London to Paris 24June2010

symo

Anyone else starting this Thursday, on Day One myself and another MDCC member will be rocking dartmoor classic cycling tops. So look out for me and say hello (you can't miss my Red Oakleys).

J4zzDogg

I'm setting off in group 2 at 8.00am, I'll give you a shout if I see you. (London Dynamo kit)

symo

I have an earlier start with group 4 :oops:

My mate is in group 3 but expect to see him promoted to group 2 rapidly.(Seriously fast did the dartmoor classic last year in 6hours 5mins). Unfortunately he is predicted me to be promoted to group 3. (and there was me thinking it would be the easy life).

schmiew1

I'm riding in group 1 but again only for stage 1. Wearing a Team Tor 2000 top

suze

Look out for the Wiggle brothers. Riding the Team Wiggle Tandem.
Mr Suze and I have sweat blood getting that tandem ready.

http://www.teamwiggletandem.com/

J4zzDogg

symo wrote:

I have an earlier start with group 4 :oops:

My mate is in group 3 but expect to see him promoted to group 2 rapidly.(Seriously fast did the dartmoor classic last year in 6hours 5mins). Unfortunately he is predicted me to be promoted to group 3. (and there was me thinking it would be the easy life).

Did you get a chance to go on any of the training rides? They were pretty useful in terms of determining your pace relative to the groups. I started off thinking I would be group 4 standard but moved myself up to 3 then 2. All the groups held a decent pace on the flat with the lower groups being a bit slower on the hills.

I've heard that you can move between the groups so that you could, for example, move down a group in the afternoon if you were tired. I guess it depends how much you want to push yourself...

56mph

Rode it first time last year. Started in group 2 on the first day but with a number of other riders we decided to promote ourselves to group 1 for the next two days, which worked great when riding in the peloton but was quite tough in the race sections (which are short). So yes you can move around. The organisers are keen to keep the groups tight and all riding at same speed so that the police outriders can make the rolling road closure work effectively.
I am starting in group 1 this year (also in London Dynamo kit). Great weather forecast so we are unlikely to be flooded out as happened on day two last year.

56mph

How did everyone get on? I thought that was the best ever three days of cycling, helped by superb weather, and particularly awesome when we got to France. The rolling road closures were brilliant and gave the chance to really go for it. So were the opportunities to ride in the peloton with the ex-pros such as Roche and Backstedt. And riding on the cobbles up to the Arc de Triomphe is something I will never forget.
Also that Wiggle tandem goes like a rocket down the hills...

dombo6

Well, that was arguably the best three days riding I've had
Set off bright and early at 0645 from Esher in a bunch of 100 or so others in Group 3, aiming to do approx 17.5-18mph average. Group 1 was for Licensed racers and pros, group 2 for those faster than us in 3, 4 a bit slower and 5 was fairly relaxed. First set of lights and I realised what joy rolling road closures meant. Our motorbike outriders swept ahead and stopped the traffic. For 50 miles until lunch we never stopped for a light, roundabout or junction - absolutely brilliant. Good pub lunch in Kent after which one of the masseurs team had us jumping about in full Japanese company song mode as part of a stretch routine. As somebody who never stretches, ever, I'm glad to say we did not do this again.
Then it was saddle up for the final 50 miles to Dover, ending with an appalling climb up to Capel le Ferne. '87 Tour winner Stephen Roche rode with our group for that section, spinning up the climb like it wasn't there.

Second day to Amiens was the hardest. Very undulating and group discipline imposed by the ride captains meant we couldn't take full advantage of the downhill momentum, but our peloton stayed together which was the main thing. Again we had motorbike outriders and full support vehicles - if you punctured the Mavic guys swapped out your wheel, dropped you back with your group and fixed the flat returning your wheel at the end of the day. Potholes were a rarity and our welcome in the little villages we passed through was friendly - applause and cheering from schoolkids and adults alike; friendly beep-beeps from any cars we came across.

Along the way we had a couple of sprint sections and hill climbs. One such had us wind up to about 25mph as we approached the first flag, only for Mr Roche to streak past on the outside, freewheeling! As a relative newbie (5 years) to road cycling I'm still wary about following an unknown wheel too closely, and quite a few times I had to get away from someone who was all over the place as the concentration and nervous tension was too stressful.

However the ex-pros riding with us, Stephen Roche and Magnus Backstedt, seemed to control their bikes by thought alone. Mile after mile, just four inches off the back of these guys' wheels has to be the most relaxing way to ride in a bunch.

