Cycling to Paris again

It's that time of year again when I make the trip across the water with my two wheels and wend my way to Paris. It's not that there's a rule that I have to do a London to Paris bike ride every year. Things have just happened that way recently.

It's quite a nice run, and I particularly like shuttling between my two favourite cities - two cities that have featured heavily in my life.

I was born in London, but grew up in the north of England. Living in London happened after I finished at university, and it's been my home ever since.

Paris was a temporary home for me for about five years in the early 1990s. It was only meant to have been a one-year stint just to gain experience of working abroad and doing something "interesting" that would be on par with my university contemporaries.

But I enjoyed it so much that I kept extending my time there. My return to London came down to the need to return to the mother ship, and get on with doing a professional job in the UK rather than trying to be bohemian in Paris (which was the life that many people I knew seemed to be living at that time).

It was a bit if a wrench to leave, but it's great that Paris is not far from London and I can go there fairly easily whenever I like.

So here I am again, sitting in a hotel room on the outskirts of Calais ready to hit the road to Paris. I don't normally do the ride at the same time every year. But as it happens, this trip is taking place practically a year after my last cycle ride there.

The timing is because I plan to compete in the Chantilly triathlon. It's an event I came across last year while on my way to the City of Light. Chantilly is an impressive-looking place, with beautifully rustic architecture, manicured lawns around the horse-racing course, and of course the castle. The town,  which boasts of being the French capital of the horse, is twinned with Epsom, so it has a lot to live up to!

As part of the Castle Triathlon Series, a triathlon and other sports races are held within the grounds of the Chateau de Chantilly over the August bank holiday weekend. When I was in the area last year, en route to Paris, I saw the end of the sprint race, and seeing the beautiful surroundings immediately made me decide that this is an event worth coming to do.

So before I reach Paris I will hopefully have done a triathlon,  and gotten a taste of life in a castle, though it remains to be seen whether I will be queen!

Allez, c'est parti!

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Another year, another trip to Paris! - Part 3: Chantilly

After a well-earned sleep I was ready to do the final part of my Paris ride.

After a hearty breakfast I started my ride from Beauvais. Firstly, I did a mini circuit of the town. It wasn´t anything to write home about as I had seen the best parts the previous day. What I saw today was the part that I had seen on the last time I was in Beauvais, just over a year ago. I had been on a mad dash to get a train to Paris on a Saturday evening after a tedious day on the road. I recognised the road around the train station and the industrial area that I had taken, though at the time I was so focused on trying to catch the train that I didn´t notice the delights of the various factories and DIY stores. Today I had the chance to appreciate the water treatment works, the Nestlé factory, and even Carrefour in their full splendour!

After a tour of the grey side of Beavais I was into the green and pleasant roads that would take me to the Pays de L`Oise, and Chantilly. Rather than ride along the main road with traffic I was able to ride along a traffic-free cycle path that started from Therdonne, just outside Beauvais, and went parallel to the D12, going to Hermes, and towards Bury. I kept thinking that these towns might be in the first instance quite chic, like an expensive handbag or perfume, and then in the second instance, a bit industrial like an industrial city. But no, they were neither - just quaint non-descript villages in Normandy.

Quiet lanes through the woods in Normandy

The nicest town in the area though, was Saint-Leu-Esserent, which was quite old, with a gothic church and a bridge. Soon I was into practically deserted roads that just had woodland to guide me along the way. It was all very nice, though I was looking foward to getting to Chantilly.

And once I got there it didn´t fail to disappoint. I have always known Chantilly was famous for its race course, having seen the Prix de L´Arc de Triomphe on Channel 4 racing a few times. I didn´t know just quite how chic it was. Chantilly being twinned with Epsom, home of the Derby should have given me a clue. On entering the town, a signboard describes it as the "capital of the horse". It made me wonder if that also meant you could get decent horsemeat from their local butchers!

Though I think really, Chantilly is still more upmarket than the London suburb in Surrey - not that I want to cause offence to the people of Epsom!

Chantilly - the horse capital

The high street definitely reeks of wealth, with it´s designer shops, and expensive cafes. It is also heaving with pollution, as the roads were just choc-a-block with audis, mercedes, BMWs and the odd Bentley. On this day there were loads of cyclists too, as a triathlon was taking place at the Château and many athletes cycled back from the castle to their lodgings. If only I had known this was on, I would definitely have entered.

