Event

Advent Special – Day 10 #L2P24

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Guardian Angel parts II & III

We arrived in Newhaven… what a relief, we were going to make the ferry.  We queued to get through customs then it was our turn at the ticket window.  I passed over our documents….

“Sorry you have the wrong tickets… you should have bike tickets as well as foot passenger tickets”

In Scotland if you go on the ferry your bike goes free!  In England you need to pay for your bike too.  I didn’t know this!  The lady told us we had to go to the ticket window inside to buy the other ticket. I joined the queue.  Just as I was being served, Max, our guardian angel, backpack-carrying friend, passed by and overheard the conversation.  He joined us and said… “yes but you are just foot passengers… both your bikes are in my van” I knew our bikes were outside in the rain against the railing so said, “No we need to pay for our bikes”.  Then Max confirmed that he was offering to carry our bikes in his van, across the channel, to the other side… for free!

What a man! What a man! What a man, what a mighty good angel!

Bikes deposited, we walking into the terminal soaking wet, exhausted!  I was STARVING!  We went to the canteen area only to find the cook packing up to leave.   I begged.  I  explained how I really needed food.  She agreed to stay open just for us, to make us tuna baked potatoes and cups of tea!

After I ate as much as I could (by this time my stomach was the size of a golf ball!), we headed out to the terminal seated area for the ferry to board.   My friend went to the loo and I phoned my mum.  In those moments I felt exhausted, emotional & defeated.   I said to her that I didn’t know if I could make it.  She assured me she had faith in me and faith that God would help me through.   I cried.  I went to the disabled toilet and changed into clean warm clothes then we all boarded the ferry, where I curled up in a ball under a table to escape the glare of the lights and put some soothing tunes on my iPod and dosed off to sleep.   Thank you God!

Advent Special – Day 9 #L2P24

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Hope! And feeling grateful!

The next couple of hours on the journey to the Newhaven ferry were hilly and difficult as it was dark, raining and there was quite a headwind.

We’d made it to the top of a hill then sped down through a small collection of houses and as the road turned to the left I hit a pothole hard! Bang… Thankfully just my SIS water bottle jumping out and bouncing off into the darkness. We were doing about 25 miles an hour so I was not stopping to go get it!

I soon ran out of water and knew I needed more to get me to the ferry,  so I stopped at a small cottage and chapped on the door but there was no reply… Just as I was giving up, headlights came along the road and another support van pulled up with new people.  They asked how we were getting on and gave me a water top up, a banana and gave my friend a hot dog! I was starting to enjoy the journey and they kindly followed us all the way to the Port lighting our route with their headlights! We were going to make the ferry and with about an hour to spare!

Advent Special – Day 8 #L2P24

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Guardian Angels

With my legs aching with cramp from going up hill and the rain getting heavier, we stopped to pop on our waterproofs.  I tried to move my heavy backpack position on my hips to get relief from the pain of my lower back.  I really should have trained with a back pack!  I remember praying… “dear God help!”

Then… what was that coming up the hill….? a white van stopping…?    Then we saw him… our Guardian Angel!  He shouted out of the van “are you the two Scots cycling London to Paris?”

“Yes!” I answered!

He jumped out the van and said “give us your bags – we’ll carry them for you to Newhaven”.   His name was Max!

Who would have thought a wee man from Giffnock, Scotland (5 miles from where I live) would be driving a support vehicle for the organised ride.

Without a second thought I handed him my rucksack, complete with remaining food, salt tablets, spare inner tubes, passport and money!   I cheerily waved him off!

With a spring in my pedal I felt really uplifted, lightweight and hopeful of making the ferry!

Advent Special – Day 7 #L2P24

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Dispair then hope!

Yeah you might have read 13 wrong turns in 25 miles in the last blog entry… ponder a moment on that soul destroying image… then add to the mix the fact that I had only eaten one sandwich since departing Scotland and we were now a couple of hours of cycling into our first, 66 mile leg of the London to Paris journey.  Newhaven ferry terminal seemed far away.

I was also needing the loo!

