Day 2 - Channel Tunnel to Haut Pichot - 15th May

Joe and Pierre made it to breakfast on time and munched their way through scrambled eggs, sausages, juice and hot drinks before donning clothes to suit the chilly start and then ensuring the bikes were packed up again.

Joe on right, Pierre on left.

Cyclists can't travel as foot passengers with their bikes on the Channel Tunnel in the way that they can on the ferries, but they must use the Eurotunnel Cyclist minibus and trailer service that runs twice a day at 8 and 15.30. Time for a few photos and goodbyes and then they headed off to the Tunnel, though the driver warned that there would be delays due to a train stuck in the tunnel....












I then headed off for the station and the first of my four trains to take me to Kingston to spend the rest of the weekend with a friend - Joe and Pierre should be in France and en route to Haut Pichot by the time I arrived at Kingston. That was the idea - but as I travelled towards London, they were still waiting at Cheriton and I was comfortably installed beside the river with a glass of wine before they left England. The route to Haut Pichot from the tunnel exit is very hilly, and they were tired and hungry ( good thing they did make breakfast that morning, as lunch was cancelled!). They actually arrived in France at the time they'd hoped to be arriving at Haut Pichot, and still had a long hard cycle ride ahead. We contacted friends in Northern France to see if they could assist, but they couldn't transport the bikes, and cycling to their home would be the same distance as travelling on to Haut Pichot...so they had to battle on. They just reached Haut Pichot in daylight, having struggled up the hills and added to their journey with a few minor wrong turns - but they made it at around 9.45 french time!



Just time for a beer and a couple of sachets of Uncle Ben's instant rice ( better than Pot Noodle !) and then time to get into the sleeping bags...


























Vital statistics : Tunnel to Haut Pichot 53 km, Average speed 10.5 km /h

Day 1 - Charing to Folkestone Channel Tunnel - 14th May

After catching a train that didn't stop at Charing, (so having to change trains and haul the bikes around) Joe and Pierre cycled off for Folkestone . Having already cycled from Ealing, Pierre was running out of fuel, so they stopped midway for a pint (and a jacket potato for Pierre). Pub was the Tiger Inn at Stowting, where the beer and surroundings were timely and welcome. http://www.tigerinn.co.uk/ .

Suitable refreshed, they headed on for Folkestone ,and the Holiday Inn Express Channel Tunnel Cheriton, cycling up a few "challenging" hills en route and arriving around 6pm.

Pierre on left, Joe on right













Showers, food, a bottle of Reserve Pierre wine and an early (ish) night were the order of the day, as breakfast next morning was scheduled for 7 am .

(Bikes and cyclists have to be ready for collection by the Channel Tunnel cycle minibus at 7.45 for departure at 8am from the hotel car park so an early night was needed) .

Vital statistics : Ashford - Holiday Inn Express Cheriton 27 km, Average speed 13 km/h

It's Finally Started!

Joe and Pierre have just set off from Bromley. Pierre arrived from Ealing ( 30Km) and had a restorative coffee before they set off for the station. They're taking the train to Charing ( the end point of the "Dry Run") and then cycling to the hotel near the Channel Tunnel. I'm catching the train there later and will see them off tomorrow at 8 a.m. Spirits were high as they left - the extra couple of degrees in temperature this week have helped.

Joe on left, Pierre on right

Only 3 Days to Go..

Well only 3 days to go and we are off.  First leg of the trip is take the train to Charing (our furthest point on the Dry Run - see below) and then cycle to the Holiday Inn near the Channel Tunnel terminal.  More details on this first leg here later.

I did a 38km run over Biggin Hill and Westerham Hill today.  It’s a bit late for training now, but felt I needed to do something.   Google Earth link below.   I know why they named it Biggin Hill now – it’s steep.  Still a restorative pint of Harveys Best Bitter at the Grasshopper on the Green at Westerham http://www.grasshopperonthegreen.com/ helped a lot.

Cycling route below : Note GPS lost signal for a bit of the trip, hence the straight line over the trees.

http://sites.google.com/site/joewillisinfo/JW11May2010.kml?attredirects=0&d=1

I’ve got my bike booked in for a service tomorrow at Bromley Bike – it will need a check over before setting off.

New pedals are great – highly recommended.  I can choose between a flat pedal or a clip-in pedal.  Flat pedal is great in busy traffic.

Also been busy route planning – trying to find a suitable route with easily available campsites or cheap hotels is proving a lot more complex than I thought.

I’m hoping my “Assistant” (Penny) can update this as we go along – so watch this space.

Bit of light training

Been doing a little bit of cycling, mainly in the Loire Valley – our final destination on the “Big Wheel”  It’s only a week and a bit until the trip – so I suppose I’ll just stick to a number of short trips now until we go.  I don’t have the time to do any long trips and it’s probably a bit late by now in any case.

So I’ll try and do an hour a day (ish) until we head off.  Watch this space to see how it goes.

Two typical routes attached as KML files for Google Earth below.

http://sites.google.com/site/joewillisinfo/JW30Apr2010.kml?attredirects=0&d=1

http://sites.google.com/site/joewillisinfo/JW29Apr2010.kml?attredirects=0&d=1

Made a change to my Bike – I’ve altered the pedals so I can choose between a “normal” pedal and an SPD clip in. I've  found clip in pedals in heavy traffic to a bit too much like hard work.  I’ll try them out tomorrow.

Quick Run

Just a quick run today over Keston Common.  Only 12km and an easy ride. Quite scenic near the lakes.

Dry Run – Day 2

Got woken early this morning by birds and farm animals (well I was in the country), so can’t complain.  Slept reasonably well even though it was cold during the night and it was the first time in tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag etc.

Pierre was still having problems with gear change on the rear derailleur gears so we agreed the sensible option was to take a train back to London.

In all honesty, without the gear change problems (above) I’m, not sure I could have cycled the 100Km back to London.  I reckon we could have made part of the journey, perhaps  to Sevenoaks and then taken a train from there, or maybe having started we could have made the 100km trip.  Still never know now.  With the gear change on one of the bikes unreliable, the only sensible decision was to take a train – setting off for a 100km trip with a bike with a known gearing fault would have been foolhardy at best.

So. we cycled to Charing and took a train to London, arriving Bromley South mid afternoon.

Picture above on Charing Railway Station

Well, we got a train from Charing to St Mary Cray, then onwards to Bromley South.  When we got back, Pierre packed his bike in the car and headed for home.

Having looked at my odometer, I noticed I had travelled 93km (London- Ashford plus campsite to pub and back plus railway station etc).  Well, can’t leave a trip at 93Km, so back on with the cycling gear and a a trip round Bromley area to bring it to 103km.

After the trip, well I don’t feel too bad, so here’s hoping the “Big Wheel”  trip itself will be fine.