As the riders wandered down to breakfast on the final day, everyone seemed to be feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension. The enthusiasm for riding 100 miles to Paris with the great Miguel Indurain was only slightly dampened by the aches and pains which had built up over the previous 2 days and the knowledge that this leg was comfortably the longest. Miguel was trying to make people feel better by trying to look nervous and rubbing his thighs but we weren’t buying it.
A chilly morning in Bernay. Miguel is 4th from right.
There was also a bit of a shock as we discovered that a September morning in Northern France is, as one memeber of the group put it, “effing freezing”. So the two groups set off with a few numb fingers and toes, but all agreed that riding through the morning mist with the sun slowly rising was a breathtaking experience. As we reached the morning rest stop, the day had started to warm up and, helped by a few strong coffees from the local ‘tabac’, we all started to thaw out.
Even cycling legends need a mid-morning coffee...
The next 20 miles to lunch was a stunning ride across the countryside with some wonderful sweeping descents (65kph clocked on one speedometer) through farmland and forests. And then high drama unfolded. With about 1.5 miles to the lunch stop, the fast group suddenly spotted the slower group in the distance. After 2 days of embarrassing defeats, the competitive fires of the fast group were stoked and they raced after and caught their rivals within about 100 yards of the stop.
Does it get any better than this?
By now the day had become very warm and a hearty lunch was much-needed before the final push to Paris. Miguel seemed as happy as anyone to be lounging in the French sun. Presumably the Tour de France never had midday picnics to the sounds of Jack Johnson.
Miguel then joined the faster group for the afternoon, which provided a few amusing moments. Toby Sullivan, the group’s Marco Pantani, decided to show off his moves by blasting past Miguel every time they climbed a hill. The moment of the day, and probably the best example of why the cycling legend was so popular, came at the final rest stop when Ken complained of bike problems. Miguel stepped up and proceeded to take apart and reassemble Ken’s bike. How many people can claim to have had their bike fixed by Miguel Indurain?
Crossing the Seine
After a final stop at Versailles for a photo-call on the palace grounds, the 2 groups joined up and headed in to Paris. We foresaw the odd hiccup but no-one expected the incident-packed final hour that was about to unfold. First of all, the guides sprung one last surprise on us when thy revealed a monumentally steep hill to ‘finish us off’. Having been specifically told by Graeme not to break his chain by racing up the hill, Marcus went ahead and broke his chain by racing up the hill. Graeme was unimpressed. After quickly recovering from this incident, the group made it to within about 200m of our finish line, the Arc de Triomphe, when disaster struck again and Felicity had a puncture. Would you believe it? (well actually yes, you probably would).
Versailles
A hair-raising ride down and up the Champs-Elysees followed and finally we reached the finish line where Paul gave us a champion’s reception by spraying champagne and handing out (non-alcoholic!) beers. As the evening sun washed over us beside the Arc de Triomphe (don’t worry, I won’t get too cheesy), emotional hugs and kisses were shared and we reflected on a special few days.
The finish line in sight...
Hooray!
A final sting in the tail (or two) occurred as we headed back to the Hotel Ibis. You may have realised that hardly an injury of note had occurred over the last 3 days. This meant that Doctor Simon’s most serious problem had been whether or not he’d packed enough tea bags. However, as we descended a steep ramp in to the hotel car-park, Kate lost control and crashed spectacularly. Fortunately she only received a nasty graze on the elbow. Just as we were breathing sighs of relief, there was a shriek from Chantal (this in itself wasn’t particularly uncommon) who had slipped on the car park floor and ended up in a heap under her bike.
Later we had dinner at a local restaurant and Tom again treated the group to one of his famous speeches. James gave us a selection of his best endurance mountain-biking stories and we realised that we’d never be half as nails as the crazy Scotsman. Some of the group then drifted off to bed while others made the bizarre decision to drink and dance the night away in a ‘trendy’ Parisian bar.
This was a truly memorable experience. Huge thanks must go to the Tall Stories team for organising the event with a mix of professionalism and good humour and to Miguel Indurain who is a great ambassador for his sport and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The money raised from the bike ride will go to the many projects supported by Laureus around the world and we look forward to continuing this event in the future.
Laura Cook on 02.10.2009 13:10
Well done guys – sounds like an amazing trip. And you were so lucky with the weather!