I begged my friend to stop at a pub we were passing in a village.  We had a quick free loo stop – no one challenged us while we were borrowing the facilities thank goodness!  I filled up my empty water bottles with water and headed back out to have a look at the Garmin.  We had tested it before this trip.  We’d programmed a little route round the block and it had told us to turn left, turn left and finally turn left! Some setting must have changed.  my friend was not keen on me touching the device…   he wanted to ensure that the entire journey was recorded with no stops or errors or accidental deletions.  Well after much persuading I had a go at fixing it… only to scroll too far and to press STOP which finished the recording session – exactly one of the things my friend asked me not to do…  He went a bit mental.  I cried.   I said maybe I’d just go home.

He cycled off.

It started raining.

In despair I got back on my bike after removing my phone from my bag and popped it in my pocket after checking the sat nav map for directions.  Amazingly we seemed to be still on track.

The route took us out into some small country lanes where I caught up with my friend on a hill.  We stopped to check the directions on the phone.   We argued… he didn’t trust my phone sat nav and was going on about how much better it is doing cycle touring on your own.   In the huff I tried to cycle off up a short steep hill, clipped in then promptly lost balance and couldn’t unclip my pedals quick enough. I fell off and hurt my poor wee leg.  I was sore  I am sure I heard a sniff of laughter from my friend but his face was straight by the time I untangled myself from my bike and got on to my feet!

The phone sat nav was so quiet in my pocket I couldn’t hear it on the road with traffic.  Thankfully I had a spot of inspiration after we started up another suspiciously small country lane. I put one earphone in and voila… we had some navigation.

Then things started looking up!   We had chased down a couple that were just ahead of us on the many hills that we went up and down… they overtook us on the ups (we had back packs) and we overtook them on the downhills as we were more risky!   When they stopped for a snack we stopped to talk to them and found out they were doing London to Paris too – part of an organised ride with support vehicles, food, water and mechanical help too!  Their rucksacks were in vans!   I said “I’d pay a fortune for someone to take my bag right now” as it was getting a bit sore on my back.

Then BINGO! they said they were following yellow route markers stuck onto road signs!  Yeeha…  Answered prayers, our challenges with navigation were over!  My friend visibly relaxed as did I!

They cycled off and we finally ate my sandwich!  All a bit late – I was tired, hungry and emotional!  A quick hug and we were off again…  but OWCH! Not what we needed – I was getting cramp in my legs on the hills and the rain got heavier as it started to get dark!  I needed to take on more salt supplements so I popped two tablets into each water bottle and prayed for help!

Advent Special – Day 6 #L2P24

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Wrong Way!

So we were at the start line…

20 minutes later, still waiting on Satelite cover we were still at the start line!

When we finally got the Garmin working we got off the safety of the pavement into the busy bus filled road! Then a bunch of 30 school kids whizzed past us on rental bikes!

At the first red light junction I expected my friend to turn left towards tower bridge… But he was stalling. ‘Come on it’s this way’ I shouted, turning left much to his anger… ‘How do you know?’ Well I’d looked at the map.

A bit of heated discussion and debate followed. The sat nav didn’t say turn left at the first junction!

We headed along past tower bridge and then the sat nav alerted we were off course!

Imagine the pain and frustration of 13 wrong turns in the next 25 miles!!!!

The Garmin was somehow set up to only tell us when we were off course! It wasn’t telling us what to do at a junction!  Tensions were running high!

I was to blame of course! It was me who downloaded Sean’s course!  I was nearly in tears… But it was to get worse!

 

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London Bridge start line… Looking to Tower Bridge

Advent Special – Day 5 #L2P24

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Getting to London Bridge start line, Saturday 2nd May 2015. 

In order to make our early start, I’d driven over to my friend’s (with the bike in the boot) to stay the night before our departure, which meant I had to be ready the day before…

Passports, check

Tickets, check,

Bike, check

We were up with the larks, I’m sure I woke up about 10 times worrying we’d slept in.   Breakfast consumed and clothes on, it was pretty cold on Saturday morning when we finally left the flat and took the obligatory selfie:

We set off from the flat and cycled from Shawlands into Glasgow as fast as we could – we actually had plenty of time but excitement was getting the better of us!   The pink softshell top I was wearing was far too heavy and I was too hot by the time we got to Glasgow Queen street station.  We had a short wait before we our train departed to Edinburgh Waverley.   We were both pretty hyper and secretly I was nervous too!  Once in Waverley we bought 4 sandwiches and some drinks then found our train.  We had a slight panic when we discovered the bike compartment was locked.  That was followed by a bit of hunting down the guard to unlock the door so we could hang up our bikes and strap them in with their tickets attached.

