Team Tabak
Sarah Tabak is raising money for EJF -Environmental Justice Foundation
Participants: Sarah Tabak, Sam Tabak
Story
This year we have decided to take on a big charity fund raising challenge! On 14 July we are going to cycle 300 miles (483 km) from London to Paris. The bike ride lasts 4 days and is for a fantastic cause! With your help, we will be raising money for the Environmental Justice Foundation to assist in combating the cotton industry's exploitation of children and use of toxic pesticides that kill thousands of people a year.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now. Every little counts!
Thanks so much for supporting us,
Sarah & Sam
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May 10 update:
Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported me by donating to this fabulous cause. I've truly been blown away by your generosity and I can't tell you enough how grateful I am!!
Now that we're in Ireland we're finally set up with bikes and we went for our *cough* first *cough* training ride on Sunday. It was a 50km ride from Ennis to Six Mile Bridge and needless to say I am feeling it today! Interestingly, my legs and bum are ok (thanks to my super-padded pants) but my wrists and neck are quite sore thanks to all the juddering along the Irish country roads. I'm starting to think that perhaps a mountain bike would've been a better option! Fingers crossed the road from London to Paris is a little better... At least the scenery's pretty nice over here :) I've got a few pics of the ride to post so once we have broadband set up at home (hopefully in the next month (!!) or so) I'll post them here, so keep an eye out!
Thanks so much again to everyone who has sponsored me. Anyone who still wants to make a donation, you're most welcome! Just visit my JustGiving page :)
******* June 9 update: So... it's been awhile! I can assure you that we have kept up the training, although probably not enough of it...
During the week we've been taking advantage of the long daylight hours and have been doing a fast 30km ride around a 10km loop. It's on one of the regional roads where there's a good shoulder for cyclists, but it's pretty boring if you ask me! Sam tells me it's a good ride to do to work on our speed... I think the best I've done is 27km/hour, which isn't very impressive apparently, but I figure when you're cycling 300 miles it's all about stamina (i suppose reducing time on the bike might also be good).
Anyhoo, we've done some fun rides too. On Sunday 30 May we headed north to Doolin and ended up cycling about 73km. I had some really nice things to tell you about this ride, but after getting lost after cycling 50km and adding an extra 13km onto our ride, I can't remember what they were... just jokes! This time, instead of going inland, we started on the coast and stayed there for about 30km. It was absolutely stunning. Somehow we managed to get a day with zero wind. The sea was like a mill pond. I imagine days like that are hard to come by on the West Coast. Once we headed inland we climbed the 'moon' hill we cycled down a couple of weeks before (see our photos), then we were onto traffic-less country roads. And that's where we got lost. I may have packed a bit of a sad at that point, but managed to pull it together for the cycle through Lisdoonvarna and back to Doolin. Somehow, the last 10km of that ride felt fantastic, go figure! I've added a couple of photos from Google to show you what it was like in the Burren. The stink thing about cycling is that it's difficult to cycle and take photos at the same time. We're serious cyclists now, so stopping to take a photo is out of the question (according to Sam).
The first weekend of June is a bank holiday weekend in Ireland, so we headed south to the Dingle peninsula, the western most point of Europe. It is absolutely gorgeous down there and we had fantastic weather. We arrived late Saturday arvo and managed to squeeze in a 40km ride to just past Slea Head and back. I've posted the pics of the drive we took along the peninsula the next day. On Monday it was raining and so we headed inland to Killarney National Park, where we got really lucky with the weather and did a 43km cycle around park of the park. It was the most spectacular landscape here. It felt almost prehistoric and reminded me of the central south island of NZ (pics from Google have been added). We both felt really good on this ride and for once my hamstrings didn't seize up (don't laugh Janette!). I think we averaged about 25km on this ride and that was including a slow 10km loop through the park itself (which proved less than ideal for road bikes), so we were pretty stoked!
And tomorrow I'm off to the Isle of Wight festival, then Holland, then back to London for Royal Ascot and a 30th. So no training and a lot of drinking for me... Then it's only three weeks to go before the big challenge, eek!!! Having a slight heart attack just thinking about it. I'm sure it'll be fine, if one can cycle 40km and feel ok surely cycling another 110km will be a piece of cake!
