Day 4 ... and we have done it

Woke up to a lovely sunny day and it just got better .... 60 miles to Paris just flew by. The only disappointing moment was discovering that they had run out of Victoria sponge at lunch time !! Vini Vidi Vici... and now Vini Vidi Vino .... well done girls!!!!

Day 1 - 3 the really really short version

Day 1 - rain but not bad thru Kent as we were mentally and physically prepared. Saw a dead squirrel and a dead duck ... must have been a hell of a fight!! Ferry from Dover to Calais = fish and chips and to hotel was 111 miles

Day 2 - Hell on Wheels .. awful awful awful in every way ... almost soul destroying - 75 miles

Day 3 - all is forgiven - weather, terrain and high on sugar and energy stuff ... Still a few hills ...

We are ready to go .. will someone tell the weather

Tomorrow is the BIG day. Are we ready? Well ... the bikes are all serviced and Tulip has had some advice on how to reduce her pannier weight (read she was totting a mini caravan ...)  Lara is back in superb shape after her accident last weekend. Pearl E still has a few idiosyncrasies that come with cult Italian gear sets that are good to look at, lovely to listen to, but always just a little unco-operative at times ... so we are ... gulp... almost ready.

We have done as the programme said  and taken it easy training wise this week and concentrated on readiness planning aka how can we fit all we need on the bikes without taking a back pack, as we don't have access to our (minimal) luggage during the day. You need to do this over a beer of course, using one of the 1000s of iPhone apps available. So that's what Pomme Anglais and I did, while Tulip was off doing real readiness activities. I know we are making this look easy but believe me it's difficult, with or without beer!!.

Here's a quick 300 mile itinerary re-cap:

• Tuesday 8 May - stay overnight at Crystal Palace ready for the 5am rising the next day
• Wednesday 9 May - London to Calais via Kent & ferry from Dover - 95 miles
• Thursday 10 May - Calais to Abbeville - 75 miles
• Friday 11 May - Abbeville to Beauvais via the Somme - 70 miles
• Saturday 12 May - Beauvais to Paris - 60 miles

So far the weather is not looking kind. The forecast changes every few hours this time of year so there's always hope for sunshine.  It doesn't have to be warm, just fine and dry will do nicely thank you (if anyone with any weather magic is reading this little plea).

We intend to blog en route, if we are not sound asleep at 6pm every night that is ... so here we go .. wheeee ... 

The gloves are off …. the shorts are on!

Well, to be specific, the glove (singular) supporting my broken left arm (and poorly wrist) is off for a few hours of the day now, and my padded shorts are on!

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Padding is the word of the moment, I have decided.  As my bike went in for a service a few days ago, I asked them to add some padding to my handlebars to help with the vibrations of the roads – which I hope have less potholes in France than they do in the UK.  And now my handlebars looks like they need to go to Weight Watchers as they are fat and squidgy and, so far, very comfortable!
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Regarding the shorts, I have decided that layers upon layers are needed to assist in avoidance of chaffing... and this will be assisted with the ever present, Sudocrem!  I invested in some very sexy women’s cycling underwear - with extra padding for those all important parts.  These arrived ready for my little training ride today.    Along with my new compression knee length socks, I decided that, for our dedicated readers, I would share this  vision of me in my newly purchased underwear.  If you want NO MORE (!!) pictures of my underwear (I can hear you all saying 'no more' en masse!) – we need a few more donations to our charity … the clock is ticking as we cycle to France in a couple of days’ time and reveal to the French this wonderful depiction of beautiful British bike fashion..!!

Enjoy!