The we headed down to the train into the seating compartments and sat at a vacant table.   After much fumbling around and nervous checking of paperwork we realised we were in the wrong carriage and headed up to our pre-booked seats.  I could see the frustration and disappointment on my friend’s face when we saw a couple sitting at our table while the rest of the carriage was reasonably empty.   They were probably aged mid 50s or so and it was a bit of an inconvenience moving them both out the way to enable us to get all our gear, helmets etc up into the luggage space.

As we left Edinburgh station the first half hour was all very quiet but then the couple asked us what we were doing and to our delight they too, were keen cyclists and had done lots of cycling on their holidays across the UK and in France too!   What we thought was going to be a challenging 5 hour journey turned into lots of discussions about each of our cycling with lots of laughter and the time flew in!   Gus and Edith also took the sponsorship page details and very generously gave us a donation too!  =) Thanks guys!!  www.virginmoneygiving.com/LornaCrawford

During the journey from Edinburgh to London I managed to eat one sandwich (2 halves) and saved the other in my bag (thank goodness! you’ll see why later).  I didn’t drink that much on the journey, but enough to have to run like a duck (wearing my SPD-SL Shimano cycle shoes) across Kings Cross Station only to find out that it was 30p for a pee and that I’d left my cash with my friend!  Thank goodness my guardian angels were with me and 2 very kind people lent me 20p and 10p respectively!  PHEW!

Raymond took his turn and then we were just about ready to go…  but wait… where were we and how would we get to London Bridge?  Hmm we hadn’t route planned that part so I whipped out my iPhone and got the sat nav on…  We set off and quickly had to about turn and go down another street.    Cycling in London was worse than anything I’d ever experienced!  There were buses, pedestrians crossing, other cyclists, big lumpy bits of tar squishing out of holes in the road and traffic lights every 100 yards!    For the first time in my life on a bike I felt really overwhelmed and anxious!

Turning on to London Bridge, my friend decided to go through an amber light which meant I was left behind, so I quickly dismounted and ran across with my bike at the pedestrian crossing!  Ah the panic!  At the other side I found him cycling along the pavement into crowds of people!   Oh man… why had I signed up for this?!

 

 

Advent Special – Day 4 #L2P24

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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” Benjamin Franklin

When planning a big sporting trip there are many aspects to consider…

Safety in numbers

I announced my plans to run a marathon and cycle London to Paris to my folks and the first thing they asked was “who’s going with you?”.

So for the Brighton Marathon, which I’d signed up to with 3 friends, ended up just being me and trusty Paula! We’d run a total of about 6 miles together all our lives but that was not going to put us off!  We agreed that we’d run separately on the day as we had trained at different speeds and Paula had experienced some injuries but we’d stay in contact via Mobile phone for emergencies and our hotel was a short walk (have you ever done a marathon?  It was about 100 steps up from the beach to the main road… walk?! Hobble, limp crying more like!) from the finish line where we planned to meet up should we loose contact .

Marathon partner Paula

Marathon partner Paula

For London to Paris I recruited a male friend.

He was “just the person I’d need” I thought smugly! Yes, he’d made a nearly successful solo attempt at Lands End, John O’Groats and it was only down to equipment failure that he did not complete.  Not only that, he also had a fancy new Garmin (sat nav for bike) and I wasn’t about to spend £350 quid on such an item myself! Perfect… !(?)

Transport

Ok smarty not the bike, I mean transport to the London start line, then the Ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, and then home from a Paris finish!

Simples?  Not so.. the overnight sleeper was about £300! Not an option on the ‘Lorna, post house renovation on a budget’.  So we looked at all the options and opted for an early start with a train down to London and then that would allow us to start our cycle early afternoon.  London has a lot of stations and I had no idea so many were so close together!  Also, most trains require that you pre-book your tickets and reservations for bikes which also get charged extra.