I know of some of you have been wanting to donate. It's super easy! Just get your credit card ready and go here: http://www.justgiving.com/TeamTabak
Thank you!!
Now that we're in Ireland we're finally set up with bikes and we went for our *cough* first *cough* training ride on Sunday. It was a 50km ride from Ennis to Six Mile Bridge and needless to say I am feeling it today! Interestingly, my legs and bum are ok (thanks to my super-padded pants) but my wrists and neck are quite sore thanks to all the juddering along the Irish country roads. I'm starting to think that perhaps a mountain bike would've been a better option! Fingers crossed the road from London to Paris is a little better... At least the scenery's pretty nice over here :) I've got a few pics of the ride to post so once we have broadband set up at home (hopefully in the next month (!!) or so) I'll post them here, so keep an eye out!
Thanks so much again to everyone who has sponsored me. Anyone who still wants to make a donation, you're most welcome! Just visit my JustGiving page :)
******* June 9 update: So... it's been awhile! I can assure you that we have kept up the training, although probably not enough of it...
During the week we've been taking advantage of the long daylight hours and have been doing a fast 30km ride around a 10km loop. It's on one of the regional roads where there's a good shoulder for cyclists, but it's pretty boring if you ask me! Sam tells me it's a good ride to do to work on our speed... I think the best I've done is 27km/hour, which isn't very impressive apparently, but I figure when you're cycling 300 miles it's all about stamina (i suppose reducing time on the bike might also be good).
Anyhoo, we've done some fun rides too. On Sunday 30 May we headed north to Doolin and ended up cycling about 73km. I had some really nice things to tell you about this ride, but after getting lost after cycling 50km and adding an extra 13km onto our ride, I can't remember what they were... just jokes! This time, instead of going inland, we started on the coast and stayed there for about 30km. It was absolutely stunning. Somehow we managed to get a day with zero wind. The sea was like a mill pond. I imagine days like that are hard to come by on the West Coast. Once we headed inland we climbed the 'moon' hill we cycled down a couple of weeks before (see our photos), then we were onto traffic-less country roads. And that's where we got lost. I may have packed a bit of a sad at that point, but managed to pull it together for the cycle through Lisdoonvarna and back to Doolin. Somehow, the last 10km of that ride felt fantastic, go figure! I've added a couple of photos from Google to show you what it was like in the Burren. The stink thing about cycling is that it's difficult to cycle and take photos at the same time. We're serious cyclists now, so stopping to take a photo is out of the question (according to Sam).
The first weekend of June is a bank holiday weekend in Ireland, so we headed south to the Dingle peninsula, the western most point of Europe. It is absolutely gorgeous down there and we had fantastic weather. We arrived late Saturday arvo and managed to squeeze in a 40km ride to just past Slea Head and back. I've posted the pics of the drive we took along the peninsula the next day. On Monday it was raining and so we headed inland to Killarney National Park, where we got really lucky with the weather and did a 43km cycle around park of the park. It was the most spectacular landscape here. It felt almost prehistoric and reminded me of the central south island of NZ (pics from Google have been added). We both felt really good on this ride and for once my hamstrings didn't seize up (don't laugh Janette!). I think we averaged about 25km on this ride and that was including a slow 10km loop through the park itself (which proved less than ideal for road bikes), so we were pretty stoked!
And tomorrow I'm off to the Isle of Wight festival, then Holland, then back to London for Royal Ascot and a 30th. So no training and a lot of drinking for me... Then it's only three weeks to go before the big challenge, eek!!! Having a slight heart attack just thinking about it. I'm sure it'll be fine, if one can cycle 40km and feel ok surely cycling another 110km will be a piece of cake!
I know of some of you have been wanting to donate. It's super easy! Just get your credit card ready and go here: http://www.justgiving.com/TeamTabak
Thank you!!
******
July 12 update:
So... it’s Monday. Tomorrow we fly to London and on Wednesday the ride begins!!!! It’s crept up on us rather quickly I must say and I fear our training is somewhat undercooked. Nevertheless, on Wednesday we will get on our bikes and ride.
