Wed 25th – Registration

Dropped off my bag full of casual clothes, 3 days of cycling clothes and gels, bars, powders. Had dinner at a nearby Zizi’s with the Grupetto crew and some of the girls (Nicky, Meg, Antonia) riding G3/G4?

Up late panicking and sorting out the fitting of race numbers, printing of maps to the start, etc.

Thurs 26th – Day 1

Up at 5am and cycled about 25k to the start at Imber Court Sports Club through Richmond Park and Kingston. The start was chaotic with bikes and riders and kit flying left, right and centre! I’d packed my sunscreen and chamois creme in my bag the night before so did without them. Excited and nervous.

When Group 1 or the “Look at my ?2k Lightweights” group was called we waited a few minutes before a slow roll over to Hampton Court Palace for the official start (around 7am). I was thrilled to note the pace was very slow (for now) as we dealt with the traffic out of London.

When the pace picked up I was fine. I was really quite enjoying myself. The weather was nice. The pace was good. Sweet.

At one point I heard a crash occur behind me and we stopped. I used this stop to roll to the front of the bunch with fasteddy. We had a bit of a chat and then he rolled off. I hung around until I was passed by the bunch and settled back in to a fast rhythm. (I watched the mechanics replace the guy’s broken forks in about 10mins the next morning!)

There was another incident later as we were cranking along quite fast with a nice tail wind. A guy overlapped wheels and then one of the riders moved over. I don’t know how the overlapper hung onto his bike but he did and he stayed up and carried on. I was right behind this so.. clench and… phew!

Marcel was a guy I rode with in Group 2 during training and I encouraged him to start in G1 after I’d (accidentally) ridden with the G1 bunch and found it manageable. He did so and we had a chance to chat riding through the little bumps in between London and Dover. He’s only been riding since November but is very strong. I knew fasteddy was going to be fast (it’s in the name!) as I’d seen him go past me at a rate of knots during the Tour of Wessex. I think he ended up just outside the placings on each KOM (King of the Mountains) climb. Of course I was never anywhere near the front while these were going on! 🙂

We got lost at one point and had to do a u-turn down the hill we’d just climbed. Doh! Worse then unnecessary climbing is riding through puddles again when you’ve only just cleaned your bike properly for the first time ever! 😉

There was also a bit of a bunch mix-up at some point after this when we were passing Group 2. Just before the lunch break I was looking around and noted that I didn’t recognise anyone! Doh! I’d somehow joined Group 2. In the line up for lunch (lovely chicken, pasta and cake at a winery somewhere) I met a few other guys who were in G1 but found themselves mixed with G2. I think the front of G1 accelerated and the back didn’t see them go so stayed mixed with G2. Never mind, we only lost 10-15min and all regrouped at lunch anyway.

Some people went for massages whereas I was following Steve’s advice and moved straight into the line for food and a sit down meal.

Endurance mantra: Eat, drink, rest, eat, drink, rest, repeat!

After the lunch was the first KOM and there was much banter about who would contest it. People in teams were handing over bottles to team-mates and had skipped lunch and all manner of other tactics for this. I had no idea it was this serious! We were told it would regroup at the top so I let the whippets go for it and crawled up probably mid-bunch. Someone in front went down going up the hill! Very bizarre looking stack. He got back on and kept riding before I made it up to him anyway.

As planned we regrouped at the top and then proceeded to smash it towards Dover. It was great! Smooth roads (unheard of in England, I know!) with a good tailwind and cooperative bunch. It made for a great cycling experience.

Before the final KOM near Dover Emma Davies rode up the outside and towed me right up to second wheel behind her and Stephen Roche (one of only two riders ever to win the Giro d’talia, Tour de France and World Championships in a single year). I stayed here until the KOM and then just went backwards. 92kg is fine for riding on the flat or downhill but going up it becomes a serious disadvantage!

Another regrouping happened after this climb and then it was a 60kph+ ride into Dover, constantly watching the motorbike outriders motioning for us to slow down 🙂

My Day 1 claim to fame was arriving into the carpark at the finish first – fasteddy will verify! 🙂 In truth we got stuck behind a big Polish truck and I just happened to have been up the front. Winner! hehe 😛

We arrived around 2pm and spent some time unloading kit for the ferry trip – I’d not packed a change of clothes so remained in my Grupetto cycling kit. Note to self: put flip-flops (“thongs” for the Aussies) in my musette in future. The ferry was leaving at 3.15pm and we were ready and waiting (without showing my passport!) but it was running late so we chilled out for a while. I think we loaded up and left around 4pm, maybe later. Group 2 still hadn’t made it and they were supposed to join us! Whoops. They caught a later one at 6pm.

In Calais we rode off the ferry and left our bikes in a nearby warehouse? ready for the start. We were then bussed to our hotel ‘Holiday Inn Coquelles’.

Group 1’s perk here was getting showered and eating well before anyone else arrived. I think the other groups arrived quite late. I was wearing my SKINS as suggested by The Law. I can’t really comment if they make a big difference but they certainly make your legs feel better right after a ride. There’s much less of that nagging/aching/twitching feeling post-ride. I will continue to use them for bigger or multi-day rides.