London to Paris (L2P) Day 1 London - Dover - Calais

Early start to the day with a wake-up call at 5 a.m. This call was welcome as it was followed by a hearty breakfast. After suitably carbo-loading, made my way to Blackheath common ready for the start.
At 7 a.m I set off with 76 other cyclists. There was a good mix of ages and about 20 females taking part. This first leg to the water stop was along relatively busy London roads and certain cyclists were dicing with death by pulling out in front of busses and not stopping at red lights. I was a more sensible cyclist! It took at least the first 8 miles before I felt warm. We passed through Dartfood before reaching the first waterstop. This was a most welcome stop and I was treated with a banana and a bottle of lucozade.

The next leg took us into Charing for our lunch stop. This was a super zoomy leg and reached this destination a good 30 mins before lunch was served. Lunch consisted of rolls, cheese, turkey, crisps, orqnges, cake and tea.

The next leg was tough and had a few hilly moments. No hill beat me though and I kept a good pace. It was reassuring to know that day 1 was considered to be the most strenous day before reaching Paris. At the water stop I again fuelled up with banana and lucozade.

Menace moments were encountered on the leg to the ferry. Basically I and 9 others got lost, or took a wrong turn and were going all over the place in a haphazard manner. We had to cycle a vast stretch of menace dual carriage way to get us back on route which was quite busy and proved hard work. This hard work paid off as I hit a speed of 45 mph on my descent into Dover (think I had the fastest descent)! Once in Dover I paid a stop to a local pub and had some cider before having to catch the ferry.

We had to wait a while before being allowed on the ferry. Once on the ferry, more alcohol was consumed alongside the most disgusting curry ever (bar 1, that curry Dave, Jack and I had was the worst ever)! The ferry ride was quite rocky and just a few more rocks and I'm sure curry might have escaped!

Once of the ferry I climbed back on my bike and wahoo - I was in France for the first time in my life! Had to cycle about 7 miles to reach the hotel - a holiday inn. The cycle to the hotel was kinda weird as I was now riding on the other side of the road. Once at hotel, showered, updated this blog and a beer awaits!

Cycled 97.32 miles with a max speed of 45 mph!