m glad (and relieved) to say that it is now 100% and stronger than ever. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back now, I was ill-prepared and hadn’t done anywhere near enough training. The injury happened a week before I’d even left London and together with 70+ miles on a loaded bike and strong headwinds, it was bound to go wrong somewhere (that somewhere was a bus shelter in a village in Eastern France!).

Also, the bike, was only a few months old and I hadn’t covered anywhere enough miles on it. It performed OK and it couldn’t be faulted. The problem was really the bloke perched on top of it! However, since then I’ve invested time and money in getting a ‘bike-fit’. The bike is now correctly set up and after a couple of hundred miles, I’ve settled into the new riding position and for the first time, there’s no aches, pains or pins and needles. And, as a bonus, there’s much more available power going through the pedals now (handy for the hills!).

Its all for Charity! The UK’s Brain Tumour Charity will be sole beneficiary of any funds raised and so far. So far, via the JustGiving site and cash donations, there’s already over £1250 in the pot so many thanks to all those who have donated so far.

So, between now and the end of April, there’s plenty of miles to get in locally to get my ageing legs into a state to pedal 70+ miles a day, everyday across France. It’ll be easy in places I’m sure and tougher in others. I’m under no illusions on that front but after reading the accounts of some people who are or have suffered from Brain Tumours, the discomfort of propelling two wheels and a bit of luggage across France really isn’t anything worth remarking on. The courage shown by these people on a daily basis is extraordinary even when, in some cases the prognosis is nothing but bad.

So, 29th it is! 11 days, 800+ miles, One Bloke, 2 legs, One Bike and a fistful of Euros for them french bakeries!

Thanks for reading folks and if you want to throw a few pennies in the pot, you can by clicking here

Hello Folks,

Just thought I’d pen a little update on what’s happening. A few weeks ago, as you probably know, I had to call a halt to a ride I was undertaking from Central London to the Mediterranean in Southern France. This was due to a knee injury which left me no choice than to stop after only around 260 miles out of the planned 800 and something. To be brutally frank, it was probably down to not enough training and preparation. My fitness levels were fine and I did feel strong on the bike. My left knee however, had other ideas.

Anyway, the knee recovery is well under way after numerous evening ice packs, support bandages and unsuccessful pleas for sympathy! A fortnight ago, I visited a ‘bikefit’ specialist. For those who are none the wiser,  they clamp your bike onto a stationery trainer,  sit you on it and let you pedal for a wee while. After much scratching of heads, sharp intakes of breath through teeth,  they analyse your technique and then question as to how on earth you ever got past the bit where you took your stabilisers off!

After 3 hours of tweaking both me and the bike, I left and 24 hours later, found myself on a gentle spin in the New Forest on a very different feeling bicycle. Much advice has been sought regarding recovery and over the winter, I’ll be rebuilding stamina and strength in this left knee with the target being to ‘Re-leave’ Central London and head down through Kent bound for the South of France. All being well, kick-off will be at dawn on Monday 29th April 2019.

One good thing is that I’ve learnt a few things from last month’s attempt. One of them being that the route through Kent needs looking at and to keep off the unbelievably crappy cycle routes – namely The Pilgrims Way. I think the person that deals with the classification of cycle routes is actually a 4 wheel drive off-road route planner who just walked in and sat down at the wrong desk one morning.

Anyway, there it is. I just want to say a massive thankyou to all those who have donated to my chosen charity The Brain Tumour Charity. Sorry that I didn’t make it the first time. Nobody was more disappointed than me but all it has served to do is make me more than determined to complete job next April.

Will publish more updates as and when.

Bye for now x