Then there was the Ferry, I made the assumption that, like Scottish Ferries, you buy a foot passenger ticket and your bike goes free…  so booked us the 11pm Ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe one way!

And for a luxurious return home we booked the Eurostar train from Paris Gare du Nord to St Pancreas…  Where’s Gare du Nord… who cares!  I’m sure we’ll be fine to finish the 190 mile cycle navigate straight there to go home?!   hmmmm

Then, the return journey from Kings Cross to Glasgow was going to have to be the next day so that demanded an overnight stay at a local hotel in London.

 

Training

Well I was really committed to my marathon training schedule – I had it worked out, printed out and updated on my wall every week (yes, you are right, I’m good at planning but in reality I only completed 60 % of that training!!).

Cycling was a secondary thought.  Anyway, if you train for a marathon you really will be at your peak fitness, right?   So I started training for the Brighton April 2015 Marathon at the end of September 2014 and built up to around 20 miles a week by the end of November.  Then I got hit with a couple of colds grr back to square 2!   In total I managed around 7 training cycle runs between January and May! Yep that’s all!  Highlights were

1)  a 40 mile cycle around 2 islands (Great Cumbrae and Bute) and back to Largs to finish then a train home to Glasgow.

2) a 72 mile route down into Ayrshire and back up through Largs, over the hill to Greenock and back to Glasgow.

Does a week snowboarding in France count?  Hmm thought not!

 

All the Gear…..  (but no idea!)

So I mentioned in my last post about migrating from a Trek 4900 hard tail mountain bike to a Decathlon Triban 3 road bike…  well you know what its like… (or maybe you don’t?!) I used to slag off those MAMIL’s (Middle Age Man In Lycra) I’d see on their REALLY expensive bikes which weigh absolutely nothing!  I’d say, “yeah but if you lost your 5 bellies you might be able to ride faster?!” and laugh so heartily at my wit!  And yet, there at the start of 2015, with some annual benefits choices for work, I was faced with the option to buy another bike!

And since its Rule 12 states the number of bikes you should own will always be (N+1 ) where N = current number of bikes owned, I had to go ahead and start looking for a new stead worthy of #L2P24   http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

A friend owned a Cannondale Synapse and they get amazing reviews on line for their comfort over long distances… so I contacted my local supplier and put in my order for my first ever FULL CARBON bicycle!!  (yes it was FOUR TIMES the amount I ever spent on a bike before! And it will not be paid off until April 2016 but hey ho!  It’s because I’m worth it!  I have to keep telling myself that!).

2014 Cannondale Synapse full carbon

2014 Cannondale Synapse full carbon

 

Rucksack? Yes really!

In short after spending A FORTUNE on a light weight full carbon bike…  I then packed all that saved weight into a backpack which consisted of:

  • 1 pair of spare cycle shorts
  • 1 spare vest
  • 1 spare pair of socks
  • 1 spare cycle top
  • 1 waterproof jacket
  • 1 wind jacket
  • 1 microfleece
  • 1 shell cycling jacket (heavy as – wore it for the first 5 minutes from Shawlands to Glasgow then needlessly carried it to Paris!! ARGH)
  • 1 bra (normal variety to get home )
  • 1 pair of pants (no pants required under cycle shorts as they chaff badly!)
  • 1 vest top for return journey
  • 1 pair of leggings
  • 1 pair of flip flops
  • about 20 gels (High5 various flavours, some with caffeine)
  • about 20 hydration tables (High5 Zero, some with caffeine)
  • Battery pack portable phone charger
  • Phone charger plug and USB
  • iPod & earphones (Thank the Lord for the earphones…   read on)

On bike equipment

  • 2 x 700c inner tubes
  • toolkit
  • 2 water bottles
  • Front Moon light- fully charged
  • Rear Moon light – fully charged

 

Finally, and most importantly – Route Planning

As previously mentioned, Sean Conway inspired me to do this route, and on his blog he actually provided the Garmin downloadable route.

http://www.seanconway.com/blog/cycling-to-paris-route-gpx-files-for-download

What could possibly go wrong?

