Well what an amazing day.  Inspired by the fact that we only had 80 miles to go and by tea time we would be in Compiegne.  We set off about 8.30am fully re-charged by a good nights sleep and a good breakfast.  It was a fantastic day's cycling, mostly on level-ish ground but on a wide variety of road surfaces, some wide, sweeping, smooth 'A' roads giving us the opportunity to make fantastic progress, cruising at 15mph plus, very enjoyable.  Some challenging rough, flinty, overgrown, farm tracks, not ideal for the road bikes and needing lots of concentration to try to avoid the worst holes but all the bikes held up amazingly well, even those on 23mm tyres (we felt every bump).

It's supposed to be a crossroads in the middle of a village!

Once again Martyn (with a little help from Davy's satnav) navigated us through some interesting terrain, except the debate which started at a T-junction in the middle of nowhere with the words "It's supposed to be a crossroads in the middle of a village."   We did eventually find the way and met Shaun once again.






We had a few hills to climb but nothing like the previous 2 days, however, once again we were waiting all day for 'The Climb', a hill longer than any we had faced before!  Yesterday we climbed over 4000 feet, today we only climbed about half of that but most of it was one hill - it was a shocker, but Martyn and his little band of 'ducks in a row' just kept peddling.  The upside was of course the downside - an amazing downhill freewheel, winding through the woods, cool breeze, knowing there were only 10 miles to go and met by the sight of Shaun at the bottom with the kettle on - the best moment of the trip without doubt.

Phew what a stinker!


Shaun was ready with the kettle on every time we needed him (well roughly every 20 miles) so we were able to keep well stocked with food and drinks - we couldn't have done it without him.








The last few miles were probably the most interesting.  We followed signs to Compiegne, cruising steadily into town and suddenly there was a sign showing how many towns Compiegne is twinned with.  We accosted a random frenchman to take our photo under the sign (once we'd re-grouped as Martyn and Jen seemed to think the sign was about a mile back down the road) and then headed off to find Avenue de Bury St Edmunds - then the fun began.  Compiegne is a bit tricky to navigate and has quite a lot of traffic, we decided to take an underpass to get across a rather busy road and unfortunately Griff collided with Davy and he had to do a quick mudguard repair before we could carry on.  I started to feel that my back tyre was a little soft and in the process of trying to look at it narrowly missed Kim's back wheel and ended up nearly falling off and rather ungracefully staggering into the middle of the road in front of an on coming car.  A few minutes later I definitely had a very soft tyre and Davy leapt into action once again for a quick repair.  Eventually we did get to Avenue de Bury St Edmunds and were met by Shaun and Matt who has come to take us home. We had pictures taken under a rather unimpressive sign, were presented with some lovely medals by Martyn and celebrated with a bottle of champagne.  What an amazing achievement, 300 miles, who knows how many hills climbed, lots of laughs, no arguments and lots of money raised for an amazing project to support the children of St Monicah's.

Quotes of the day:
"Eyes front."  - Jen when using a convenient tuft of grass.
"I only just missed a bomb." - Sarah when using a convenient hedge only to spot a large explosive shell in the undergrowth.
"Do you think it might have been dead?" - Jen when asking about the bomb.
"It's a bit like child birth, give it a few months and you'll have forgotten the pain and only remember the good bits." - Sarah
"There are no significant hills between Bury St Edmunds and Compiegne." - Sarah reminding Martyn of his encouraging words just before she signed up for the challenge.
"Don't tell them about the hills beforehand, it will only discourage them."  - Martyn to Davy.
"This orange juice is better than the one at the hotel this morning." - Keith
"The problem with the French is that they don't do very much with their front gardens." - Keith
"This is nothing new, he's been moaning for as long as I've known him and that's about 25 years." - Sarah about Keith.
"This man's daughter was married to an English man, he's an engineer, 25 and lives in Lyon." - Robert after a long conversation to a random french man.
"Martyn you are amazing." - Everybody.

Today's statistics: 78 miles, 6 hours travelling, average speed 12.92 mph, climbed 3097 feet, descent 3238 feet, top speed 38 mph.

Sarah B
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It's now  9.30pm and we have just eaten a delicious meal.  This morning seems a very long time ago.  We started the day with a big continental breakfast to make sure we were well stocked up for the day and then retrieved the bikes from the 'shed' where they had had a comfortable night's rest.  Although the sky was cloudy we could tell that it wasn't going to stay that way for long, it was going get hot very quickly.  Martyn expertly navigated us out of Calais and we headed off through some beautiful countryside.  The first few miles were lovely, flat and pretty, cycling along good quality roads beside the canal - that didn't last long!  Soon the hills started and they went on and on and on ... and on and on and on!!  Yesterday was tough and I'm sure someone said that today would be easier, it kind of was but the heat was draining (over 30 degrees) and the hills were horrible. Getting to the top was a hard slog but the views were amazing, like cycling along the top of the world.  The down hills were truly ex-hill-erating! - equally long, some windy, which made it a bit tricky not knowing what was coming round the corner when you were travelling at 40mph but the straight ones were so cool and gave you a good boost for the next hill, unless there was a junction at the bottom which there always is!

