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 ... 

What do cyclists eat then

Well you could be forgiven for thinking that they don't actually eat at all, given that you seem to have to go at least two sizes bigger in cycling clothing than you normally wear, and this includes the shoes as well!!!  They do eat, and as we are discovering, "it's food Jim but not as we know it".

We did a 30 mile ride (that's 48 kilometres in real money) yesterday and decided that we should really venture into the world of cycling nutrition. Cos as enjoyable as a pint of beer and packet of pork scratchings are, they are not really the recommended fuel for a long ride.

So we bought a selection of "protein and energy bars" that fit conveniently into the pocket of your cycling shirt, and decided on a taste test.  On the first bite of the yoghurt bar we decided that the best rating scale would be a 1 to 5 "blurk-ometer" ie a polite way of saying how likely they were to make you throw up. The higher the blurko-meter rating the higher the likelihood. Really only up to BB is actually edible in my book anyway.

• Cliff bar - B - it looks and tastes like an Anzac biscuit from my homeland

• Mule Bar - BB - it did taste a bit like strudel and didn't have too many raisins to stick in your teeth

• Promax diet - BB - technically a high protein bar for weight loss, chocolately with a slightly funny texture

• ZV9 protein recovery bar - BBBBB - disgusting, it was like trying to eat bubble gum and it even looked awful like the yoghurt coating had melted and then reconstituted. 

Oh .. and I have it on good authority from Pomme Anglais that the best pork scratchings come from Birmingham apparently ...