It was an extremely hot day, and the open water swim in the lake around the Château would have been lovely - maybe not the run though! In any case this race, part of the Castle Series is definitely one to note for next year.

Nice setting for a triathlon

Talking to the security guard in the grounds of Chantilly castle he talked about all the events that people could look forward to, including the Prix de L´Elégance, which was due to take place in a couple of weeks time. That sounded about right for this place, which is the epitome of style. It made me laugh that he was telling me about an event all about style, as I stood there all bedraggled and sweaty in the 30+degrees heat!

I then sat in the park and ate my packed lunch before pushing on - a lot later than planned. By this time it was going to 4pm, and as I breezed past the lovely gated mansions along the tree-lined avenues I comforted myself with the fact that I was in the department of Ile de France, which for me, means the Parisian region.

Chantilly wins the prix de l'élégance!

So I would be at my lodgings in the 11th arrondissement within an hour or two. Er, not so! I was 30 miles away, so yes getting there in aound 2 hours was about right. However, I had not factored in stopping to go shopping, taking photos or even getting lost in the suburbs - which was bound to happen as I was no longer following the Avenue Verte route.

The other important point for me, was that I was not taking the direct route. I had wanted to take in a little bit more forest, so ended up on a convoluted route that took me through Gouvieux, Royaumont Abbey, Forests at Carnelle, L´Isle Adam, and Montmorency, before entering Paris via Argenteuil, and Asnières sur Seine, and then onto Arc de Triomphe via Boulevard Malsherbes and Avenue Wagram.

By this time it was around 8pm! Whoops! But hey, I had seen a real specturm of places en route - industrial parts of Normandy, historic bits, the upmarket suburbs of Paris, as well as some dodgy looking areas of the northern "banlieues" of Paris.

Pont d'Iéna - tense, terse, tourists

In another variation, my ride through Paris did not involve Champs Elysées, for once! This time I opted for leaving the Arc de Triomphe roundabout via Avenue Iéna, which took me straight to the bottom of Trocadero and right into Champ de Mars, where the Eiffel Tower is. It was also more difficult to get a stranger to take a photo of me down here than when I was at the Arc de Triomphe. It was like they had become mistrusting of everyone - which I guess is not surprising, given recent events. Having said that, it didn't stop people from photobombing my pics with silly faces and waves. The tourists at the Eiffel Tower definitely seemed a different breed from the polite folks up at Charles de Gaulle Etoile!

After a spin through the streets of the Left Bank, and down Boulevard St Germain, I crossed Henri IV Bridge to reach Bastille, my favourite area.
Finally, I arrived at my lodgings, another Ibis Hotel off rue de la Roquette, near Père Lachaise, and was ready to celebrate my arrival with a moules frites and a good wine at the nearby Cafe L´Artiste.




My route into Paris on Strava


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Another year, another trip to Paris! Part 2 - Beauvais

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Another year, another trip to Paris! Part 2: Beauvais

Arriving into Beauvais at lunchtime knowing that I had finished my cycling for the day was quite a nice feeling.

Hell, I had started my bike ride at roughly 5 am so I deserved to finish at 1pm! It was a warm, sunny day, lots of people were out, the shops were open, which is not always the case in small French towns at this time of year, and I felt quite fresh.
As the day was still young I knew I could take my time with things. So I spent  a bit of time admiring and photographing the very imposing cathedral.

The mighty Beauvais cathedral

I had never really considered Beauvais to be a touristic town, but then again Ryanair do fly there – they even call it their Paris destination! So I imagine a fair few people will stop by and admire this “lovely surburb of Paris” before heading properly into the city of light.

And there were many people in Beauvais, looking at the St Pierre cathedral and the nearby Musée de l'Oise. Some folks were British. Where else could they have been from – this couple that spoke to each other in thick Liverpudlian accents?!
I then moved on to reach my hotel. I hadn’t quite expected it to be so far out of town, or that it would be up a hill. Gee, I had just come down a big hill to get into the town, and here I was already climbing again just to reach my rest and recuperation spot!

I guess nothing good comes to you without putting in a bit of effort first! And that good thing came in the shape of the Ibis Hotel, Beauvais. Yes, a big-chain hotel that may have been lacking in style. But it had everything I needed - friendly receptionists, a decent sized bedroom and bathroom, strong Wifi connection, a bar, and even a room for my bike - a room, not an alleyway outdoors at the back of the building or a leaky shed. An actual room that was on par with my bedroom minus a telly, a bed and a bathroom!