 


We met Shaun after about 20 miles for a welcome break, lots of food and water - we're all getting a bit bored of banana but they are full of carbs and that's what we need at the moment.  We set off again and climbed more hills, getting hotter and hotter.  We met Shaun again for lunch and then carried on up more hills.  Some of the hills were so long we all needed encouragement to get up them.  Some of us had to walk sometimes but at other times we used the 'slipstreaming' technique - Martyn at the front then some of us behind, wheel to wheel, eyes on the mudguard in front, don't look at anything other than the mudguard in front then you couldn't see how much more hill there was.  Martyn was amazingly encouraging and determined not to let us stop and walk - and it worked, most of the time!  Some of us never seem to have to walk up a hill and Jen has a new name - 'Queen of the Hills' - she is awesome, much respect to her. 
Our last stop of the day (before arriving at the hotel) was very picturesque - we even had Jesus looking out for us.

Keith and Trevor at the end of 'The Climb'


As you can probably see from the picture we had just completed the biggest, longest climb of the day.  Davy had warned us it was coming, ominously calling it 'The Climb' but we never expected it to be quite so long that S-J's ears popped!

The last 20 miles was supposed to be flat-ish, well maybe with a few hills but predominantly down hill ... I've decided never to believe anything that Martyn says ever again, and he always chooses hotels at the top of hills!  We eventually reached the Campanile Hotel in Arras about 6.30pm, tired but very satisfied.  We completed 77 miles today and unbelievably we only have one day left.  Now it's time for bed!

Oh yes, just a few quotes of the day to add:
"Where's my water bottle?" - Martyn not realising his water bottle was on his backpack.
"Where's my camera?" - Martyn not realising it was in his pocket.
"Where're my glasses?" - Marytn not realising they were in his bike helmet.
"I got flapjack in my knickers." - S-J, say  no more!
"Let's get going." - Martyn having found his water bottle, camera and glasses!
"Tractor behind." - Sarah very innocently warning the rest of the group of the impending danger of being run down by a tractor but S-J taking it rather personally!
"It's predominantly flat from here on in." - Martyn telling porkies again.
"That bit was hilly, this next bit is undulating." - Davy joining in with the porkies!

Sarah B and S-J




Well, what a day.
Setting off at 8am, we really didn't realise what the day had in store for us.
It started reasonably gently, as we crossed the Medway, although the path down to the cycle path along side the M2 was perhaps not the route we were suppose to take !


Soon though we were on an off road cycle track. It wasn't ideal for road bikes !
A few large puddles, lots of gravel, hard rocks, uncomfortable seats, and very slow going.


Trevor had the pleasure of the first puncture of the day, so a few stayed behind as the others pressed on. The cycle tracks became too much though, and we reverted to the main A road to catch up time, and meet with Shaun. So a very slow morning, knowing that we needed to be in Dover for 2.30.

Then the afternoon. Hill after hill, after hill. Some real stinkers ! And time slowly ebbed away. Eventually we missed our ferry by about 15 minutes, on top of which Davy had his first puncture just as we entered Dover.


It didn't matter, we caught the next one, but just got late into Calais, and so late eating and to bed.


We had passed through some lovely countryside, but oh what a tiring day. Everyone exhausted having out in such effort. Even though it was only 57 miles, we had climbed over 3300 feet in the day. More than double what we did in the day previous over 80 miles !

After our first meal in France, we all retired to bed very very weary, looking forward to a much more relaxed day's cycling in France,



Well, what a wonderful day.
We left Bury St Edmunds at 8am, from Compiegne Way.

It was cool and overcast. Heading south through Clare, we quickly covered our first 25 miles, meeting Shaun just north of Finchinfield. Everyone was on a high. The first 25 had gone well. Even though Kim managed to be the first to fall off and draw blood !!!


The second 25 went even better ! They seemed to just disappear, and before we knew it, we were meeting up with Shaun again. Its great being able to stuff yourself, knowing you're burning off around 1000 calories every 25 miles ! So lots to eat. The sun had broken through by this time, and it was turning into a beautiful day. Lots of glorious countryside, a real pleasure cycling.


After leaving Shaun  the roads became busier, as we passed close to Chelmsford, Billericay etc. Keith and Trevor (The Essex boys amoungst us), getting quite excited as we cycled along old haunts. However,  distance was getting to us. The last 25 were definately slower and harder, but still fun asMartyn took us off road, down an overgrown path, with logs, nettles, and lots of moaning from the crew !!

Finally we made Tilbury, and a very old tub took us across the Thames from Tilbury to Gravesend. Keith and Davy really enjoyed it !

Then the climb up out of Gravesend to the Inn on the Lake. Far too comfortable !!!
Sore limbs (and bums) meant we needed to retire to the bar ! But very satisfied with our days cycling !


Last minute rushing around, printing out, packing bags, oiling chains ........
Excited ! YES !!!



Monday 3rd June ! Only two more days to go before we cycle off to Compiegne !
300 miles in 4 days, with ten riders !
Should be great fun !
Lots of training gone on over the last few months, now for the real thing !
BRING IT ON !!!
You can sponsor us at :-
https://my.give.net/thedoxaproject


The BFP recently took a photo of us, and did a small article on our ride from Bury St Edmunds to Compiegne, due to take place at the beginning of June.
You can find the article here :-
http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/latest-news/fund-raising-cycle-ride-to-twin-town-is-open-to-all-1-4627341