£50 might pay for a therapy session with a trained Physiotherapist to help their rehabilitation.
£450 is the cost per day on the Ward providing respite care. On average each patient stays 10 days.
£4350 is the daily cost to keep the Ward running.
http://www.pret-a-rouler.eu/dave_shaun.html
“Does anyone fancy joining me on the London to Brighton Charity Cycle ride”
That’s the innocent comment that started a year’s training for our upcoming 1100 km trip to the south of France. All my friends rolled around in fits of laughter…
”you’ll never make it, you’re too old and too fat.. 100 km.. Never”
The challenge was on. Unfortunately for me another beer had been consumed and the challenge grew and before I knew it Brighton was not the destination but the south of France. Dave Gander lives in a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Navarrenx, and was inspired by the Tour De France passing through a few years ago, so it was decided to ride from my house to his. Roughly 1100 km.
Aiden Jarvis joined us early on for the challenge.
The training continues…
I must say a big thank you to those at West Suffolk Wheelers who have given me advice and helped me train. Especially Paul has put me on the right path so many times.
The training is going well. I'm doing 160-200 km's a week at the moment. I hope to continue this until the off.
We are planning in earnest and routes and lists of gear that we will need are being constantly updated. Any tips or help with this will be welcome.
A big thank you to all who have donated so far and a gentle reminder to those who have pledged money but not got round to it that big Tony is on stand by with a bag of bats should you forget!! Only joking!
My training has hit the rails this week. I managed to strain my hamstring and am limping around making sure every one knows about it. I am hoping a few days off the bike will be enough to sort it out. Fingers crossed.
A few days off has done the trick. Aiden and I completed our last training run over the bank holiday weekend. A days torture heading into the teeth of a gale for 60 miles. What were we expecting? We came through it better than we thought possible at the time and both agreed that if we could do 60 miles in those conditions we were ready for the real thing. Lets face it, we start in anger next week so ready or not here we go.
Dave flys in tomorrow (how he is going to love our quiet roads and considerate drivers!!!). Just time for a BBQ to thank our wonderful sponsors on Friday evening.
Let the wheezing begin.
Day 2 - Broxbourne to Crawley
Lea Valley very pretty and easy to navigate.
North London easy to get around.
Super highway 3 very good.
Photos taken at The Tower Of London & Tower Bridge (well you have to do the tourist bit!)
South of Greenwich harder to navigate.
North Downs - hard!
Loose stone paths on route 21 - as bad coming down as going up!!!
Stayed at Barrington Lodge in Crawley - good, cheap accomodation
69 miles
Day 3 Crawley to Portsmouth
Nice downhill sections out of Crawley.
Some very steep loose gravel off road sections that my mountain bike would find tough. I fell off!!!
Cross the foot of the South Downs on road through 'Fulking' (careful!) and Bramber down to Shoreham.
Said goodbye to Aiden after a cup of tea.
Sun came out and a strong tail wind took us to Hayling Island to catch the local ferry to Portsmouth.
Sleep impossible in reclining chairs on ferry compounded by a heavy snorer!!!
Day 4 St Malo to Paimpont
An early start - St Malo hard to get out of over the busy bridge to Dinard.
Navigation impossible using French signs.
Very slow progress South around Dinan.
A further 10km journey to find Dave's friends - Alastair & Caroline (great lunch at their house!!!)
Feel very tired but lunch picks us up.
Better progress on a 'Voie Vert' to Paimpont despite rain and a strong head wind all day.
Short on miles today, but better than we thought we'd do at lunch.
Receptionist smirks at Dave as she hands him back his washed panty padded shorts!!!
Day 5 Paimpont to Le Pellerin (just West of Nantes)
Light winds today, showers to the left and the right, but they miss us.
Sun comes out and makes for a great lunch on the river villain.
Good miles today.
Easy journey over small hills down to the Loire, where we catch the ferry to Le Pellerin.
The rain comes in during the evening and is very heavy for hours - will cross fingers that it stops by the morning - who said France is always sunny!!!
Day 6 Le Pellerin to Maureil-sur-lay
Nice cheap hotel over looking the river Loire with a free bottle of wine (always good). Technology failure today means we can't update anyone for the rest of the week (so this is being typed 4 days late!) My phone (camera mp3 player and sat nav included) fails. Good start to the day's weather after lunch torrential rain - which resulted us in taking shelter in a bus shelter for 2 hours - at which point we had to brave the weather as we were now behind schedule. Cold & wet we stay in Maureil-sur-lay, which is a very pretty town (even better in the sun we're sure!)
Day 7 Maureil-sur-Lay to Vaux-sur-mer
We decide to hit the coast today at La Rochelle - 50km ride and then lunch on the sea front. Not a French voice to be heard this must be one part of France that we still own! Find a ferry to the Ille D'Oloron over the via duct to Vaux-sur-mer.
Day 8 Vaux-sur-mer to Lacanau L'Ocean
Take the ferry from Royan to Les Landes 200 yards off the ferry we find the cycle route through the forest. Slower progress than expected due to cycle ways getting small er and narrower and signs (yet again) non-existant - thank goodness for the compass!!! First restaurant lunch at Hourtin-Plage.
Day 9 Lacanau-L'Ocean to Perentis-en-born
Forest again - very cold start, down to the bay of Arcachon to find the ferry from Andernos. After an hour of looking next ferry isn't until 5.30pm so have to cycle on. Turn South onto the most boring part of the trip with many unfriendly French drivers excessively hooting at us to get out of the way (l almost thought we were back in England!!!). Chalet in campsite tonight with a disposable bbq and disposable sheets (no towels or toilet paper!!! Don't ask) still made for a good night.
Day 10 Perentis-en-born to Peyrehorade
Straightforward morning 60km to Taller where we stopped for lunch. The afternoon sees us finally leaving Les Landes and the pine forests to find hills around Dax. Although only 40km from home we decide to stop in Peyrehorade.
Day 11 (My Birtyhday!!!) Peyrehorade to Navarrenx
40km through familiar territory prettiest of the trip (l might be biased here!) down to a coffee stop at Sauveterre and then a final run to Navarrenx where we were greeted by a host of familiar faces and an ice cold beer.
Can't believe we've done it!!!
