14 days

In 14 days time we will have….. should have.. completed the first stage of the Nigel Mansell cycle challenge. (more info at http://nigelmansellcyclechallenge.co.uk/default.aspx ) Stage one will see us leave Kensington Palace and head off from London towards the Thames valley and west to Cirencester. The distance covered on day one will be just over 105 miles.
14 days ago we were on a boat/ship having just left the port of Dover and were heading to Calais having completed the first stage of the London to Paris sportive. We were waved off from a field very close to Hampton Court Palace at an unearthly hour of before 0700 and after several stops to locate stray riders (Will Carling included), and approximately 105 miles in a mainly east direction we arrived in Dover a bit too late to catch the scheduled ferry. From this useless information i can deduce that Dover to Cirencester is approximately 210 miles. Why didn’t I just google it on google maps to find out? because it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. London to Paris was an opportunity to ride on english and french roads that were effectively closed as we rode on them. The motorcycle outriders did a fantastic job of positioning themselves just in the right place to facilitate our safe passage. The english drivers were far less tolerant than the french and the english roads a great deal more busy and with a lot more pot-holes. The french drivers seemed to dive for the hedgerows as we passed scaring the wildlife in all directions which is maybe why an innocent hedgehog found its way into the middle of the peloton and ultimately underneath my tyre. My yellow shoes turned orange and within a couple of miles I was running on a flat. I digress . One hundred miles in one day on a bike is not an easy task, the same distance for three days takes a bit out of you. We are due to ride the London to Paris distance over four times back to back and fit in time to ‘Smile & Wave boys, Smile & Wave’ at various fundraising functions along the way. I wonder how we will all feel on the second to last night in Lincoln?
The preparations for the task are going well. Our Wilier bikes are all serviced and ready to go and the spare wheels are nearly all straight. The spannerman and masseurs are prep’d and ready a whole load of stuff is due to turn up on Maggy’s doorstep within the next few days.
Big Maggys is a hive of activity as we get busier in our own right but also as it is the cycling epicentre for the challenge.
Please have a look at the challenge website and follow the link to the just giving website to help us raise £1.0m for the UK Youth Charity. Thanks
On a sad note, I am due to attend the funeral of Mike the Paperhanger tomorrow. Moffs dad passed away last week following a rapid battle with an illness. Mike was largely responsible for the look we have achieved in Big Maggys and the coziness that many of our customers like. He was a great man and someone for whom i had a great deal of respect and we will all miss him. RIP Mike.
So, 14 days and counting……Mustn’t forget the sunscreen.

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• July 8, 2010
• BY Ian Williams
• IN