Our first job of the day was to collect the rest of the group from two other hotels and then let Sally conduct a briefing for the day before setting off. We had a mile cycle up hill to get to the briefing and although it was a pain I would rather have done this today as the other guys had to do this hill last night on Day 1.
During Sallys brief she said there will be what she likes to call “undulations”. Later we would all find out that her words were libellous and what she actually meant to say was that your day will be “mountainous”. Naughty naughty Sally!
Once the six amigos had assembled we departed Calais and we saw the actually entrance to channel tunnel before heading on to tuck in some tasty hills. Hills, hills and more hills after this. The first 24 miles were very tough but gave me a lot of practise with my gears and I am finally learning to use the little cog.
The toughest hill on day 2 was ready and waiting for us just before the first water stop at 24 miles. This beast of a hill took it out of most of us, especially after our group had blasted to this stage a decent pace. This had been my most needed water break so far at the top of this hill. After a good rest here and allowing the wolf pack group of 6 to come together again as one we set off again with the mission of getting to 49 miles and lunch.
The next hour we were spoilt by great weather, more beautiful countryside, rivers, bridges, quaint little villages, immaculately kept gardens and elderly people that seemed happy, relaxed, enjoying their lives and friendly enough to greet and wave at you as you passed by.
During in this section we picked up a new rider that was cycling alone - Paul from Beverly. I had a good chat with Paul for a while and he told me that he had recently bought his 3 year old daughter a pony. On first impression I thought that was a little flashy! The group had now evolved from a six man wolf pack (sorry Lucy, 6 person wolf pack) into the Magnificent 7.
With 5 miles to go before the lunch break the group of 7 broke up a bit and everyone took on their own pace. This was nice to get some time to ride solo. There was an amazing decent into the lunch stop with long and winding roads down, down and down that enabled a very decent opportunity to clock big mph’s and get your sprint on.
Lunch was set in a lovely grassed area with very tall trees and a lake as a backdrop. The choice of food was excellent once again and to be able to produce the nosh they did out of just a van was very impressive. After over indulging as always we had to wait a while before they would let us start on our way again. This was due to arriving at lunch in double quick time.
Once we did get going there were only 22 miles to go to the hotel for the night so the only choice was to break up the day with a refreshment stop somewhere down the line. 10 miles further along and bingo, pit stop! This is when I started to understand how “thirsty” Paul was. Likes a tipple does young Paul. There were a few different drink choices for the group overall but I indulged Paul in a pint of Leffe (he didn’t exactly have to twist my arm) and we all consumed our drinks with the sun beating down on our backs.
After 20 minutes of enjoying life and slurping it was back to business and the chimes of multiple Garmins sung on start up followed by that beautiful sounds of cleats clipping in and once again we were on the road as a group. Michael and Ryan were leading the group and it is quite evident that these guys are strong cycling club riders. I think they are helping the group a lot. After staying together for a majority of the time the group then naturally came apart towards the end and again people were riding solo at their own enjoyable pace to get home and rest, shower, blog, phone home and eat or drink.
On arrival to the hotel, with most people tired and hungry, we were not greeted with the best situation. The only thing that you want from a room are some basic comforts like somewhere to be able to wash or go to the toilet, a towel bigger than a flannel and ideally not bunk beds. Unfortunately we had all of these things and more…the hotel was not good and that it putting it politely. Out of 3 hotels on offer our group had once again suffered the worst possible choice. It was all a little too much for Mr Wilson as when he saw his room he had a little paddy and then proceeded to kick his bag in the room and then locked himself away for a while to vent. I am not sure it helped when Ryan, who was staying in another hotel sent him a gloating picture of his palace!
I arrived early at the hotel so I was first in the room. I grabbed bottom bunk and awaited my roommate. DELIGHT! It wasn’t Simon the snorer that walked in. It was a new chap - Paul. The first thing that Paul asked me was “do you snore”. I couldn’t help but laugh. It gets better. He starts to tell me that last night he didn’t get any sleep because when he walked into his hotel room the guy he was sharing with handed him ear plugs and told him that he was going to need these. After I filled him in on almost my identical story we had a chuckle. So two none snorers paired - result. I just wondered whether the snorers were paired?!
Dinner was a good feed at 7.30 and then we proceeded to socialise and had a good chat amongst our group. I spent a lot of time talking to Paul and learning more about him and his family. His daughter has Cystic Fibrosis and that is a condition I didn’t know a lot about so I learnt a lot. He and his family have gone through and are still going through a hell of lot and the attitude from Paul and his family towards the situation is exemplary. After learning all I did about the situation and Paul himself I completely revoked my “flashy pony” thought from earlier in the day. I think I had a few more beers than I would of liked with a big ride planned the next day but good company is good company and many different subjects were covered late in to the night with David telling us about his musical talents of years gone by and an unfair nickname from his school days that wasn’t funny in anyway whatsoever…......
Roll on day 3!
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