London to Paris non-stop?

rodgers73
rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
edited July 2013 in Sportives/audaxes/training rides
I've done L2P twice now. Once via Dieppe and once via Calais so I'm reasonably familiar with the route(s) and happy with riding in France.

There's a family trip to Paris next April and I'm thinking of riding there instead of travelling with them (good excuse!). To make it a bit more interesting though I wondered about doing it non-stop over, say, 24 or 36 hours. Is this possible and has anyone on here done it? Any tips or anecdotes are welcome.

Cheers

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    ZUT ALORS!!! :shock:
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    I'm pretty sure there was an organised 24hr ride along these lines. One of the charity ones? No?
  • 56mph
    56mph Posts: 70
    Yes for Scope, last weekend in 24 hours.
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    Was that via Dover? What were the speeds like for that distance??
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    The SCOPE ride (www.london2paris24.com) is 8 stages of 35ish miles.

    The route they use (90 on the UK side, 180 on the French side) can be done in 18 hours at a 16mph average - but remember that the official ride is fully supported so if you're attempting it on your own you'll either need someone riding support for you or to allow extra time for finding places to eat, fill your bottles etc. Also allow 3 hours for the ferry transition

    Would encourage anyone to do the official SCOPE event. It's a truly great experience
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    got to love these things...
    how to make something pleasurable into a nightmare... cut the costs to the bone and charge more for the privilege... nice business model... :mrgreen:
    left the forum March 2023
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    got to love these things...
    how to make something pleasurable into a nightmare... cut the costs to the bone and charge more for the privilege... nice business model... :mrgreen:

    What a bizarre post. You serious?
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    VeloPeo wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    got to love these things...
    how to make something pleasurable into a nightmare... cut the costs to the bone and charge more for the privilege... nice business model... :mrgreen:

    What a bizarre post. You serious?

    That's probably a different debate TBH. I don't do big charity rides like that as I could never raise enough money and I like the challenge of sorting things like this on my own initiative rather than having it all done for me. Fair play to charities doing that sort of thing though - must raise them a lot of cash.
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    Yeah it does - about £1m since 2010. Very well organised event and growing every year. Absolutely see why fundraising events aren't for everyone through.

    These are the UK and French routes we used this year if you're interested.
    http://connect.garmin.com/course/4016533
    http://connect.garmin.com/course/4016631

    For some reason the route on the French one doesn't appear until you check the "mile markers" box
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    Thanks for that.

    Any thoughts on timings? I'm working on the basis of getting to the ferry around dusk so that as much of my light's battery is available for the rest of the night session as possible.
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    We left Blackheath at Midday and got to Dover for about 1800-1830ish for a 2000 ferry. Puts you in France at 2300 (local time) and it's 180 miles from there to central Paris following the route above

    Your main issue doing it unsupported is that *nothing* will be open in rural France between midnight and 5am when the bakeries start opening - so you'd need to have enough food/water to see you through that period
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    How did you get on during those hours?
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    Absolutely fine - but we had rest stops with good food, water mechanics, first aid etc available every 40 miles

    The overnight riding is great - the roads are awesome and the few drivers that are around are considerate and give you a wide berth

    Then you get to Paris - the roads are shite and it's just like cycling in London. But you get to take your life in your hands around the Arc de Triomphe. Hairy as hell but worth it :)
  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    Sounds like I better stock up on food and drink in Dover then!
  • VeloPeo
    VeloPeo Posts: 23
    Aye - good luck.

    Only check here sporadically but feel free to drop me an email (in profile).

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