London-Paris bike ride

I have just returned from my latest cycling challenge which was an organised London to Paris ride with 31 other people. Admittedly not quite in the same league as my previous Pyreneen and Alpine traverses, but a challenge nonetheless - 500km in 4 days, temperatures up to 40 degrees, torrential rain and thunderstorms.

We set off from that well known London landmark 'Bexley Heath Holiday Inn' early on Wednesday morning, avoiding the worst of the traffic, but not all the potholes in the road! The Kent countryside was a picture of classic ye oldé England and the skies were blue all the way down to Dover. Cream tea and Wimbledon (on a big screen) in the centre were the highlight of our stop in Dover before the ferry to Calais and the first nights stop.

The 2nd day from Calais to Arras took us through some beautiful scenery...whoever said northern France was flat was lying! A tail wind for much of the day helped us clock up the 125km in under 5hrs of riding time. The 'Place des Heros' - the main square in Arras - provided the ideal location for aprés-biking refreshments. The impressive cathedral has almost entirely been re-built since WW1.

Day 3 and increasing head wind as we rode from Arras (Pas-de-Calais) to Compiegne (Sommes) - the many cemeteries a sad reminder to the vast numbers killed in WW1. As the day went on the heat picked up and became almost unbearable towards the end of the ride as we entered Compiegne. The heat of the day culminated in an impressive thunderstorm which some of the riders got caught up in.

Soon after setting off on the last day (Sat) the torrential rain started, and it didn't take long to get completely soaked through. We did 65km in thunder, lightening and downpours (taking one brief shelter in a patisserie) before hitting the lunch stop. The final 40km into Paris was a scary affair - roadworks and nutter drivers kept the pressure on all the way to the Louvre. A wait for the back markers before setting off in a convoy down the Champs Elysee and and then across to the Eiffel Tower (more memorable than the Holiday Inn start!) for a glass of celebration champers.

I've now had a day in Paris to recover. Well, if you count climbing the 320 steps up the dome of the Sacre Coeur recovery time!