Advent Special – Day 3 #L2P24

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Past adventures & the Big Number!    

So what made me think I could achieve such a challenge?  OK some people could do this in their sleep, but not most of us!

Well, I started jogging and did my first 10K back in 2002… it took me 1 hour 2 minutes and 45 seconds… I thought I would die afterwards!

Since then, running, I’ve done 8 x 10K’s;   3 half marathons and 2 marathons.

Personal Best times – I’m no athlete.. more of a plodder!

10K                            56 min  8 s

1/2 Marathon      2 hr   9 min  50 s

Marathon           4 hrs 34 min 28 s (1: Lochness 2013 & 2: Brighton 2015)

Loch Ness Marathon 2013

Loch Ness Marathon 2013

Brighton Marathon 2015

Brighton Marathon 2015

Cycling… back in 2010, I did a Skyride in Glasgow and heard about Pedal for Scotland – a cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh (supposed to be with the prevailing wind).  So I signed up with my friend Claire and did my first 46 miler.

Since then I’ve done 3 x Pedal for Scotland challenge cycles (46 miles) but I was on my mountain bike (2001 Trek 4900 hard tail), initially with chunky tyres and then with slick commuter tyres.  I was so frustrated at how fast those Lycra-clad  people on skinny road bikes were whizzing past me, that in 2013 I got a Decathlon Triban 3 through the cycle to work scheme.  In September of 2013 with my brother and ex colleague, we set off on our first 110 mile cycle!  After 8 tedious windy, cold, hilly and difficult hours, we got to Edinburgh and jumped straight on a bus home to warm up and refuel!

2001 Trek 4900 Hard tail, front suspension

2001 Trek 4900 Hard tail, front suspension

 

B'Twin Triban 3

B’Twin Triban 3

I also walked the 95 mile West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William back in 2008 over 5 days and again in 2011 over a more leisurely 6 days.

Then in 2013 I walked the 79 mile Great Glen Way from Fort William to Inverness with my friend Claire and my two dogs.  Sadly both Claire and Candy got injured so only Winnie and I made it the whole way.   I was always looking for new challenges and constantly surprised at how, with focus, training and determination anything could be possible.

 

There was one last motivating factor… it was coming up to a big birthday… the BIG 4 0 !    And I thought, wouldn’t it be better to get money for charity than gifts for me?  And wouldn’t it be a good motivation to do a big challenge before everything heads south!

So I thought ‘London to Paris’ Bring it on!  If only I knew…

 

 

Advent Special – Day 2 #L2P24

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London to Paris in 24 hours epic cycle Inspiration….. 

OK, you made it to day 2… I’ll set your expectations so you can skip a few if you like and get to the Lycra clad cycling in the rain…

Wed 2 Dec…  I’m going to tell you a bit about how I got the idea (stole the idea) of cycling London to Paris today…

Thurs 3 Dec….   Tomorrow I’ll cover some of my past adventures (short and sweet)…    and then….

Fri 4 Dec…   a bit of prep about buying a fancy new bicycle, choosing gear and packing for the trip (badly)

Sat 5 Dec…    will be the anxious trip to London…

Sun 6 Dec….   We’re off! the train… and we’re off… the bridge… and can we just get started on this cycle trip?!?!

 

So….  Back to Inspiration…   well I’m not sure if you are like me and are just generally inspired by people who challenge themselves and write blogs about it, or books, or if they get really epic, get some TV coverage?    Let’s take a prime example… 2012 Olympics… I just wanted to become Jessica Ennis!  Not only is she an awesome all round sports queen, she’s also amazingly lovely, accessible and smiley.  Her book ‘Unbelievable’ is a great story of her life, her commitment, the pain and the courage to keep going and keep training.  She is outstanding.   But lets face it – I wasn’t going to compete in 7 athletics disciplines within a year for charity!  So I had another think.

Unbelievable, Jessica Ennis

Unbelievable, Jessica Ennis

 

Now there’s Guy Grieve… this Scottish chap, previously an Edinburgh based journalist, got permission from his wife and young kids to chase a dream of building a log cabin in Alaska and living there through the winter on his own (with pet dog and a team of sled dogs) with no supermarket plan B.  Epic!  But again, wasn’t likely my job would let me take that much time off to probably die alone and cold, in aid of charity… back to the drawing board… !

