Friday 7 June 2013

Day 1-2: London 2 Paris Charity Ride

I managed to pick up some Wi-Fi in the hotel tonight at the end of Day 2 of the London 2 Paris Charity bike ride on behalf of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research:

www.justgiving.com/David-Pegler-L2P2013

Covered 240km so far with 220km to go (next 2 days). Feeling pretty good and no aches and pains.

Day 1 started very slow as the organisers  and Ride Captains tried to get 200 riders out of London. Thereafter the speed picked up and for most of the day I found myself with the top 20 riders. Given my good experience on day 1 I started day 2 in the Elite Group (there were no categories for Day 1). For the most part I kept up with the small group of 15-20 cyclists, albeit I typically lost some ground on the hills. Then we hit a 10km time trial section and the more experienced cyclists put their foot down. I really struggled to keep up at those high speeds although there were still a couple of guys behind me.

My chain has come off a number of times and one of the mechanics kindly checked it over. I had apparently not put the cassette back together properly after its recent clean so that was sorted. He also pointed out that the chain and front cogs were worn which was the main reason for my problem. Anyway the bike held together for the rest of the day.

I joined Group 2 in the afternoon and enjoyed a slightly easier pace and some good banter with the riders including legendary ex-footballers Geoff Thomas, Ian Wright and Mitchell Thomas.

Bring on Day 3!

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