Our good friend Tristan has volunteered to be part of the crew and has been designated Team captain in charge of putting up 800 tents!
First stop is to collect Stuart’s yellow survivor flag, a hugely important symbol and something I’ve been looking forward to seeing on Stuart’s bike for a long time.
We’re part of Team CGI, so on the Saturday we are wearing the team kit – I don’t think we’ll lose each other!
Ionna is also part of team CGI and she is carrying a picture of all her dept on the front of her bike. She was struggling to raise the funds to do the ride, so everybody in her dept did something to help her raise the money.
Waiting for the off
There are some emotional speeches at the beginning that make everyone very thoughtful, the first of a number of emotional moments throughout the day. Everybody at the ride is riding for somebody. Many carry the names or pictures of their loved ones on their bikes or their jerseys.
As we set off, we see Kate from the Ride to Conquer Cancer crew, it was great to see a familiar face in the crowd
We missed Tristan at the off, but he managed to grab a picture of us, just as we leave
The first rest stop was by a picturesque little church. There were several tents with volunteers handing out snacks and water.
At the second rest stop I’m feeling the heat and I should have paid more attention to the water bottles behind me. I’m going to suffer later.
At every rest stop it’s possible to have a massage for the tired muscles if needed, but quite frankly it’s too hot and sticky to even think about.
Near the end of the day, we make an unscheduled stop to see some amazing kite surfers. The first day was billed as a 110km ride, but we pass the 110km mark and find that we have to cycle an extra 3km. The day’s ride was 113km in the end. The last 3km were the toughest of the whole weekend. As soon as we hit 110km I was ready to get off my bike.
Finally, we pass through the barriers to enter the campsite and it feels great.
We park our bikes up for the evening, along with another 1800 bikes, it’s quite a sight!
Fortunately, there are two trucks at the site with several ladies and gents showers, just a few minutes to queue and you’re refreshed and ready for the evening.
A hearty meal is served, a piece of chicken, plus potatoes, rice, pasta and bread – seems like the organisers think we need to carbo load for the next day!
A huge tent is where the meals are served.
I pass by a van where free t-shirts are being handed out, so I collect one for myself and one for Stuart (as modelled by Stuart below)
We are then very embarrassed later on when all the volunteers turn up in the tent to be clapped and cheered by the riders to say thank you, and we find that they are all wearing their special volunteer t-shirts. I quietly move my t-shirt from the table and sit on it and hope no-one notices!
There’s also a very lively band that play for the early part of the evening, and amazingly some people have the energy left to dance.
I do not!
I’m in bed by 8.30! Unfortunately, I’m awake again a few hours later, with a blinding splitting headache. I wake Stuart as I’m seriously considering going to the medical tent. I realise it’s dehydration/heatstroke and I’m panicking that I’m not going to make day 2. Several glasses of water and some pills later and I manage to get back to sleep. Fortunately, I’m fine in the morning.
Day 2 and at 5am the sound of 800 tent zips being opened seems to be the wake up call!
The departure time is 7am and people are lining up ready to go
There are several riders called Sentinelles de la Route, who are there to assist on the day. They are there to help if a rider gets into difficulties
We’re ready to go, and today we get to wear our Ride jerseys, which I love.
More rest stops, and today I’ve learnt my lesson and I’m drinking lots of water. The ride is 121km today and funnily enough I find the ride easier than Saturday, partly its less hot, and partly the psychology of not having to conserve any energy for the following day
There are many motorbike riders supporting the ride, and several of them are controlling the traffic at busy junctions. It’s great fun to roll up to the junction and be given priority over all other vehicles
At the end of the ride as we cross the finish line, we are cheered in by Lauren and Kate from the Ride to Conquer Cancer team, which was lovely, and also two work colleagues Ioanna and Nancy find us to congratulate us, when they hear our names on the tannoy.
We also meet up again with Tristan who has now dismantled 800 tents. Through my work I was given a VIP pass which I gave to Tristan. We aren’t entirely sure what benefits the pass came with, other than a plastic badge and free neck chain!
Finally, we head over to the stand where people are taking photos. It is a wonderful site to see Stuart lift his bike in celebration of completion of the ride. A long journey to get here, but we made it!
So thank you to everyone for your love and support. I hope you enjoyed reading the blog - I’m definitely not hanging my cleats up yet!
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