Has anyone done a London to Paris?

[jonny jeez]

That's fine if you are looking to spend a lot of cash on a 'luxuary' cycling experience with all the peripheral effort removed, not so fine if it is the charity, or rather your sponsors that think the money is for charity is paying. The OP did not give the impression that they where of the landed gentry and that £1k was a wedge of cash, and asked for alternative suggestions. For a 4 day jaunt London to Paris then imo DIY is a very feasible alternative even for a touring novice and they could have a luxuary trip for a lot less, Shops, restaurants etc are not hard to find in France.

I dont feel any guilt at having some luxury and especially not at removing what you call peripheral effort.

I'm pretty happy that actual effort of riding 100 miles a day for 11 days was enough on my part, not to mention the £91,000 that we raised between the 22 of us.

I think every one made something from the deal. you don't need to punish yourself to help others.

I find your post quite condescending.

 

[sarahale]

Thanks for the replies everyone, on the way out so I will reply properly later.

No way I want to do this solo wouldn't know where to start, I'm happy to save up and pay that bit more to have support, company and a route to follow. I don't have any friends or colleagues who are interested in cycling.

I want all the money raised to go to the charity so I'm paying for the trip myself.

Anyway lots of advice so many thanks

 

[oldfatfool]

I dont feel any guilt at having some luxury and especially not at removing what you call peripheral effort.

I'm pretty happy that actual effort of riding 100 miles a day for 11 days was enough on my part, not to mention the £91,000 that we raised between the 22 of us.

I think every one made something from the deal. you don't need to punish yourself to help others.

I find your post quite condescending.

Of which £44,000 went to the organisers nearly half the sum raised unless you funded the trip yourself, in which case chapeaux you got what you wanted and raised a fair few bob, otherwise a lot of people sponsored a lot of cash to pay a commercial company a lot of profit.

My points are not meant to be condescending, only trying to show that the OP's (or anyone else's intentions) may be altruistic but the company organising the thing is doing it for profit. I have the same bug bear with the likes of My Donate, I am not sure that people read the fine print and see the % that the site takes from each donation before passing it on to charity, much better to use the likes of BT's Just giving.

 

[User33236]

Of which £44,000 went to the organisers nearly half the sum raised unless you funded the trip yourself, in which case chapeaux you got what you wanted and raised a fair few bob, otherwise a lot of people sponsored a lot of cash to pay a commercial company a lot of profit.

My points are not meant to be condescending, only trying to show that the OP's (or anyone else's intentions) may be altruistic but the company organising the thing is doing it for profit. I have the same bug bear with the likes of My Donate, I am not sure that people read the fine print and see the % that the site takes from each donation before passing it on to charity, much better to use the likes of BT's Just giving.

I read @jonny jeez posts in that he was happy to pay the trip himself and the full £91,000 went to charity so, indeed, kudos to him and his fellow cyclists. Likewise my son and I paid, in full, for our own trip and collections a few thousand pounds for charity.

I understand your dislike for those who pay a registration fee and have the first xxx sponsors pay for their 'jolly' but please do read the posts made by members in this read and stop being so negative.

To the OP there are options our there in the region of £600, or so, for fully supported rides. No doubt you can do it yourself at lesser cost but if, like me, you like your creature comfort costs to do it independently are likely to rise to be close to an organised event.

 

[sarahale]

My points are not meant to be condescending, only trying to show that the OP's (or anyone else's intentions) may be altruistic but the company organising the thing is doing it for profit. I have the same bug bear with the likes of My Donate, I am not sure that people read the fine print and see the % that the site takes from each donation before passing it on to charity, much better to use the likes of BT's Just giving.

As I said I'll be paying for the trip out of my own pocket and any and all donations will be handed to the charity as a cheque.

 

[User33236]

As I said I'll be paying for the trip out of my own pocket and any and all donations will be handed to the charity as a cheque.

happy to see you have the right intentions for doing the ride.