Final day was a blast - a relatively long 77 miles to lunch then all the groups rode the final 20 largely downhill into Paris, a peloton over a mile and a half long cheered through the outskirts and then the centre of the French capital to the Eiffel Tower and a celebratory beer or ten.

Sunday we caught the train back, before watching our brave lads being robbed by the beastly Boche on the Eurostar lounge telly.

All told it was a great ride, well organised, with great company. Strongly recommended.

symo

Loved it. Wish I had more faith in my abilities and should have gone up to group 3 at least as the hills were nothing compared to down ere in Devon.

Met some great people though in group 4 and also saw some idiots having spent a fortune on a bike and expected it to do the work for them. Hence why I am going to open a bike shop called "The Fastest Bikes Ever" in City of London and make a fortune.

However enjoyed being big fish in a small pond with a couple of others. My mate went from group 3 to group 2 and said it was still normal.

Next time group one for us both with a little more training.

Loved the ride into Paris, with a closed off Champs Elysee and the cobbled section before it.

dombo6

symo wrote:

... also saw some idiots having spent a fortune on a bike and expected it to do the work for them. Hence why I am going to open a bike shop called "The Fastest Bikes Ever" in City of London and make a fortune....

Open another branch here in Canary Wharf and you'll be able to retire in a year!

bcss

Dombo6 wrote:

symo wrote:

.
Open another branch here in Canary Wharf and you'll be able to retire in a year!

nothing seems as it used to be, there's a 6K Ridley at Evans hanging around for more than a year now, maybe symo can arrange some of his id**ts to buy it and have next year's L2P paid by evans ;-)

symo

Obviously not told the moneyed idiots that it will make them 10% faster.

markp2

I was in Group 3 along with Dombo 6 and have had the same thoughts about the experience.

Chatted with the guys from MDCC and agree that the hills were fairly mild compared to what we do on the Dartmoor Classic route - not steep or long enough for me to use my strength on the KOM sections. (This isn't a complaint, just an observation).
I rode along with a large Duchman for a while on day 3 - he hadn't ever ridden up such large hills and was struggling!

Although it didn't really matter, the timing seemed a bit 'hit and miss'. On day 2 I recorded a time over an hour longer than the chap I went through the finish beam with.

Overall, I thought the riding was brilliiant and a unique experience. The hotels and evening food on days 1 and 2 were mediocre at best (not helped by having a very hot 1 hour coach journey to get to the hotel on day 2)

Cheers,
Mark

dcj

Here's a few short L2P video clips I added last night.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=cycleklipz#g/u

one of the clips has a rather rude 'joke' in it (my wife is a stand-up comedian) so maybe listen with the sound down in mixed company.

will add some more tonight.

plus there are also some clips of cycling in Tenerife last month

J4zzDogg

Totally agree, this was my best ever cycling experience. The rolling road closures were amazing, sailing through all junctions and lights was a real luxury. Three days of amazing weather really added to the experience too.

It was also a bonus to get to ride with some of the ex-pros. Sitting at the front of group 2 early on the third day and Stephen Roche rolls through to take a turn on the front. The guy was amazing and still makes his cycling look effortless.

The route was excellent and France seems to be completely free of potholes. Some of the roads were single car width, snaking through wheat fields with poppies growing at the sides. It was nice to occasionally ease back, sit up and take it all in. I'm still amazed at how few cars we saw outside of the main cities.

Pity that riders outside of group 1 didn't get times for the yellow (GC) sections. I really gave it the beans through some of those bits, managing 4th in group 2 on the third day (after all the fast guys had moved up to group 1). It would have been interesting to see the results.

Overall, an excellent multi-day sportive, I'd throughly recommend it. It is fairly expensive though and I guess that explains the amount of bike bling on show

dcj

Last night I posted my final remaining L2P short clips onto youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/cycleklipz#g/u

Looking forward to next year

dcj

if anyone is interested, here are garmin downloads for group 3 London to Paris

stage one http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38391806

stage two http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38391777

stage three http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38391754

56mph

Yes it's certainly not cheap but all accommodation, food, ferry, etc. is included and I don't know of any other event which gives full mechanical support, so that you don't have to worry about getting a flat - they'll swap the wheel on the spot, and make sure you get back into the peloton, towing you back if necessary like the old TdF mechanics leaning out the car adjusting the rear brakes trick.This means you don't need to carry inner tubes or CO2, so no saddlebag required, which is cool. Highly recommended.