Call of the Wild, Guy Grieve

Call of the Wild, Guy Grieve

Then I was reading “Holding On” by Jo and Rob Gambi.  Imagine your a single man, you see a beautiful girl in a pub.. then you find out she’s into climbing – rock and ice and is not impressed that you do neither!  So, to win her over, you get climbing lessons!  Well Rob Gambi did just that and it could be a nice Disney movie right there but this is real life and although Jo and Rob did get married, they also embarked on a massive challenge (not the marriage).  The decided to climb the highest 7 mountains on earth!  However, true love never runs smooth and sadly Rob also contracted cancer.  Their book is a testament to their endurance of mountain climbing, an endurance of chemo and overcoming it all to achieve their goals (and then some!).  After completing those 7 summits they added on treks to the North and South Poles!  AMAZING!   But yeah… 7 peaks around the world was a bit out my league.  I had only done 7 Scottish Munros and all of those were in summer (so far…  bro : David,  need to speak to you about a bit of ice climbing!).  So that wasn’t happening either!

Holding On, Jo and Rob Gambi

Holding On, Jo and Rob Gambi

FINALLY… found him!   Inspiration in a ginger beard!  I read a story about Sean Conway swimming from Lands End to John O’Groats and learned that this was actually his 2nd trip from one end of the UK to the other.    I was tempted to try the whole length of the country cycling but thought I was taking that a bit far… – that would be around 10 x further than anything I’d ever cycled before!    However, I read his blog

http://www.seanconway.com/

and came across an entry where he talked about London to Paris in 24 hours!   Bingo lingo clickity click this time I found my sponsorship epic!

 

Hell and High Water, Sean Conway

Hell and High Water, Sean Conway

 

Thanks Sean!

 

 

Advent Special – Day 1 #L2P24

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#L2P24 – London to Paris in 24 hrs (cycling).

So you are probably sitting comfortably and cosy and wondering, ‘what on earth possessed you to embark on such a big challenge?’ So before I take you on the journey with me from one capital city to another, let me give you a bit of background…

If you’ve read any of my blog before, you will know I’ve always had a bit of passion for raising money for good causes and more frequently they involve some sort of sponsored sporting challenge. (try saying that after a little festive wine!)

First I raised money for Crohn’s & Colitis after loosing a good snowboarding friend, Paul Davidson, to Crohn’s, far too young.  I think of you Paul, every time I’m zooming down a snow covered mountain!  You were always the fastest!

I also raised money for an organisation I volunteered for: Destiny Lifeline, supporting vulnerable women in Glasgow to help them regain confidence, self worth and sense of purpose and direction.

 

Well, this past 2 years I’ve lost too many of my friend’s close relatives to cancer:

John Hopkins

My close friend Audrey lost her dad John Hopkins – a great guy!  I have many happy memories of holidaying in Spain with the Hopkins and other times having a wee tipple at their house in Haddington, usually accompanied with a massive spread of food, lovingly prepared by Irene.

Jason Houten

I became friends with Samantha at work 17 years ago and in 2014 Samantha lost her brother Jason to a brain tumour.  He was only 34 and left behind two young girls and devoted wife.

Robert Hood

I’ve known David, Robert’s brother, for the last 16 years or so – he was my manager and has become a good friend.  He sadly lost his brother to cancer last year.

Pat and Christine Boselli

Through Samantha I extended my friendships to Joanne and other great girls from Greenock!  I was so sad to hear that within a 7 month period, Joanne lost not only her step-mum but also her Dad.

Too much loss and too much sadness…   I wanted to do something about beating cancers butt.

So I made my decision… I opted for Cancer research UK and set up a Virgin Money giving sponsorship page.   Then all I had to decide was what events would I do this time to honour all these wonderful people.  It seemed that it would require something big…  so I signed up for the Brighton Marathon with 3 friends for April 2015 and I was looking for inspiration for something else… a little bit different to really get people on board to help raise money…..

cancer research logo