L2P - Calais to Beauvais

12 Sept 2015 - Day 2 Calais to Abbeville - 77 miles

With a much more decent set off time of 08:30 in store, Kirsten and I set our alarm for 07:00. We had both slept well, with a bit of help from our little friend Zopiclone! After packing up and eating a filling breakfast, we filled our drinks bottles and set off across the mostly flat French countryside. It was dry but with rain forecast for later in the day.

Preparing to leave the hotel

We cycled through beautiful little French villages, one with church bells ringing and another with a large funeral going on. It was so lovely to glide along soaking up the sights, smells and sounds.

I did feel more comfortable with my seat raised and handlebars lowered for a while but started to develop an ache in my lower back which guide Steve said was because my handlebars were now too low and it was putting too much pressure on my back. It's not easy being me!!

So after 25 miles, at the water stop, Steve put my handlebars back to where they were originally and raised my seat even more. Now, at last, I was starting to feel much more comfortable. I've no idea why I never had any of these problems during any of my training rides. Bizarre.

Just as I was going along nicely, and with only 5 miles to go to our lunch stop, disaster struck. We had just turned left at a road junction and the road had a light sprinkling of rain, when my back wheel slipped from under me and I fell onto the road. I was on the tarmac with my back wheel on my left leg but unfortunately on top of my back wheel was Jacqui, another rider on our team. We were a sorry heap in the middle of the road. A very kind French lady appeared from her house to check we were all ok.

While I suffered a cut right knee and Jacqui bruised her already injured left leg and knee, the permanent damage was to my derailleur hanger. It was bent into the spokes so the back wheel couldn't turn.

Steve rang team leader Jo and he waited with Jacqui and me for her to arrive with the van. My bike wasn't rideable and Jacqui was in quite a bit of pain, so we caught a lift to the hotel.

Ian doing bike repairs 

Helen from the 360 team had brought her bike with her on the trip as she was intending to do some of the riding with us. However, she had checked her bike in as luggage on her flight to London and the handlebars were broken in transit so sadly she couldn't ride with us. Ian had an idea. He would make one rideable bike out of Helen's and my two broken ones. Genius!

There was a lovely sunset that evening, which is mostly blocked in this photo by the big boring building!

We got washed and brushed up and walked to a nearby restaurant where we ate a hearty dinner. My starter was delish and large enough to have as a main meal: ham and cheese pancake with cheese sauce, lasagne style. It certainly wan't a quick meal, so as soon as we'd had our pudding, a few of us went straight back to the hotel as it was already nearly 11pm and, on a trip like this, I certainly need as much sleep as I can get!

13 Sept 2015 - Day 3 Abbeville to Beauvais - 67 miles

Say hello to Frankenbike!

The next morning I was very excited to see what Ian had done with my and Helen's bikes. The handlebars and pedals were mine but the rest was Helen's bike. I hopped on and it felt great!

We set off in dry weather at 08:30 and the first few hours took us across the Somme. It was beautiful countryside but the early morning mist made it feel very eerie.

I loved the real mix of architecture. We passed some beautiful chateaus and picturesque little villages.

 

You can spot me in the pink tops!

Frankenbike was so comfortable to ride. I glided along being able to enjoy cycling again, rather than enduring it. I was flying and loving it!

It was all going so well until about 34 miles into the ride, on the outskirts of Thieulloy-La-Ville, I got a puncture in the back tyre. Noooooo!!! I'd been having a bit of trouble with the chain sticking so I had stopped with Ian earlier so he could have a tinker with it and so, as a result, we were right at the back of the group on our own. Where I got my puncture, we were on the outskirts of the village and Ian had no phone signal. So he pedaled off into the village in the pursuit of phone signal while I walked with my bike.

Frankenbike in Thieulloy-La-Ville

Our plan was to find a coffee shop and wait for the van, but it was Sunday so nowhere was open. Doh! Ian scouted around the village and we ended up ...

... at a car boot sale ...

... next to the church.

It was a lovely little village which seemed deserted, until we got to the car boot sale which was bustling with people! There was a big marquee selling hot drinks and food. It was certainly where it was all going on in that village.

Jo eventually turned up with the van and we drove to the lunch stop. It started to rain as soon as we got in the van and it was torrential by the time we met up with the others, who were all soaked through.

I went on to the hotel, the Hotel Campanile in Beauvais, in the van and helped Jo unload all our bags.

While we were in the little village awaiting the van, Ian and I discussed what we could do with my bike. He explained that he was Helen's bike mechanic and suggested that, as Helen was considering buying a new bike anyway, that she might be up for selling me the working bits of her bike. To me, this was a great idea as I'd been so comfortable riding Helen's bike.

So Ian had a chat with Helen and we came to an agreement. I was very happy! So Ian set to work again juggling bike parts between my bike and Helen's.

That evening we ate in the hotel's restaurant. We couldn't believe that the next evening we'd all be celebrating in Paris!

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