London to Paris 2008. REPORT
Rollapaluza had three riders in this event, below is Desi’s ride diary……
Day One, Thursday, London to Dover
Got to the start an hr before roll out. Chaos. Bikes everywhere and people running around for last minute toilet duties, chasing drinks, bike adjustments, etc. Ride out of Kingston was very slow. My group, Grp3, had about 50+ riders, and we were riding amongst peak hour traffic! Roads cleared up after about 40kms, where we finally picked up some speed. Got to the lunch stop at some vineyard at around 1230(?). 100km done…about 500kms to go. It had been sunny all morning and it is now getting a lot warmer. Not a good call for my 3/4 spring knicks. Couple of climbs after lunch, first, at about 108kms, Goudhurst, was fairly easy. Surprised everyone as we expected worse for some reason. The second big climb came at 160km mark, approaching Dover. The climb destroyed about 75% of the bunch! Steep from the start and stayed constant for a long time. I got through it ok, but felt a bit of a cramp midway which slowed me down. I was going for the KOM in my group but i only managed top eight i think. Downhill to the finish from then on. Got there with loads of time to rest til ferry ride to Calais. Ride time 6hrs25min, distance 185kms(?). Tom, Ricky and myself rode pretty much near the front of the of bunch. Lots of newbies riding in the group and it was getting a bit scary in the middle and rear of the pack.
We didnt get into our hotel in Calais til 2100hrs (fr time), wanted to shower…grabbed the room key from my roommate hippy, who, cos he’s in group one, had already been in the hotel an hour and a half earlier. At dinner, we were told that day two will get some strong wind gusts, light showers and mostly cloudy. Not the news we needed to hear.
Day Two, Friday, Calais to Amiens
Alarm went at 0625, not enough sleep! Looked out, it sure was windy. Dark clouds above but still dry. Put on arm the warmers and gillet. Drinks loaded, bike checked…ready to take on french roads. I felt good, still feeling fairly strong. It was fairly flat most of the first half, but the farm road surface was rough. At about 47kms, we were approaching Cassel (we were told it was part of the Paris-Roubaix route)…cobble stone climb! That was fun. Gradient was fairly easy but the surface was a lot harsher than i thought. And i wouldnt want to do that climb when wet! Goin down Cassel is a different story. Endless switchbacks with skating rink like surface. Ride stayed flat til lunch (at 97kms). Couple of corners away from the feedstop we saw a Grp4 rider on the floor. It was Niki, we know her from the L2P training rides (and saw her again in Tour of Wessex). They later discover that she’s got a hairline fracture to her pelvis in addition to a cut she got.
At the feedstop we later heard of two more accidents in Grp1. The first, an Australian, in an aussie jersey ended up in a canal chest deep with his bike…yes, the one and only, Rollapaluza’s own, Hippy. The french guys on motorbikes were calling him “le poisson” from then on. The other accident turned out to be a fatal one. A rider slipped and got ran over by one of the motorcycle marshals. The poor chap later died in a Lille hospital…very very sad indeed…the guy is 45yo and have two kids. Shook the L2P camp. We were told of his passing on Sunday morning.
The day got harder after the break. Undulating until the finish. And the bunch was stretching. Fellow CS Grupetto, Tom and I had a long spell up front (id say about an hr). And at the worst time of the day! Strong headwinds and beating sun. Drained me a bit cos i didnt get a chance to drink or eat whilst up front. With about 40kms to go, I dropped back and finally got my chance to drink. Finished a whole bottle and one gel. I was rejuvenated. At this point, I was in a group of six rider who for some reason got left behind. The group was about 300m ahead and was picking up speed. It was windy and it was tough being that far behind. Pulled everyone behind me and started to chase. No one else helped in the chase, dunno if they’re tired or just slow! Took ages to catch up, but somehow manage to catch the main bunch. Couldnt believe i was still hitting 35+kph at that stage of the day! But i enjoyed the chase…that was cool. Ride time 7hr43mins, distance 201kms. Got to the hotel a lot earlier this time. Dinner wasnt that great…but shared a nice bottle of red with hippy and another guy. Too bad I didnt have the energy to go around town (or was i too drunk? Did have about half the bottle!). Amiens looked nice.
Day Three, Saturday, Amiens to Paris
Woke up rough…must have been the bottle of red wine!?! Well, hotel didnt have airconditioning so Hippy and I decided to leave the window open. Still, sun burnt arms and neck kept body temp well up and made sleeping uncomfortable. Legs were feeling ok but decided, this time around, I’ll stay right at the back and chill. Well, sort of. Day three had the most elevation gain. At the start of the every climb, I’m right at the back of the bunch, and yet I surprisingly end up being the first 10 to get up! And most of the day, i was watching out for those getting left behind (getting dropped in hills, punctures, mechanical, etc) so that I’d pull them back to the bunch. Prob did this about six times. That was my good deed for the weekend, the unofficial domestique! I was enjoying the chase a little bit too much I think.
My group got to the regrouping point, about 20km from Eiffel Tower (finish), first. We were fairly fast. No group passed us. We waited for about an hr and a half for all groups to come in. At that time, we got to take our shoes off, unloaded gels and puncture kit onto our muzettes in the support van and have a cone of ice cream! Grp4 were the last to arrive, we gave them about 15mins to rest up then off we go again. Everyone, about 300 riders, rolled into the centre of paris at a very easy gentle pace. It was excellent. Cobble stone roads around Arc d’Triomph and total road closure towards Eiffel Tower. CS Grupetto (incl three Rollapaluza CC members) rolled as one. We were greeted at the finish by teary eyed very proud WAGs. No better way to finish!
Highlights: going up a pave climb, rolling into Paris in 300 strong peloton, passing Arc d’Triomph, camaraderie amongst the CS Grupetto and the rest of the L2P camp. Also, it was nice that most riders thanked me for bringing them back to the bunch during the rides. Good to get some recognition.
Well done Hippy for keeping up with the pros of Grp1. And well done hates-hills-Wayne. Did very well to ride every single km of the tour. This being his first sportive!