And it didn't stop there - they were serving meals, but there were a number of restaurants nearby also doing the same. There was a hypermarket about a mile away selling everything, including bike bits, and, hold onto your hats - they had Decathlon and Intersport right opposite. Who says you can't have a good time in Beauvais!

After an afternoon nap I went out for a walk in the local area. It was nothing to write home about. Just your typical neighbourhood on the outskirts of a town near an airport, with yoofs in a skateboard park and ladies of various ethnicities in housecoats gossiping over the garden fence. Think more Hounslow than Richmond!

There were a number of other cyclists staying in the hotel too, and I saw them sitting out on the terrace discussing their ride. I said hello to them and exchanged a few words as cyclists do. They were also riding to Paris, though at a more leisurely than me, by stretching their trip over 4 days.

The London-Paris cycle ride is a well-beaten route for many cyclists, including organised touring groups and charity bike riders, of which this group were a part. This is probably the fifth time I am riding to Paris, and I have yet to do the ride as part of an organised group. In a way I must admit I feel quite relieved to not be part of such a group because the people I meet who go on these rides can only say "I went from London to Paris by bike. Get that!" That's all very well and good, but then all they know about is London, and about Paris. They don't know the names of the places in between, including places they stopped at. All they know is the fact that they followed a ride leader through some rather nice countryside, ate some good food and ended up at the Eiffel Tower. And they probably didn't interact with a single French person along the way!

That's rather a shame, but then again maybe that's how it should be. But hey, when did I ever travel in the way it should be done!

And with that thought I went to bed feeling satisfied, after a hearty meal at La Boucherie.


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Tackling the Rapha Festive 500

In recent years I have found my regular cycling mileage steadily drop to almost recreational levels. When I was in Milan my commuting miles were just 6 miles per day along pan-flat terrain, and although I made an effort to get out and ride at weekends in the lovely testing hills around Lake Como and the Oltrepo Pavese region, I was only getting out and doing this type training ride once every couple of weeks, since weekends would frequently be spent travelling to London or elsewhere.

Things didn't improve when I was in Macclesfield either.  Again, the great training terrain of the Peak District, the Goyt Valley and Macclesfield Forest were on my doorstep. However, I was returning to London every other weekend, and my commuting miles were just 3 miles, albeit over undulating terrain.


So since starting to live in London full-time, last summer I have come to realise how much fitness I have lost from my former self. It has been great to get back to doing my regular 10-mile hilly commute into Central London from Crystal Palace, as well as my weekend rides. Although regular, different significant events in my life and health matters have meant I wasn't able to spend as much time out on my bike, or ride to a high intensity.

But now, I feel it is time to get back to the good old days when I could ride 150 miles + per week through commuting and riding a decent weekend ride. It would be lovely to feel fit enough to properly ride cyclosportives to my potential, not just aiming to survive them. I would also like to have the base fitness that to do high intensity competitive cycling.

It is now time to break the old cycle [pardon the pun] and reinvigorate my bike riding. So what better way to do so than by taking part in the Rapha Festive 500. Basically, I am challenging myself to ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

In theory, it should, be doable. This distance, 500km (or 310 miles) is roughly what people can do when on a week-long warm-weather training camp in Mallorca or Lanzarote. But that's the rub. The Rapha Festive 500 is a global challenge, so those folks in southern hemisphere countries like Australia or South America won't have trouble completing these distances during their long, warm summer days. Even the climatic conditions in Spain or the Canary Islands at this time of year are quite mild.

Here in the UK it's another matter. With sunrise being after 8am, and darkness falling by 4pm a long bike-ride, on country lanes gets harder to fit in. Of course there's also the weather to consider. People in Northern England and Scotland are experiencing two sets of strong storms, and down here in London it has been very windy. No, these short, grim, cold days don't inpsire people to get out on a bike. So achieving 500km this week will be an achievement for me - not just because I will have endured the inclement conditions, but also because I will be able to say I have given a very healthy boost to my cycling fitness.

You can get in the 500km any which way - as bite size 70km stages, or as a couple of ultra-long rides if that's the way you want to do it. My friend, Annaleena Piel Linna did Paris-Roubaix-London last year. I considered doing London-Paris and back. But in the end I have chosen to stay home and do My Tour de Londres.

