The Leading for Life Challenge

For those of you who like this sort of thing, here are the stats from our cycle ride:

Trip Stats:

distance: odometer total for the day
= thu 105 km (65.25 mi)
= fri 47.5 km (29.5 mi)
= sat 82.5 km (51.25 mi)
= sun 75 km (46.5 mi)
= total 310 km (192.5 mi)

speed: average pace while riding
= thu 18.7 km/h (11.6 mi/h)
= fri 19.8 km/h (21.3 mi/h)
= sat 21.9 km/h (13.6 mi/h)
= sun 18.5 km/h (11.5 mi/h)

average pace for whole route:
(accounting for daily distance)
= 19.65 km/h (12.2 mi/h)

max verified clocked speed:
= 57.5 km/h (35.5 mi/h)

longest riding day: including stops
= thu: 10 hours

highest temperature:
= in the 90s (F) or 30s (C)

number of wrong turnings, detours and dead ends:
= too many!

hitches and problems:
= repair shops visited: 1 (Zi-Su, rear brake rethreading)
= punctures: 1 (Zi-Su)

support vehicles:
= 1 with four wheels (plus steering wheel)
= plus 1 trailer with 2 wheels
= plus 1 driver and 1 navigator (both encouragers!)

number of camels:
= 1 with 2 humps (…but 3 camelbacks worn!)

number of energy drinks / glucose tabs / snack bars
= 4 water bottles, 2 cans of PowerBar electrolyte drink, too many Nature Valley granola bars, PowerBar ride shots, glucose chews

number of village bar-tabacs that sell ice cream:
= none!

We made it!  Zi-Su and I tasted sweet victory and accomplishment today as we cycled up the final French boulevard towards the Arc de Triomphe. I can’t believe that is already over.

Click here to watch the video as we enter Paris.  We accidentally sent the memory card with earlier footage home in the support vehicle.  So, we’ll edit that together on Tuesday and let you know when it’s live!  And the final podcast is still in production — we’ll post the link on the blog soon!  (you can listen to all the previous podcasts here)

What a day!  As we left our lovely farmhouse accommodation this morning, we were greeted with a very long hill.  Unfortunately, this was the day when our legs were the most tired and sore.  After that hill, I think my quad muscles were in a state of permanent contraction.  But that hill brought with it amazing views of the French countryside.  We went up and down (again), in and out of quaint French villages, and started to see the sprawl of Paris ahead.

And thus began the adventure.

We had hoped to be to the Arc de Triomphe in time for a leisurely lunch before the rest of the team started the drive back to the UK.  Not so.

Our first misadventure took us into a housing estate which then took us through many back roads and cycle routes, one of which popped us out into a power plant with a sandy path which was deadly for the road bikes we were using.  After cycling through the industrial and strip mall bit of the Parisian sprawl, we climbed a rather large hill that took us into what started to look more like Paris.  At that point, we had a choice.  Go right (which was downhill) and what our instincts (and legs) wanted.  Or go left (which was uphill) and what the map suggested.  We went left and still regret it.  We started a climb up a hill that had me down in my lowest gears.  Shouting to our map reader that this better be the right way, I duly made it up the hill.  But wait – there was an even bigger and steeper hill to come that made all the boys drop to their lowest gear and made me cry (literally).  Who knew that Paris was in a valley.  And the worst bit was that when we came down the descent on the other side, we came to the junction that was just down the road from the point where we had made our decision to turn left.

Two hours later, we finally asked a pedestrian for directions to the Arc de Triomphe.  He asked, ‘The one in Paris?’ and was obviously concerned by the distance yet to be covered.  We were directed towards La Defense (an unslightly piece of modernist architecture) and ended up in a tunnel system where we couldn’t see where we were going and only had the option of coming off onto a main motorway.  So we pushed our bikes back through the tunnel system (after asking another person the way to the Arc) and finally crossed the Seine.

But when we crossed the Seine, we should have turned left.  But we turned right.  Not learning from our previous error, we ended up in a garden and had to ask someone else how to get to the Arc.

Finally, we saw the Avenue that would take us there and with the final destination in sight, we pedaled to the finish line.

The Arc is surrounded by a rather large roundabout with 5 lanes of traffic.  One of our team decided to go across but the rest of us thought that we could just carry our bikes through the pedestrian underpass.  As soon as we popped out on the plaza where the Arc is, we were accosted by several armed policemen and told (in French) to remove ourselves and our bicycles.  I headed down (shoeless) back through the underpass.  Zi-Su was required to cycle back through the 5 lanes of traffic.

But we’re alive and have finished the challenge!  We’ve got a day in Paris tomorrow and plan to climb the 1,650 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower… or maybe we’ll take the elevator.

Thanks so much for your sponsorship and companionship on this journey.  We hope you enjoyed the ride.

If you haven’t already, you can still sponsor the challenge!  Please make you gift today at:

It’s 8.15am on Day Four.  And we are really sore.  And really tired.  After yesterday’s hills, my quads are really tight.  And having internet meant that we could catch up on the backlog of Challenge communication… thus, a later night than we would have liked.  But we hope that with Paris in sight (we think only about 40 miles), our legs will have in them what it takes to finish the ride.  It’ll be a challenge indeed.

Right now, we’re just waiting for Radio Oxford to call for our radio interview…

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to:

It’s day three.  75% of the way there.  We can’t believe it.  It’s been a hot and hilly day but we were both really motivated as signs for Paris counted down the kilometers.  We’re nearly there!

You can watch today’s video by clicking here: Day Three: Neufchatel-en-Bray to Gisors

And you can listen to the podcast we recorded at lunch time: click here to listen

Thanks for all your support and encouragement!  The texts and comments have been really great.

Don’t forget to sponsor the challenge if you haven’t already – click here to make your donation.

Enjoy the day!

I’m really sorry that there wasn’t sound for the videos from Day One and Day Two.  We’ve FINALLY found a fast internet connection allowing us to properly rectify the situation and have posted new videos (this time with sound).

Click here to view Day One: London to Newhaven

Click here to view Day Two: Newhaven to Neufchatel-en-Bray

Right at this moment, Zi-Su  and I are sitting in a gravel car park outside a posh hotel in Neufchatel-en-Bray and have been given one hour on their internet.

So while we’ve got it, here are some things to listen to:

Pre-Ride Podcast — An interview done just before we set off at Marble Arch

Day One Podcast — Done this morning while we’re on the ferry

And here are some photos:

our hour is up — the internet connection has been a bit slow.  More photos from yesterday and today will be here later… as well as the daily videos…

Don’t forget to:

Oh my word.

We have finished the first day of our cycling trip.  We arrived here at 10.30 after 10 hours of cycling and 130+ kilometers under our wheels.  As it is now 11.30 and we have to leave here at 7am, stories, photos, and the podcast will be around tomorrow.

For now, goodnight.

Don’t forget to: