Cycling UK Forum

Anyone done the London to Paris cycle run? Does it cater for all level of cyclists? (obviously within reason).

Have done Tower Bridge to the Eiffel Tower two years running over a long weekend via the Newhaven to Dieppe route. It's a fantastic ride, particularly on the French side. We didn't fancy the big charity type run so we planned and organised it ourselves. With decent maps and a "smattering" of French, it's not a big deal. Would be happy to help with routes etc.

I have, see link at bottom of this post (London) for a write up that may be of some interest

Paul Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

Beakyboy wrote:Anyone done the London to Paris cycle run? Does it cater for all level of cyclists? (obviously within reason).

Beakyboy.
If you mean the one that starts at Hampton Court and last year went via S t Malo then yes I've done it.It's a very well organised Cyclo sportive type event.This year the 190 or so riders were split into 3 ability groups.The first group was pretty racey and indeed had timed sections that they actually raced over.Sean Kelly was in that group.Group 2, including me (I'm 57) would suit club riders and Audax types.The third group was slowest but still pretty fit.Virtually everyone rode racing bikes and some pretty fancy ones at that.There was an amazingly fit bloke from Reading CTC in my group who rode in Shimano sandles and was disappionted that the stages weren't non stop! His was the only bike with mudguards
Each group has motorcycle marshalls and a following van, the marshals try hard to keep the group together.There are stops comfort and otherwise.
It is certainly not sightseeing trip you need to be confident in riding in a large compact group.
The standard of riding is surprisingly high given that most are not club riders.The roads are essentially closed in France which is amazing.
It's as close to a mini tour de France experience as ordinary rider can get.
Great feeling when you get to Paris.
You need to be fit, 3*200k a day.
In 2008 the route is via Calais and will include sections of Paris Roubaix cobbles that stage is 230k ,for me that's just a bit to far.
Malpas

Thanks guys the one i'm thinking of doing is the Christian Aid one:

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvol ... cling.aspx

The money to raise for the sponsorship is a tall order mind.

Two friends and I looked into a few charity rides to Paris and discovered (in the small print) that almost half of the minimum sponsorship money we had to raise would go on our travel and hotel expenses. We decided to organise the trip ourselves and our total (inc spending money) came to just under £200 each. We raised a decent amount for an Aids orphanage in Zambia as part of the trip.
The planning etc took a fair amount of time but was really enjoyable and beneficial for future trips. Be warned cycling in France is highly addictive.
We were warned about the "risks" of doing a 200 mile trip without back-up. Complete tosh. On both trips we hadn't a single mechanical problem and I'm confident that if we had it would have been sorted out quickly in a village bike shop.

I'd second the comment on these fundraising events and the amount of sponsorship that is actually spent on your expenses, so you're basically asking friends to subsidise a holiday.

Unless you move in Christian circles, you are also likely to encounter additional resistance due to the nature of the particular charity here.

Ben

I'd recommend Discover Adventure. They have an 'Open Challenge' option which means that you pay for the trip yourself, which leaves you free to pick any charity, and raise as much or little money as you can. Means you aren't limited to the charity you want to support, or any minimum fundraising target.

£700 (incl registration) pays for the support vehicles and crew, accommodation, pretty much all your food, ferry to France and Eurostar back to London.

You aren't pushed in terms of timing - 4 days of cycling, starting with a long 95 mile first day, but the length decreases each day to 60 miles on the last. All different levels on the trip I did including a couple of girls on a tandem. Thoroughly enjoyed my trip thanks to the good crew and company.

Can anyone recommend a good route to Paris from Dieppe. Not a fan of prepaid organised rides. Prefer to do it independently.

torres wrote:Can anyone recommend a good route to Paris from Dieppe. Not a fan of prepaid organised rides. Prefer to do it independently.

Oh yes . . . .
Out of Paris . . . pick up the Coulee Verte from Montrouge, just south of the peripherique. This walking/cycling path will take you all the way down to Palaiseau.
http://www.mayq.com/Cycling_out_of_pari ... thwest.htm

From Palaiseau, use a map to navigate over to Rambouillet.
From Rambouillet, use the D906 over to Epernon.
Then drop into the Vallee of the river Eure.
Follow the river, on whatever side you fancy, for many tens of pleasant kilometers all the way up to Louviers - near to where the Eure joins the Seine.
Cut over to St Pierre du Vauvray, where you can cross to the north side of the Seine.
North up through the vallee of the Andelle and just work your way up through the lanes to Dieppe.
You should be able to run into Dieppe on the Avenue Verte - another cycle track ( 40kms long ) if you can get to its southernmost point near Forges-les-Eaux.
http://voiescyclables.free.fr/hnormandie.html

Also recorded on CTC route sheet FR4

re route to Paris...

Looks ideal, thanks for posting it. I've struck off from Dieppe a couple of times before but only into Normandy for a ferry back from Caen or Cherbourg. I have yet to attempt London to Paris via the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry but hope to the next time there is a decent bank holiday weekend at a time of year with tolerable weather and long daylight hours.

From Dieppe we followed the excellent Avenue Verte to Forges les Eaux (with a second breakfast stop in Neufchatel en Brae) and then to Gournay along quiet country roads. From Gournay we followed a route that was suggested to us on the ferry by the professional leaders of an organised charity ride (they had been refining it for a number of years). It was a wonderful ride with some challenging hills and lovely villages. As we neared Paris via Cergy and Poissy we began to rely on the excellent IGN maps. Cycling over the 5 Seine bridges is a great thrill and the Bois de Boulogne is fantastic.
We finished at the Trocadero as you get better views/photos of the Eiffel Tower from there.
If you want to PM me your address I would be happy to post a copy of our route to you. You'll need 6 maps from Stanfords (worth every penny).
We cycled from the Trocadero to Gare du Nord on a Sunday afternoon without much trouble and got a slow-ish train to Calais. Booking bikes on a TGV is, in our view, not advisable as we tried and gave up because of red tape/incompetence.
You must check that there are no Engineering works on Southern Region on the day of your return, we had major hassle trying to get from Dover to London.
We did it two years running and learned from our first-time mistakes. We found the London to Newhaven bit a lot harder than the French side. It makes you realise over-crowded the South East is.
Fantastic ride, go for it.

Jake,

A really interesting reply - I've pm'ed you for more details.

Thanks,

Ran out of steam late last night so I thought I'd fill in the gaps. We started from Tower Bridge soon after 6.30am to avoid rush hour. We cycled to Deptford and joined up with the NCR 21. Followed this to New Addington where, in our opinion, 21 loses the plot ( includes going right through the middle of Gatwick Airport using a goods lift!!). Using the OS Landranger map we did a fairly direct line through Limpsfield and Lingfield to join up with the London to Brighton route at Crawley Down. Followed this to the bottom of Ditchling Beacon and (happily) turned left towards Lewes. At this point, it's vital to find the B road from Lewes to Newhaven via Rodmell (the A27/26 is an absolute nightmare).
You'll need Landranger maps 187/198 and NCR 21 (from Sustrans).
If you can get transport to Greenwich Park (the start of Route 21) then a later start is possible. We clocked it at 71 miles and, taking our time because of the heavy traffic, were in plenty of time for the evening ferry.
Hope this is helpful.