Less than 3 weeks...!

So just less than 3 weeks till we set off! Our leaving date is the 23rd of August and we will hopefully be arriving in Paris on the 25th! After a bit of a palava in sorting out how exactly we were going to get home from Paris (Eurostar is not cheap) we have finally booked our ferry crossings and homeward trains. The train company have informed us that there won't be a problem with taking our bikes on the french trains but I have heard several stories which suggest otherwise! Let's just hope they do...

The next two weeks are going to have to be pretty training intense as I am not feeling fit enough at all. I have plans to do a few 30-40 mile trips and one big 70 odd miler to Cambridge and back at some point this week (hopefully in successive days!). If I can survive all that then I will be able to stop worrying. Though, I am finding it difficult to make myself go out on the bike. The terrain around here is pretty hilly which can make rides quite demoralizing as after tackling a few hills in succession it's easy to become knackered. Then I realise I've only managed to cycle 10 or 15 miles overall and although this has all been done at a reasonable pace, it is still a bit of a downer to be so tired after cycling so little! 

Please continue to show your support by reading/commenting on this blog, following our twitter or if you can, sponsoring us on our justgiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/AmyJamieLondonParis. For those of you who have already donated we are so grateful for your support and it really encourages us to keep going! It makes us feel that we won't be half killing ourselves in vain! (;

I will post an update on my cycling later this week!

We are still training...honest!

After a bit of an exam and holidaying hiatus we are back in the saddle with earnest. And a good thing to, since we plan to go in 6 weeks time!
We have really noticed an improvement in our cycling (especially now I've nearly learnt how to use my gears properly) and are finding climbs that would previously grind us to a halt are now far more manageable.
We concede that we aren't quite in the cycling elite yet but we are still averaging a pace that is more than enough to get us to Paris in one piece. Our session today took us around Bramfield and Tewin including a category 5 climb and was far more successful than our last time on this route!
We plan to be out on the bikes most days now even if just for a little bit to keep our fitness up. Next week we plan to cycle around 68 miles to Cambridge and back (with lunch inbetween!). This is about the distance we will be cycling per day on our trip so if we can do this then this should be a real confidence boost of our capabilities! Just hoping there aren't millions of hills to tackle!
If you want to be a bit nosy on our training then you can check out our MapmyRide profiles. I know there isn't much on them but that's only because we've only recently started using them and don't always remember to turn the app on when we cycle. We plan to use the app everytime we ride now so you can see just exactly what we are up to!
http://www.mapmyride.com/profile/30617896/
http://www.mapmyride.com/profile/JamieS1011/

I'm still looking for a ladies road bike if anyone knows of one for sale but if I can't find one then I think my little mountain bike might make it although it's not  ideal!
We are about to book the ferry and eurostar now that we actually know who is going (sadly has resulted in only the two of us) so it's all getting very real now!

Easter not quite as planned...

With two weeks off for Easter, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to get out cycling regularly and really make progress (in and amongst A Level revision, of course).  However, it hasn't quite worked out like that. The issue we forgot with Easter is the large quantity of chocolate that is given, and this, coupled with the traditionally poor English weather, left us out on the bike a lot less than we would have liked. Before today, the first time we made it out together, a sum total of three times. Not quite Paris standard!

This isn't to say that no exercise has been done, however, and this morning we set out on Amy's ambitious route to and through the Pelham's, and hopefully back again. With Michael joining us again, we hoped our group of three could survive the longest trip we had yet aimed for... and it was going well at first! Despite demoralisingly hilly terrain, and dubious navigation at points, we were making a steady pace and getting through the miles. The quiet countryside, with nice scenery, made it much more enjoyable than earlier distances down the river towpath!

Unfortunately, we then thought Michael was dead. On a long uphill section not too far from home he was suffering, but told us to go on and meet hime further on, rather than lose momentum on the hill. So we did, and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. And waited even more. Thankfully, just as we were considering going back to look for him, he made his way to us. Despite the suffering, we consider today a good day, though. Cycling further than we have done before, making 35 miles in one trip,

feeling vaguely comfortable throughout and without much training for a while, not too bad!

Some cooperation from the weather would be appreciated...

I think we have decided it is not allowed to be windy come the journey in August. Or rain. Or be cold for that matter. Still trying to do an extended ride every Saturday, we have been taking in roads with hills recently and sort of making progress, so braved the damp looking weather to go out early this weekend. We fell out with the wind immediately with at least the first 5 miles straight into a headwind, uphill, rain blowing in our faces. We thought it was bad when we saw even someone in proper cycling clothing (therefore must be good) struggling, and realised the full extent when on our way back we barely had to pedal as the wind did all the work! We came back wet and cold, my light had shattered after an altercation with a pothole, and so this evening we decided against another ride, as it was just too much wet and cold for a few days. I suspect we will have to get over this as we are training in Britain...
Despite this, it seems we are improving, beginning to average above 10mph on our journeys despite hillier terrain and one of us still on a child's bike! However, since starting in January, we have still trained less miles than the whole journey to Paris... a depressing thought but we do at least feel fitter!

Just an update...

I think in the last post we may have got a bit carried away. The fact that we actually did a cycle without dying, and overtook some people out for a leisurely cycle led us to claim 'we're getting there', which is a little wide of the mark perhaps. Since then, I have been on holiday so haven't cycled much, it turns out Amy's bike it too small and she can't cycle, and far too many cookies have been consumed. The result of this is probably worse fitness than a few weeks ago, and the realisation that so far, in now almost a few months training, around 90 miles have been cycled, some way short of the total near 200 miles we're aiming for... still some way off!

We are getting there...!

Firstly, we potentially have a new team member! Michael joined us for our Saturday ride today and is hopefully going to be coming to Paris with us! We nearly have enough people for a peloton..!
We repeated last weeks 20 mile ride and miraculously, our fitness levels have soared over the last week of training! We maintained a steady but decent pace for the entire journey, and improved on last weeks time by over 45 minutes! We were even overtaking other cyclists as we went! And when we arrived back in Hertford we still felt like there was still something left in the tank!

Despite us each having several near misses with falling in the canal, I think we could be as bold as to say that today may have been a success...!

Good news! (followed immediately by some bad...)

The good news - Jamie has a bike! Amy found an old road bike in her garage and spent hours getting covered in oil so that we could attempt the 20 mile round trip to Broxbourne, which we also managed, further than either of us have ever cycled before!
However, we've discovered just how unfit we are as we struggle to stand after finishing, as the wind decided to drive in our face the whole way back, and we watched better cyclists disappear into the distance.
Still, we have two working bikes and have done an actual training ride!