When I last left you Sam was headed to London and I was headed to Isle of Wight/London/Rotterdam/London. It was a fantastic but exhausting 10 days and by the time I got back on my bike it had been almost 3 weeks since my last training ride. Not ideal. I started my new job and started riding home from work (20km). While I trained, Sam flew back to London for a stag do. I rode 130km while Sam recovered (not all at once you understand). Two Saturdays ago we went out for our biggest ride yet: 80km. It was the first time Sam had been back on the bike in almost a month… and I left him for dead. Oh yes, he is never going to live that one down!! He beats me every other time, so I think it’s only fair I claim it when I can! I may not be built for speed, but I can go the distance. And so I’m hoping cycling from London to Paris may be the perfect challenge for me; that is if my wrists, hamstrings, knees, back and bum don’t give up before I get there… Riding a bike is not comfortable. Riding a bike for several hours and many many miles a day is painful. I don’t know how the Tour de France boys do it. It must be the drugs. I plan on following their lead and will have a plentiful supply with me at all times (all legal of course).
Since our big ride the training has tapered off perhaps a little too much… On the following Monday I rode 30km. Sam rode 45km very quickly. Then nothing (I blame: the weather (it’s been sh*te with winds blowing at 26-37km/hr and rain); feeling average; and getting our bikes serviced)… until yesterday when I managed a 45km ride. Tonight I’ll cycle about 27km home and then that’s it… until Wednesday when we’ll ride over 150km to Dover and catch the ferry into France, then onward to Paris!!
I just wanted to say again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported us. Your generosity makes me want to burst with happiness J And thanks to you we have decided to increase our target to £1500, which we hope to raise by August. EJF is a fantastic charity and will be so grateful to all of you.
I’ll be sure to write next week (with some photos) to let you know how it went, so stay tuned! Oh and keep your fingers and toes crossed for a lovely strong Northerly!
When I last left you Sam was headed to London and I was headed to Isle of Wight/London/Rotterdam/London. It was a fantastic but exhausting 10 days and by the time I got back on my bike it had been almost 3 weeks since my last training ride. Not ideal. I started my new job and started riding home from work (20km). While I trained, Sam flew back to London for a stag do. I rode 130km while Sam recovered (not all at once you understand). Two Saturdays ago we went out for our biggest ride yet: 80km. It was the first time Sam had been back on the bike in almost a month… and I left him for dead. Oh yes, he is never going to live that one down!! He beats me every other time, so I think it’s only fair I claim it when I can! I may not be built for speed, but I can go the distance. And so I’m hoping cycling from London to Paris may be the perfect challenge for me; that is if my wrists, hamstrings, knees, back and bum don’t give up before I get there… Riding a bike is not comfortable. Riding a bike for several hours and many many miles a day is painful. I don’t know how the Tour de France boys do it. It must be the drugs. I plan on following their lead and will have a plentiful supply with me at all times (all legal of course).
Since our big ride the training has tapered off perhaps a little too much… On the following Monday I rode 30km. Sam rode 45km very quickly. Then nothing (I blame: the weather (it’s been sh*te with winds blowing at 26-37km/hr and rain); feeling average; and getting our bikes serviced)… until yesterday when I managed a 45km ride. Tonight I’ll cycle about 27km home and then that’s it… until Wednesday when we’ll ride over 150km to Dover and catch the ferry into France, then onward to Paris!!
I just wanted to say again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported us. Your generosity makes me want to burst with happiness J And thanks to you we have decided to increase our target to £1500, which we hope to raise by August. EJF is a fantastic charity and will be so grateful to all of you.
I’ll be sure to write next week (with some photos) to let you know how it went, so stay tuned! Oh and keep your fingers and toes crossed for a lovely strong Northerly!
******
July 30 update
We made it! And we owe it all to your very generous support. So far we’ve managed to raise a whopping £1,470 for the Environmental Justice Foundation! I know I’ve said it before but I’ve truly been blown away by how generous you’ve all been. I really thought we’d struggle to reach the minimum (£1,300), what with most of you spending the NZ dollar and all our skint friends in London, but we did it! So, as the Irish would say, THANKS A MILLION! from us and EJF.