 

[sarahale]

I read @jonny jeez posts in that he was happy to pay the trip himself and the full £91,000 went to charity so, indeed, kudos to him and his fellow cyclists. Likewise my son and I paid, in full, for our own trip and collections a few thousand pounds for charity.

I understand your dislike for those who pay a registration fee and have the first xxx sponsors pay for their 'jolly' but please do read the posts made by members in this read and stop being so negative.

To the OP there are options our there in the region of £600, or so, for fully supported rides. No doubt you can do it yourself at lesser cost but if, like me, you like your creature comfort costs to do it independently are likely to rise to be close to an organised event.

Thanks £6-700 sounds pretty reasonable and I usually spend around that much for a week in the sun doing nothing, figured this would be more enjoyable and a better use of my time.

 

[User33236]

Thanks £6-700 sounds pretty reasonable and I usually spend around that much for a week in the sun doing nothing, figured this would be more enjoyable and a better use of my time.

The company son and I did it with currently have it priced at £625 for next year. The only thing you end up pating for with them is evening meals (plus any alcohol you consume). I ended up changing too many £ to € and, even after paying a fair share of my son's costs, had some € to carry forward to my next break .

I was impressed with what the company did and am, seriously considering them for my Lejog in 2017 or 2018.

 

[sarahale]

The company son and I did it with currently have it priced at £625 for next year. The only thing you end up pating for with them is evening meals (plus any alcohol you consume). I ended up changing too many £ to € and, even after paying a fair share of my son's costs, had some € to carry forward to my next break .

I was impressed with what the company did and am, seriously considering them for my Lejog in 2017 or 2018.

If I could convince someone to do it with me that is quite a bargain but I think I would end up paying the single room excess as the thought of sharing with a stranger is a bit scary!

Thanks for the recommendation however I will keep them in mind

 

[jonny jeez]

Of which £44,000 went to the organisers nearly half the sum raised unless you funded the trip yourself, in which case chapeaux you got what you wanted and raised a fair few bob, otherwise a lot of people sponsored a lot of cash to pay a commercial company a lot of profit.

My points are not meant to be condescending, only trying to show that the OP's (or anyone else's intentions) may be altruistic but the company organising the thing is doing it for profit. I have the same bug bear with the likes of My Donate, I am not sure that people read the fine print and see the % that the site takes from each donation before passing it on to charity, much better to use the likes of BT's Just giving.

All of the money went to the charity. gift aid funded the trip...

 

[User33236]

If I could convince someone to do it with me that is quite a bargain but I think I would end up paying the single room excess as the thought of sharing with a stranger is a bit scary!

Thanks for the recommendation however I will keep them in mind

It's remarkably surprising how quickly you bond friendships with those in the group.

 

[jonny jeez]

If I could convince someone to do it with me that is quite a bargain but I think I would end up paying the single room excess as the thought of sharing with a stranger is a bit scary!

Thanks for the recommendation however I will keep them in mind

If you can convince a mate it might also add to the trip. I get those that say they like riding solo but personally I prefer sharing the experience. I still talk to a good friend of mine about some of our longest rides, almost weekly .

Plus, yes, sharing with a stranger can be uncomfortable for a short trip.

 

[sarahale]

If you can convince a mate it might also add to the trip. I get those that say they like riding solo but personally I prefer sharing the experience. I still talk to a good friend of mine about some of our longest rides, almost weekly .

Plus, yes, sharing with a stranger can be uncomfortable for a short trip.

Sadly no one I'm friends with even rides a bike regularly let alone any sort of distance.

 

[mjr]

Sadly no one I'm friends with even rides a bike regularly let alone any sort of distance.

New friends time.

And new bike, just for good measure.

 

[jonny jeez]

Sadly no one I'm friends with even rides a bike regularly let alone any sort of distance.

Could you convince your dad, I seem to recall mentioning that you wanted to give him something to aim for. It would be an awesome adventure.