The Panic sets in!!!

With less than a week to go before we leave, I have just realised that there are still quite a few things I need to do. Not least some more cycling!

Oli is on holiday - with bike and family - in Cornwall and, having cycled there myself, on the end-to-end with Simon, I am sure he will be doing lots of cycling on the hills. While he has been away, he has become a media star after Dean Harding (our volunteer media man at HEL) sent out a press release which seems to have generated a great response from the papers across east London. So far he has made the East London Advertiser, the Ilford Reporter, and the Redbridge paper. Have had a variety of calls for photos etc so will see what else gets published this weekend.

I rode down to Portsmouth yesterday and back today - only 50 miles each way but it does include a couple of Downs. Think my fitness was slightly impaired by a bank holiday session in the pub which went on a bit longer than planned - thanks Paul! The ride down was a bit of a challenge and stopping for lunch at the White Hart Inn in South Harting seemed like a good idea - except that I had to climb over the South Downs as soon as I got back on the bike. Luckily after an evening with my folks and some proper food from my mum I was in much better shape today and made it back to Guildford by lunchtime. Not sure if there is time for much more road training - guess it will be the gym for the next couple of days.

Having learned how important nutrition is to performance in long distance events, I am trying to work out how to consume 4-5000 calories worth of healthy food every day while restricting our caffeine and alcohol intake which dehydrates. Our original plan included copious patisserie products washed down by a petit cafe & the menu du jour with a little vin rouge and some dried fruit & bananas thrown in for good measure. It will be interesting to see how we manage this in reality. On the end-to-end ride we had the advantage of drinking pints of real ale which gave us liquid and calories - not sure french lagers will do the same!

The donations on just giving are really encouraging and I am hoping to see some corporate donations soon - thanks to all of you.

The Map

Well here it is - I hope - this link should take you to the Google Map which shows the route we will take and our overnight stops:-
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=112897776456730868245.000455002b96716019583&ll=47.457809,3.647461&spn=13.818531,32.695313&z=5

My new best friend

Oli told me when we first discussed this trip that he was not good with maps - because of his brain injury - and that he was relying on me to do the navigating. 9 months ago this didn't seem like such a big deal but as time has passed I have realised that instead of my usual "it'll be all right on the night!" attitude, I have some responsibility to do the job properly.

I have tried a couple of french cyclotourisme websites for advice with limited success but hit gold this week when I found a link to Claude - a french cyclist based in Faverges (between Annecy and the Swiss border) - who is webmaster of a cycling site and responded encouragingly to my request for help. The exchange is straining my somewhat impoverished french but at least I can resort to the dictionary to translate his messages.

Within the space of a couple of messages I had a map showing me how to find the cycle path along the Rhone at Lyons and details for the route along the river to Avignon. He also made some helpful suggestions for the route from Avignon towards Nice although the comment that a particular road was best because it was "la plus tranquille" was followed by the warning that "malheureusement" it include a steep climb for 4 Km!!

Given his home in the Alps, this is probably not a problem for Claude but I think I may have to find another road.

It is unlikely that we will meet but it has been great to find a source of expert and friendly advice - particularly when a few of my other friends think that Monte Carlo is a place to keep their smaller gin palaces!

The Planning process

With a lot of maps and the back of some envelopes, Oli & I have settled on our route from the East London Headway House in Dalston to the Headquarters of the Marine Police in Monte Carlo (which appears to be the southern most point of the city!). I am sure that it will change as we go along - I will definitely be looking for shortcuts and roads to avoid any big hill climbs - but at least we have some idea of the roads we will take.

If you have already visited the Justgiving page and made a donation, then you will already know that on 2nd September, Oli and I will leave from East London Headway House at Bradbury House on Kingsland Road in Hackney to cycle nearly 1000 miles to Monte Carlo to raise money for the development of family support and outreach services for those who attend the Headway House.

If you haven't made a donation yet then you can go immediately to the justgiving page and give us some money.

We will be keeping you up to date with our progress as we go along and recount our experiences along the way. There may even be a photo or three.

We had originally planned to make this trip in April 2008 but had to postpone because I hadn't done enough planning or cycling. 6 months on and I could still do with a bit more training. We will be covering 65-75 miles each day for 12 days and unlike Mark Beaumont we will be staying in local hotels and B&B's along the way - no camping for me - even though Oli was quite keen!!

So far we have discovered that we both like red wine and that neither of us feels fit enough for the trip! There are still 11 days to go - still time for a ride or two - trying to fit in 100 miles a week on training rides has been difficult and weeks with less than 20miles do little for the averages.

Will publish the route details before we leave along with details of our trip sponsors who are meeting some of the costs so that all the money donated goes to HEL.