*****UPDATE*****

MADE IT!!! 125 miles of agony fuelled by red wine but I did it...thank you all for your support!

M

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Drunken Boys Lunches have a lot to answer for!!!

For many moons now about a dozen of us have got together twice a year under the guise of the 7/8 Luncheon Club, to eat and drink, or is it drink and eat, and catch up on what the last 6 months has bought. Back in May time last year someone muttered at the lunch something about a bike ride to Paris, maybe it had been mentioned before, maybe not, but anyway quite sensibly nothing came of it.

Then at last November’s lunch disaster struck as  not only did it come up again but this time someone threw the gauntlet down, someone picked the gauntlet up and voila…here we jolly well are!!!...who was that someone…we will never remember J.

So The Impossible Ride is on but at least it’s for Charity!

And speaking of the Charity, it was started by Bob Wilson (yes he of England and Arsenal Goalkeeping fame!) and his wife, Megs, after the tragic death of their daughter, Anna, from cancer at the age of 31. They became aware that no charity existed for terminally ill 16-40 year olds so they decided to set one up and the Willow Foundation was born. Please do check it out at http://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/ , it’s well worth a visit.

The Willow Foundation offices are Old Hatfield which makes sense as we all either went to school locally or now live locally. Also we all have kids getting to or in the age zone the Charity caters for so I guess we can all identify with it.

On telling my brother of the plan he was simply inspired to relate the story of 3 of his friends, all slightly younger, who planned the same journey…one however fell off his static exercise bike in his garage pre-event…dead from a heart attack.

I have therefore wisely decided to avoid that happening to me by steering clear of not just static bikes but training as well.

That said I have been persuaded to at least look the part so have invested heavily in cycling gear including a professional easy breathe top, padded shorts, padded gloves and proper shoes…plus a bike which actually looks extremely nice…

I have also read a book which advises the way to survive is to ensure you are regularly hydrated and nourished during the journey. This has been seriously taken on board and the route now allows for le petit dejeuner, le dejeuner, le diner and les café’s & croissants in between…Vive La France!!!

So to the journey…some foolhardies are starting from London and Bon Chance to them I say…my plan is to arrive in Newhaven Wed evening and the depart Thurs morning disembarking Dieppe around 2pm local time when the challenge begins…

Thurs 2pm – 7pm…cycle 26 miles to first stop.
Fri 9am – 12pm – cycle 30 miles
Fri 2pm – 6pm – cycle 25 miles
Sat 9am – 12pm – cycle 30 miles
Sat 2pm – 6pm cycle 25 miles

Simples!! :-)

In all truth and honesty this is not a race but more a fun ride with a group of guys going through a mid life crisis but with every intention of coming out the other side!! If I make the whole journey then wow great, if I don’t then still wow great as I will have tried as hard as possible to get as far as possible remembering I seriously haven’t ridden a bike since I was 8!!!

So please do throw a £1 or two towards The Willow, if only to see me in Lycra!! :-)

Thanks

Mike

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