The plan is to ride from London to the home counties surrounding London tracing routes as near as possible in the shape of the spokes of a bicycle wheel - maybe with a hub and a bit of the rim! Stages will be between 50 and 100km, depending on the day, given that I will also be juggling these rides with a few running events and a cyclocross race.


It'll be a long road, but I will give it my best shot. So keep an eye out for my posts on how I've been getting on.

Bike Review: Raleigh Mustang Sport Gravel Bike

As we head into the winter months it is comforting to be out on a sturdy bike that can withstand adverse conditions such as early morning frost, extra debris on the roads, and something you can ride off piste if you decide to take short cuts through off-road sections; or even just something on which you can enjoy a leisurely winter off-road bike ride. This is where a gravel bike could be an option.

Since April I have been testing out the Raleigh Mustang Sport gravel bike. These are a relatively new breed of bike to the ever increasing range of bicycles that one can stock their garage with - and hopefully ride!

The gravel bike (also known as an adventure bike) is a cross between a cyclocross bike and a road bike. Some might it describe it in other ways, but basically it looks like a cross bike, but without the zippiness that you would want in a race, however it is very comfortable to be on for long rides.

That means that its sturdiness makes it a good bike to use when riding off-road or going cycle touring on trails. It is handy that the bike also has areas where you can mount a rack and mudguards - which is what I have taken to using on the bike lately.

I used the bike when I rode a series of routes along rail trails around the country, and also on longer rides such as on a route to Brighton from Guildford along the Down's Link and the South Downs Way. I also used the Mustang Sport to ride across the Transpennine Trail. The Mustang Sport even did a foray abroad, when I used it for a cycle tour to get to Paris, where part of the route went along the disused railway line from Dieppe to Forge-Les-Eaux known as Avenue Verte.


Anyway, here are my thoughts on the Raleigh Mustang Sport:

Although the Mustang Sport is happier off-road it performs perfectly well on tarmac. If you want to do extensive riding on-road it may be better to use something like Land Cruisers which are tough and can deal with some less rugged off-road sections. Some of my rides were on tarmac and I rode with the Schwalbe CX Comp tyres that came with the bike.  On these tarmacked sections the Mustang Sport was fairly unchallenged and rolled along smoothly along. Carbon forks as well as the tyres provided good dampening when I went over some cobbled sections such as areas of Hull Old Town, or down the Champs Elysees in Paris. 

When on trails such as the Hudson Way between Beverley and Market Weighton, or the Tissington Trail in the Peak District the Mustang Sport was really in its element on these gravelly trails which had a few sections of single track. the bike held the paths well and steering was smooth and responsive when maneuvering through narrow sections. 

On the muddier, boggier sections such as when I rode on the trail between Scarborough and Whitby  the Mustang knew how to get through it, and having disc brakes meant that there was very good clearance between the frame and the tyres. So I didn't have to worry about the bike getting clogged up. I just had to worry about the big clean-up when I got home!

You have the option to buy the bike set up with tubeless tyres  on the Mustang Sport, though I didn't choose this option. I must admit I  am not so familiar with these and don't trust myself to fitting them properly. I think in future I would put these on as you will have one less thing to think about when it comes to tyre pressures and punctures. In any case the clincher tyres I had worked well and they held their pressures well. 

On my ride to Brighton via the Downs Link with the Mustang Sport I decided to leave this trail in search for a bit more of a challenge - so in my wisdom I took the South Downs Way. Now this is probably the thin end of the wedge in terms of what the Mustang Sport will take. There are long sections of grass on the downs, which is completely fine for the bike. However, there is a fair share of steep rugged single track. The great thing was the gears were low enough for me to get up these 18-20% hills, but the bike was definitely challenged on the descent. It was very much a bone-shaker and the disc brakes squeaked quite a lot. The Mustang Sport endured the 10 mile-section that I rode, but I think it would be you, rather than the bike that would give up the ghost first if you intended doing the full 100 miles of the South Downs Way! I am sure the bike would be fine for a short section - in the same way that people do the Three Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales on their cyclocross bikes. Just make sure to use bomb-proof tyres, and keep your body in tip-top condition!

In my opinion the Raleigh Mustang Sport is a good option for multi-terrain rides particularly if you are not a speed merchant. It is heavier than some cyclocross bikes, but that makes it a sturdy option on all surfaces.

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