L2P London To Paris

jwe

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here has done the London to Paris (http://www.londres-paris.com/) and what their thoughts are, how fit do you have to be etc?

I have only been commuting about 35 miles a week for a couple of years and do some week-end millage as well.
What sort of training am I looking at?
I would probably be looking at joining group 3.

Many Thanks,

duckfoot1606

Hi JWE

I rode L2P end Aug and would comment as follows;

Routes show some variation, mine went Greenwich - Dover/Calais, Calais - Abbeville, Abbville - Beauvais and Beauvais to The Arc De Triomphe.

Terrain is varied, some fairly steep hills in both directions but manageable terrain overall. Being 46 and 17 stone I decided to train on the principle of long slow distance (+/- 12mph)from Jan through to May, with monthly distance increasing from 200 miles to 500mile by May. For June and July I kept the mileage at 500/month, but added some faster rides on alternate days mid week, with a longer (50 mile) ride on a weekend at my target pace (14mph). The first half of August was mad, plenty of rides at speed (+/- 17mph), with a distinct taper back to sanity for the second half of August, shorter rides and more manageable speeds. I rode right up to the event itself, but no major distance work in the last week and no fast speeds either (by then I just couldn't keep off the bike!!). My total training mileage from Jan to Aug was around 3000 miles.

Whether by luck or judgement this seemed to work for me, I managed the ride very well with no major problems. Bear in mind the terrain in rural leicestershire is hilly in parts, this helped by mimicing the actual L2P terrain. Remember to use the training rides early on to set up riding position, drinking and eating strategies and so on, you really dont want to be experimenting with these on the event itself. Get used to chammy creme too!!.

Best of luck, its a great acheivement and in my case, arrival at the Arc was very emotional.

Regards

A

jwe

Thanks duckfoot1606, much appreciated.

Felix-da-house-mouse

hi, i did blackheath, dover then same route as above, first day was really quite hilly, espec just b4 lunch, down hill most they way into dover, then the 2nd and
3rd days are mostly flat but have two or three steepr's in the day, fourth you just dont care anymore. lol have fun tho what an experience something i'll remember for as long as i live,

RyanBrook

how much monoey do you have to raise to enter the L2P. I love the idea of having a support team.

meesterbond

I looked at doing it, but the ride I found (there may well be others) wanted you to committ to raising something like £1100, plus your entry fee...

Kinda put me off really, as I've never been good at asking for sponsorship...



[edit] The one listed on the OP is a different L2P - it costs £649... couldn't see a minimum amount to raise[/edit]

andyp

RyanBrook wrote:

how much monoey do you have to raise to enter the L2P. I love the idea of having a support team.

None as far as I'm aware. This isn't a charity fund raiser per se, but a commercial venture. That said I think people are encouraged to raise money for charity. The cost next year is, I believe, £649 but that doesn't include the Eurostar back from Paris.

I've friends who've done it since it's inception and they usually have a great time. I think the toughest stages are the evening ones, if you get my drift!

jwe

As far as I know you only have to raise a minimum of £300 for their chosen charity.

Regards,

KYBO

JWE,
Depending on which group you go into you sound as if you're on the right track! Fast group is fast and day two will really sort out some of them and be challenging for the 2 slower groups. The ride has all the support you could want including motorbike escorts, professional mechanics, physios the lot.
The guys usually leave from Esher on a Sunday for a morning ride around Surrey if your close ? That way you could gage where you are and if you need to invest a little more into training.

I'm on the ride as well!

KYBO

Matt

itsaghostcar

I can recommend the Discover Adventure trip. £699 covers registration, support vehicles, accommodation in 2/3 star hotels, return by Eurostar and food. Only need to pay for dinner on the ferry, and lunch/dinner on your free day in Paris. If you go on their 'Open Challenge', you can raise as much (or little) money for any charity of your choice (or don't raise anything if you prefer).

Trip is well organised - the route is marked out for you, and there is plenty of good food at each stop (morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea). Ride at your own pace. 4 days of cycling compared to the Londres-Paris 3 day trip, so a little easier on the legs.

They've also added a Paris to Geneva trip on the back of the L2P this year if you want to go further