Just got back from cycling from Basingstoke to Paris. It was kind of a local office to head office challenge raising money for local hospices in Basingstoke. 5 of us set off mid morning on Tuesday and made our way to Brighton and then along the coast to Newhaven. We had a spoke go so lost a wheel after under 50 miles. Luckily we had a support car and took a spare wheel. Didn't think we'd need it but there you are. We took the ferry late morning on Weds and finally got riding from Dieppe at around 5pm. We then spent the evening riding the avenue verte to Forges les Eaux where we stayed overnight. Then yesterday was day three on to Paris on relatively minor roads. I lived in the Western suburbs of paris for nearly 4 years until last summer and rode a scooter so luckily was able to guide the team into central paris (champs elysees) via a very quiet but direct route through St Germain en Laye, Le Vesinet, Nanterre, Suresnes and finally the Bois de Boulogne to avenue Foch. We Then did the arc de triomphe roundabout which is not for the fainthearted and onto the champs elysees before ending down a side road off the champs. We had another spoke/wheel go in the morning but had brought a back up bike, an old hybrid, which did the job for the 2 hours it took for the support driver to get the wheel fixed. We ended with a champagne and canopies reception laid on by the head office. A fantastic experience, especially for me as I only took up cycling a few months ago, and we raised £13,500 and counting.