This update has been a long time coming, sorry about that! If you’ll indulge me, here are the highlights: DAY 1 London to Calais Ride time: 7am – 4.10pm (plus 30 mins from ferry to hotel in Calais) Distance: 166km Average speed: 23km/hr (approx) 5am wake up call after approximately 4 hours sleep (never fly with bikes and then attempt to transport them ALL the way across London using public transport in the middle of the night (thanks Anna and Paddy!)). The 112 cyclists (all supporting different charities; there were 18 of us for EJF) are briefed and then we’re off! We ride through East London and into the country. The roads are narrow and well paved (a huge improvement on Irish country roads), it’s very leafy and pretty. Oh and hilly, very hilly. 20km in we start to climb a very steep hill (it’s practically vertical), just when we think we’re reaching the top we turn a corner and it kicks up even steeper. I can see people getting out of their cleats and off their bikes to walk up, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get out of my cleats because it’s already so steep, so I attempt to climb it. Big mistake. I zig zag like a crazy person, the bike loses all forward momentum and I crash. My elbow and right butt cheek take the brunt of the fall. There’s a lot of blood and some bruising. I walk the rest of the way up the hill (with some assistance). We don’t have any plasters so I wipe up the blood with a wet wipe. It’s not too bad, just pretty embarrassing. I’m more determined now, so I get back on my bike and we set off again. A few km’s down the road a bee flies into my shirt and bites me. Excellent. We make it to the morning tea stop at 40km and my elbow is all bandaged up. We eat muesli bars and bananas (the first of many) and head off again. There are some good downhills and I get up to 56km/hr into a head wind. After all the drama of the first leg I’m confident nothing else can go wrong. But as we near the lunch stop at 80km I realise I’ve lost Sam… and everyone else. Sam was going to be with me the whole time so of course I don’t have my phone or a map or any money… I reach a small town and a nice lady lets me into her cottage to borrow her phone, I call the emergency number and it turns out I’m not too far from lunch after all. The nice lady and her husband map out the route for me and I only end up adding 4km to the ride (some people got completely lost, added 13km to their rides and missed lunch altogether). The third 40km stretch of the day is great (read: flat). Sam sets an excellent pace and another cyclist and I sit in behind and ride. It’s awesome (except for the part where a driver honks at us, Sam gives him the finger, the driver pulls over and threatens to beat Sam.). At the afternoon water stop we’re 120km in. We’re in for a special treat with the fourth leg though, two loooooong and steep climbs. Wicked. I find a low gear I didn’t know I had and manage to spin my way up both hills. We pass a lot of cyclists, one of whom is “losing the will to live”. After the big climbs we’re up and down a few more times before we head out through a spectacular valley and into Dover. We’re among the first to arrive at the ferry terminal and I’m pretty darn pleased with myself. Someone can’t believe I’ve only been riding for 2 months. Stoked! We wait for 2 hours for the ferry, a girl goes missing, we have fish and chips for dinner, we arrive in Calais and proceed in convoy through the drunken French people (it’s Bastille day) to our hotel. We score a bed at the Holiday Inn. It raises our expectations only to have them crushed… DAY 2 Calais to Abbeville Ride time: 8.30am – 5pm Distance: 117km Average speed: 18km/hr (approx) The forecast for today? Wind. A gale force headwind to be precise. I’m using granny gears to peddle DOWNhill. When we’re not cycling directly into the wind the cross wind blows us into the traffic. Poor Sam tries to get me to draft off him but the wind is too strong and I’m blown off the back. My bum hurts. I start to think very uncharitable thoughts about my charity. I want to die. At 20km we stop for a muesli bar (I’m super hungry today). My bum comes right. Things improve. It’s a steep climb to the first water stop at 40km. We both have power bars. They’re awesome. The second leg is idyllic. We cycle through gorgeous French villages with very old houses with sagging orange-tiled roofs. The villages are in a valley with a small stream and willow trees. It’s stunning. It’s a shame about the wind… We stop in one of the villages (we manage to pick an ugly one by comparison) and have espressos with some other cyclists. It’s my first caffeinated