The Debora Matthews Fellowship

Sorry for lack of blog yesterday. Charly didn’t have any wifi that I could get on or any 3G, or much of anything come to that. One of the scruffiest small towns I have ever seen in France and certainly the only one where the only source of food was two greasy kebab shops. We elected not to partake.
Came at the end of a very hard day too. At 128km it was almost as long as London to Dover, but we had a 20kph headwind for a lot of the way. It was very hard work especially for Paddy who led almost all the way. Thanks bro’. Frankie is doing really well too. At least it was 10c cooler than previous days.
Many thanks also to Min and Sarah in the support wagon for their stirling efforts. We really couldn’t do this without them, unlike all the cycle tourists we keep meeting who put us to shame by doing greater distances than us and carrying all their gear with them.
Today was not quite such a long way at 110km. I did not feel good to start with -still tired from yesterday and sore and with heavy legs. For a while it looked like this was going to be a real ordeal. Still we went through some great countryside in the heartland of French agriculture. Golden crops, sunflowers, maize and the horizon dominated by modern cathedrals – or grain silos as some people know them. Had lunch by the river in a very pretty little town called Anglure after which I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and felt much better. I was actually going pretty well by the finish.
We’re now in the outskirts of the city of Troyes in Champaign. I’ve always thought this might be a quite attractive place, but have never really stopped to find out before. We may have a ride throughout the centre to find out tomorrow. I’ll tell you all about it next time I get online.

A bit shorter ride today, about 80km to the very attractive town of Peronne. As this is located on the Somme, very few people will need telling that the history of the area is far from attractive. Most of us know a little about the battles and the war graves, but it wasn’t until cycling through today that I realised just how many cemeteries there are. We stopped at one – the sunken road cemetery which had 400 beautifully kept graves of soldiers from all over Britain, Ireland and Canada. They all seemed to have died in September and October 1918, less than TWO months before the end of the war. We were all deeply affected by the experience and were glad there was a register of burial so we could learn more about the people resting there, and a visitor’s book so we could leave a note of our thoughts.
Hotter again today, we recorded 32c and the wind is still not helping. Tomorrow is a much longer day, and we need to make an early start. Weather is forecast to change with rain and cooler. Don’t need the first glad about the second.
Camping in a very attractive pretty site by the river. Hope the others have finished the washing up while I’ve been writing this. Better go and help.

Well our first day in France wasn’t so bad. It was hot though, much more than we’re used to. Some of the route followed canals in the Pas de Calais which were lovely to cycle along and very picturesque. The roads weren’t bad either for the most part. Some magnificent gardens on the way too. Navigating through open country was much better than in England, but getting through the towns was sometimes a bit of a trial. Our maps don’t show the one-way systems!
Muscles were a bit more tired today, but knees are fine. I guess that’s the way round you’d want it.
Couldn’t work out why it took us until 4pm to get here. Then remembered that we started in England and had a ferry to catch. We rode on and off just like the cars do – so why is the fare more? Thank you to the nice lady in the lounge who was very interested in what we were doing and donated £10.
At least we don’t have to get up at 5.45 tomorrow. A lie-in after the last 2 days. Similar length route to today. Wednesday is a long day though. Need my beauty sleep.

Well we made it to Dover! Turned out to be a beautiful day for cycling. Got lost two or three times, but not badly. A big thank you to the Milestone Marble Cafe on the A226 near Dartford for their hospitality to cyclists needing facilities. We tried to buy drinks, but they wouldn’t let us pay. Thank you also to the lorry driver en route who donated £5 to us on the spot.
Score one trashed tyre and two inner tubes. Interesting potholes on some of the route.
Writing this in the bar of the Premier Inn. Support crew very disappointed that Lenny isn’t here . Suspect the staff get fed up of being asked. Need to get to bed soon as 7.30 ferry in the morning. Night all.

Well unbelievably it’s now only 9 hours away. Twelve of us are leaving from Clapham Common at 7am tomorrow morning:

Joe, Frankie, Paddy, Cat, Mike, Mel, Lisa, Peter, Simon, Richard, Emily and Gareth are all cycling to Dover. Min and Sarah are driving in support. On Monday morining Joe, Frankie, and Paddy are taking the ferry to Calais with Min and Sarah continuing in support. This is the team for the first two weeks.

Carol, Jo and Connie are ferrying back those who aren’t carrying on from Dover.

Debora’s brother and sister-in-law Rob and Val are setting off on July 29th to catch the cyclists up at the Italian border. Paddy, Min and Sarah are returning to England from there. Lisa and Cat are flying out to Turin arriving on Sunday. Lisa will take over from Rob and Val in support and Cat will join us riding the third week across Italy and up to the Dolomites.

Neil and Francesca are then taking over support, when Lisa and Cat fly back from Verona on August 7th.

Jo and Mike are flying in to Verona on the 8th – Jo to take over support, and Mike to ride the last week with Joe and Frankie. The final person to join is Mel who is flying out to Verona on August 10th and cycling to Venice with us. Frankie and Joe are then driving back, and the others taking the plane.

As you can see a lot of effort by many people.  Now to try to sleep, and stop thinking about the Galibier. I will try to update as we go along.

A huge thankyou to everyone who has sponsored us. I promise you the money will all be put to good use, and will be a very worthwhile investment. Many individuals who I’m afraid I don’t have time to list individually, but thank you all.

We have had very generous support from several companies.  We are exteremly grateful to all the directors and staff of,

Ophir Energy

Field Development Services

Nexen Inc

Waitrose

Dove’s butchers on Northcote Road in Battersea