6 (OR 3½) DAYS CYCLING ON THE £1,000,000 RIDE

- Fri 7th Sep 2007

The Bike Ride returned in good spirits on Sunday 15th July. However, it is worth the while of readers to have an inkling of what we were actually up to while we were away.

THE DAYS OF THE RIDE

122 riders set off for France on a cool Sunday evening on the 8th of July, having enjoyed a few welcome drinks at the Ship and Castle at Portsmouth ferryport, in some cases getting to know their roommates for the next few days for the first time, knowing that the forecast was for ‘unsettled’ weather during the week. All riders had shown up, pledging over £46,000 in sponsorship between them on registration, conducted with their usual calm efficiency by Vanessa Adcock and Cherry Elliott, both at the Hayling Billy and the Ship and Castle, accompanied by 13 support crew and two ‘rookie’ baggage handlers, Nathan Kirby and Jack Salter-Vaile, of Hayling United Football Club.

After a pretty uneventful crossing, we emerged into Ouistreham, under grey skies, looking forward to almost 80 miles of new route on the way to Alencon. It didn’t start raining until we were nearly out of Caen, but didn’t really stop for the next 30 miles, after we had visited our new morning stop in Potigny. Lunch was taken at a rather good arranged restaurant stop in Argentan, after about 48 miles and we then had an undulating route to Alencon, the last ten miles against a pretty fierce headwind, so we were pleased to get in, although you could say that the seven hotels we had to use were of mixed quality!

We awoke to rain next morning and it didn’t look like it was going to stop all day - you just had to grit your teeth and get on with it! One of the problems encountered by riders in the rain is that punctures always seem to increase and we certainly had our fair share that day. It had cleared up by the morning stop in St Jouin after about 28 miles and so the next inevitably ‘undulating’ miles to our lunch stop in Fontaine Simon, weren‘t too hard, if punctuated by a very heavy shower at one point, with some unfortunates experiencing it on the hardest hill of the day! Most were in Chartres by about 5pm, looking forward to a good evening in this lovely city and this time we didn’t have to attend a reception at the Hotel de Ville, provided by Chichester’s twinned Association, unlike last year – sounds ungrateful, but it was a relief after a day in the saddle!

We had no rain next day on our way to Versailles and we thought that the 3½-Dayers, who joined us in Epernon, having coached down there after doing the Tuesday night crossing, had got away with it. The two rides did not have an official joining point and so the 3½-Dayers filtered in as the day progressed, all meeting up at the official lunchstop in the restaurant of the glider airport at the top of the last major hill of the day: hot duck and chips – quite a treat! It was here that Steve Cook and Peter Collins joined us, having cycled the 130 miles or so from Ouistreham directly, joining up with the other 57 3½-Dayers and the 6-Dayers, so now we were over 180 riders. It was then a further 15 miles or so to Versailles and through the magnificent palace gardens. We were spread out in four hotels, in and outside the town, but all managed to have dinner in the evening (eventually!).

Finding a way out of Versailles was the major first challenge in the morning, but before too long we were cycling through forest and along small roads, before we hit Meulan on the Seine and then found our traditional morning stop in Oinville, having done 28 of the 88 miles on this longish day (the 21st time that I have cycled from either Paris or Versailles to Rouen!). The weather continued fair all the way to Muids after about 63 miles, our afternoon watering hole in the church grounds and bar opposite, having lunched with the new owners of the restaurant at Notre Dame de L’Isle. However, this was not to last and the final, challenging, 25 miles of the day was very wet, so everyone was glad to get in and dry out.

Friday was the best day of the week – sunny and hot! The route took the riders into the countryside, via a number of hills to Yvetot for the morning stop and Saint Sauveur for the rather good lunchstop and then to Les Trois Pics in Ste Adresse, just outside Le Havre, for the end of ride refreshment, but four of us had decided to take the southern route to Le Havre, via the Seine, which was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, as it was the route we used to take in the early days of the bike ride, almost 20 years ago.

Next morning, the ride over the Pont de Normandie was a bit spoiled by the drizzle, but everyone seemed to enjoy the visit to the cafes in the pretty port of Honfleur, followed by the longest hill of this shortish 50-mile day. We were also enlivened by the great fancy dress adopted by many of the teams, especially the saucy nurses! The new route taken for Le Havre to Caen was a good one, but we did not have a designated lunchstop, although many stopped at the restaurant in Varaville, which was rather overwhelmed by the amount of custom. It was then onto Pegasus Bridge, where Madame Gondrée awaited us in fair weather, with her very good, but expensive, beer, before a 10-mile ride down the towpath into Caen and our four hotels in the centre.

The evening’s dinner and end of ride celebrations in Caen Castle were a huge success, on a lovely evening, thanks to the generosity of Brittany Ferries and the Calvados Tourist Board, who provided extensive aperitifs and facilitated the whole evening, which was finished off by the entertainment of the excellent Crooners, a band local to Hayling, brought over for the occasion – and don’t forget that we had fireworks, as this was ‘Le Quatorze’, the 14th July, France’s major festival. Next morning it was a mercifully later awakening than in years past and champagne all the way on the Fastcat to Portsmouth, once again courtesy of Brittany Ferries and a fitting ending to a memorable ride.

Phone enquiries to 023 9246 1412 or by post to Paris to Hayling, PO Box 30, Hayling Island, Hants, PO11 9UD. Mobile – 07770-888501.
Website - http://www.hayling-cycle-ride.org.uk
e-mail address – paul.fisher69@ntlworld.com

PAUL FISHER 04/09/2007

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