coffee in over a year. It’s delicious. We get lost on a French motorway. Turns out highway patrol have removed the pink arrows we’re following. It’s so windy! We end up climbing over a fence to get off the motorway and back on track. Eventually we make it to lunch. It’s in a very sheltered spot. I have four pieces of cake before lunch (did I mention I was hungry?), which consists of pasta, pasta, sausage rolls, salad, and more pasta. After lunch there are more pretty villages, then we climb out of the valley and into some rolling countryside with lots of barley(?) fields and hay bales. The sun comes out. After the second water stop it’s only about 20km to Abbeville, that’s nothing! We come in at the front of the pack again (we’re awesome) and enjoy a nice cold pint. Some people have 8. DAY 3 Abbeville to Beauvais Ride time: 8.30am to 3pm Distance: 104km Average speed: 20km/hr (approx) The wind has died down a bit (it’s only 28mph today). Today was lovely. Very easy cycling through villages and big fields. Not too many hills. There are some gravelly bits though, where it feels like it’s one step forward, two steps back. After the first water stop it starts to rain. I finally work out how to draft! I sit in behind Sam and we put our heads down and go for it. I’m hypnotised by his back wheel. The sun comes out before we reach the lunch stop. Sam has a slow puncture but it’s all fixed up by the amazing bike mechanic at lunch time. We were lucky that this was our only mechanical issue (especially considering the bikes had to be taken apart for the flight). One guy’s spokes kept snapping (brand new bike!) and others had several punctures. Another guy went under a car (he was ok) and a girl came off her bike and cracked her helmet! It’s a dangerous sport… I have a power bar at lunch and I’m on a high all afternoon. Sam lets me lead him into Beauvais. We enjoy some pints in the sunshine. DAY 4: Beauvais to Paris Ride time: 8.30am to 3.30pm Distance: 90km Average speed: 22km/hr (approx) It’s the final stretch… There’s a staggered start and we’re some of the last to leave (did I mention that we’re awesome?). There’s a loooooong climb thrown in on the first leg just for fun. We catch everyone at the first water stop. After that we’re cycling down tree lined avenues towards the outskirts of Paris, it’s gorgeous. Lunch is at a beautiful spot on the Seine. It’s a long one while we wait for everyone to re-group. We prepare costumes for the final stage into Paris. After lunch we’re supposed to follow the Seine to a park near the tower but the arrows are confusing and a (big) bunch of us head into the city and end up at the Arc de Triomphe. The organisers are not too impressed, but they come and pick us up and lead us through that round about down to the holding point. I need to take a pee and do so in a patch of stinging nettle. This is the lowest point of the trip. The EJF girls are all fashion-types and they restyle our blue ‘I cycled London to Paris’ t-shirts. Finally it’s time for the final leg. We head off in convoy over the cobblestones, past the Arc de Triomphe (again) and down towards La Tour Eiffel. There is much bell-ringing and honking of horns, we complete a victory lap, there’s a cheering squad, I just wish we knew some of them. WE MADE IT!!!!!!!! Photos are taken, champagne is drunk and then it’s back on the bikes to the hotel (4 star!) where we head up to the 33rd floor to enjoy cocktails and the view. After a team dinner at the hotel we head to the nearest Irish pub (as you do in Paris). So that’s it, in a very large nutshell. The 112 of us raised over £157,000 for our charities, a pretty good effort. We had so much fun doing this ride. We met some amazing people and I was really surprised at how good our legs and bums felt throughout, given our longest training ride was 80km. It was all for a pretty fantastic cause as well. Larissa, from EJF, did the ride and she was the loveliest person. There’s only 10 of them working in the EJF office and they were highly commended in the Campaigner of the Year category for their ‘Pick your cotton carefully’ campaign. Pretty impressive. I just wanted to say one more BIG thank you to my wonderful team mate. Thanks Sam, for setting such a good pace and letting me sit behind you the whole way, you’re awesome. One guy commented that I was ALWAYS right behind Sam. I pointed out to him that it’s easier that way (this guy wasn’t speaking to his girlfriend at that stage). Thanks again to all of you, it was a great challenge. And who knows, next year we could be cycling Paris to Geneva (I’ll have to get some more hill training in before that)!Sarah xx