The challenge! Day 4 (04/09/10): Compeigne - PARIS!

There was an option of a bit of a lie in today, but I wasn't prepared to take the risk that the big hill would slow me down too much. Timings were slightly off today because we had a target of our meet point in Paris of 2.30pm so that we could all do the last couple of miles through Paris together in convoy. I certainly didn't want to be late for that!


I set off with the first group from my hotel and headed out of Compeigne. We had a few main roads to take on, and I was half way up the mile long hill before I realised what it was!! It felt a bit like a tour de france hill (to me anyway!) because it was long and bendy, so just as you rounded another bend, you saw a bit more of the hill and it seemed to go on for ever! We knew we'd made the top when we saw a smiley orange arrow face on a tree!


We'd only done about 11-12 miles and there we were at the first water stop. I wasn't really hungry having only had breakfast a couple of hours earlier, but managed to get a Tracker bar down, thinking that dinner was going to be a long way off! It was a great spot for photos!

I rode with Sue, who I had not cycled with before and we had a lovely chat on the way. The section before lunch was really pretty, with lots of lovely little villages, through some woods and some cobbled roads which shook everything around so much, I wondered how much of my bike was left afterwards!!


The hills were there, but either they were less steep, or I was getting better at them, because they didn't feel nearly half as challenging as those hills in Kent or on the Calais-Arras stretch! I was really chuffed to do this in one go (with a bit of momentum from the downhill first):

We had an early lunch stop (not long after our water stop), and there was quite a bit of hanging around as they didn't want us hitting Paris too early. However, it was a good opportunity to get my back brake pads replaced and a new back tyre put on. The DA team were brilliant and just took care of everything. 

I set out after lunch with a few people, but again, the group soon broke up into smaller groups. I cycled by myself a bit, but still had others in my sight, so it didn't feel lonely at all. We headed towards the city, and I got very excited when I saw signs for Charles de Gaulle airport!


The route into Paris got quite interesting, through some of the less salubrious suburbs and then into the city proper. I had been with a group, but there were so many traffic lights, I soon got separated and ended up doing the last city stretch by myself. It was really challenging, looking out for orange arrows, avoiding buses and cars, trying to remember the French rules of the road and avoiding the people (it was a busy Saturday afternoon!).


There was one last little hill in the city (just to make sure we'd done our share of hills), but at the top, I found it increasingly difficult to see the orange arrows and no-one was catching me up at traffic lights any more. I was convinced I'd gone wrong and was lost! I started memorising landmarks on the way so that I could try to describe where I was when I phoned in. I was just muttering to myself about a big park on my left hand side when the penny dropped and I heard a loud cheer and clapping.....hang on a minute, weren't we meeting in a park, and is that my name I can hear??!!! Yep, I had made it to the right park and the DA crew and the Oakley team were standing outside the gates cheering (I had shared a room with two of the Oakley girls during the trip).


COMPLETE AND UTTER ELATION!!!

Although this wasn't the final end point, it was such a good feeling to reunite with the rest of the group and know that there was only a couple of miles to do. The Helen & Douglas House gang reunited and posed for pics in our orange t-shirts!

We treated ourselves to ice creams and then regrouped for the convey ride to the Eiffel Tower.


We had a briefing from Marco (accompanied by lots of cheering and some heckling!) and then grouped together in the street. This was by far the highlight of the entire ride as all 132 of us travelled through the city flanked by our support vehicles, with lights flashing, horns beeping and lots of cheering and chanting from us. 


I'm not sure what the shoppers on the very expensive streets in Paris thought of us, but we certainly were a sight cycling up the Champs Elysees! We headed for the Arc de Triomphe and managed to stop the traffic! Then off to the Eiffel Tower......what a feeling! We had done it!! There was champagne and lots of smiles!

Then we headed off to our hotel for the evening, the lovely Pullman Rive Gauche (which coincidentally was the hotel I used to stay in when I worked for J&J). We deposited our bikes with the DA crew who were going to drive them home the following morning, and went for much needed showers! The evidence captured for posterity!

A hard earned beer before dinner (can you spot the orange arrow?)

Then off for our celebratory meal!

Complete with a speech from Marco, who was determined to make us all cry! He mentioned all the charities which were being supported which was a really nice touch, there was a birthday to celebrate and plenty of thank you's to everyone involved.

It was a FABULOUS trip, which we rounded off with a boat trip in Paris the next day, and a glass of champagne on the Champs Elysees

Then it was off to the Gare du Nord for the Eurostar home. It was quite sad that it had come to an end, but I met some great people, had a great time, faced my hill fears and cycled 300 miles!!! 


It was a brilliant experience and I would totally recommend it - just trying to decide on the next biking challenge now!


Miles done: 89.67
Cumulative miles: 300.98 - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!