London to Nice day 12

Well it’s the last day of my London to Nice bike ride and as usual it’s flown by Today was a tough day with a lot of climbing to do in the morning and thank God it was in the morning as trying to do that in the afternoon would be very hard. We had a 9% climb in the morning which only to 1100 odd meters but seemed to last for ever. Today was also going to be another 35 degree day so thankfully all of the climbing was done by lunch time. After lunch it would mostly be down hill to Nice and quite a spectacular decent it was lasting about 20 miles So it’s time to celebrate and then it’s back to normality Friday but I’m already planning next years ride

London to Nice day 11

Another glorious days cycling in stunning scenery and some quite hot weather Although there was less climbing today it was a longer route, you can definitely tell you are getting close to the med it has that feeling with the surroundings that i’m cycling though. So tomorrow is our last day and from the route seems to be the hardest, there are 2 cat 2 and 2 cat 3 climbs all before lunch but then it’s all down hill into Nice so tomorrow should be an interesting day

London to Nice day 10

It’s been another beautiful days worth of cycling, great weather and scenery. Today we had a few more climbs to do but the distance was shorter to compensate. The climbing today was a little tougher with the hot weather we are having so by the time I got to the hotel I was a sweaty mess and was very glad to have a shower We’re some 3000 feet high in the hotel right now so tomorrow will have some good descents before we climb again to I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

London to Nice day 9

Another great days cycling, great weather and scenery and bagging 2 more Col’s, Col de Frene and Col de Leschaux. 86 miles clocked up and I’ve 3 days left seems to fly by even though we had a rest day yesterday in Geneva. We’re heading south towards Nice with great weather predicted and more stunning scenery, whats not to like

London to Nice day 8

Well it’s been an excellent days worth of cycling, great weather, stunning scenery and some great hill climbs We were cycling over the Jura mountains down into Geneva and although not particularly high compared the Pyrenees I did last year just as stunning. The climb out from the hotel was a kick to the head 10% climbing for about 20 mins but after that it was a lot smoother Another rest day tomorrow before we start our final third leg onto Nice, again it’s going by so fast

London to Nice day 7

So it’s day 7 and it was a good days riding mostly flat with a couple of small climbs. Weather was good today a little cold to start so I had arm warmers on to begin with but after lunch they were off. 96 miles clocked up and a pretty good speed today, the fastest so far Tomorrow we start the big climbs over the Cols in the Jura mountains so it will be a good day baring bad weather

London to Nice day 6

Well it’s day 6 of the London to Nice ride and it’s a cooler duller day with a little bit on rain in it. We weren’t expecting rain so I wasn’t prepared and was cold up until lunch time when I could get hold of my arm warmers. Of course once lunch was finished it got sunny and warm, typical Anyway I was going along with the faster riders today so I averaged around 15 mph for an 84 miles ride so I’m happy with that. Lets hope it’s a slightly better weather day tomorrow as it’s nearly a 100 mile ride tomorrow

London to Nice day 5

Well it’s been a great days cycling today great weather, a flat course and little wind. We have 3 new people starting and now there are only 7 of us. The only issue today was one of the organisers cycling there bike into the side of the van and them ending up in hospital for an x-ray. Thankfully they were fine but their arm is heavily bandaged and strapped. If the weather holds out it should be a good 3 days to Geneva

London to Nice day 4

So it’s day 4 and another bad weather day, it rained most of the way to Paris which meant we got wet and a bit cold Thankfully I had my mud guards with me so I didn’t get too wet We had a decent lunch today, chops and mash so I got a decent meal this afternoon rather than the usual meat and salad deal we’ve had the last 2 days. Thankfully the sun came out once we entered Paris so it was dry their and warm too. It’s our first day break tomorrow and then we start riding again on Monday.

London to Nice day 3

Ok so it’s day 3 and I’ve managed to finally catch up with the ride posting. Todays route was a little bit hillier than yesterday but nothing to worry about. In fact with the temp back down to 35 degrees I was able to catch up on some of the mileage I lost yesterday by cycling back on myself after lunch and doing an extra 8 miles or so but I’m still short by about 19 miles but maybe I can make that up over the next few days I was cycling alone today, I would normally be riding with my room mate but I wanted to catch up the extra miles and not drag him along. So after lunch it was head down and time to do some cycling, basically I only stopped once after lunch from some water but headed straight to the hotel and got it at 14:45. So after yesterdays stupid heat day I’m feeling pretty good now and ready to continue on and see if I can continue to make up the lost miles

London to Nice day 2

So a word from the wise don’t ride in 45 degree heat unless it’s for a short period only! We had to ride 104 miles today in a fucking oven! and yes it’s flat route but OMG having the wind blowing super heated air in your face is not conducive to your health. So after 75 miles I abandoned the ride as I still had 10 days of cycling ad I didn’t want to push myself over the edge. The organisers were considering cancelling the ride as the day went on but some absolutely crazy people wanted to continue on! Now had this been the last day before Nice I would have done the same but it still boggles my mind how some people actually did complete the 104 miles. Fair game to them but it took them from 08:00 to 20:30 in the evening to do it! How in gods name they tolerated that heat I’ll never know. Anyway with all the hoo-ha of the last 2 days I’m only now starting to catch up with the blog

London to Nice day 1

Well it’s been a mad few days and I’m now only able to catch up with this ride. So London to Nice day 1 was mental, the ride itself was fine we got to Dover by about 17:30 but the so called 18:00 was a no go, we were missing some riders so we ended up catching the 20:30 ferry!. This meant that I didn’t get to the Hotel in Dunkirk until after midnight!. Thankfully I wasn’t sea sick o the ferry which I was expecting and managed to get some dinner but after being up since 04:00 that day meant it was a stupid long day and I had to get up at 06:00 the next day! So after about 5 hours sleep it was onto Day 2.