Day 4 - Beauvais to Paris

8am start

Today we had the choice of when to start. There were less miles to ride but again we were riding to a deadline as we all had to be a the lunch spot (just outside Paris) by 1pm. We decided to get out fairly early so that we weren't rushing and had time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

Water stop! 268 miles done!

Today was the hardest day. The route was physically perhaps not as tough as the other days but 3 days of constant cycling had definitely started to take it's toll on my body. The first few miles were a definite struggle but I seemed to get into the swing of it for about an hour and made it to the water stop in good time and with the rest of the group.

After we left the water stop, I seemed to totally hit the wall. I slowed down quite a lot as I just didn't seem to have any energy. I seemed to keep losing most of my group so there were large parts of the morning where I couldn't even see any other riders. This was the toughest day mentally too as I was determined to get there with my group but my body just didn't seem to want to co-operate with me. Towards the water stop, there were some roads that on the first day would have seemed to barely incline but by the last day seemed like mountains to my weary legs.

Photo ops and Cafe stops

As I said before, we had a lot more time today to take it easy and take in some of the scenery so we took a few impromptu stops. Coming to one of these stops, in a cafe, Tracy and I were a bit further behind the others and got stuck behind a bus until it stopped and we could overtake. Coming up to the cafe, a police car stopped and an officer waved at us so I waved back and shouted bonjour, commenting how friendly the police were in France. She then got out of the car and crossed the road before starting to tell us off (I assume she was telling us off, she looked mad but I can't speak French well enough to be sure). We said that we were English and she just threw her hands up and walked back to the car. So, we may or may not have committed a crime/traffic violation but we can't be sure ;-)

Lunch!

What a relief to make it to the lunch stop today and re-unite with my group! I think if it had been any further away that I might not have made it...I was definitely running on empty for the last few miles. When I got there, there were bikes and bodies scattered all over the grass - reassuring me that I was not the only one finding the last day tough! I had a nice hearty, carb-loaded lunch and felt almost instantly better. Plus, knowing we were only a few miles away from the end destination made it so much better.

Entering Paris

After lunch, we cycled a few miles alongside the river Seine to a park on the outskirts of Central Paris where we all re-assembled as a group. We were given our blue 'I cycled London to Paris' t-shirts to change into so that we all looked the same. 

We then cycled in convoy, all 122 of us, behind the Skyline van. As we were cycling up towards the Arc De Triomphe, one of the vans pulled alongside and started to belt out 'The eye of the tiger'. It was quite a surreal experience. Once we got to the top of the road, we all managed to survive the dreaded roundabout and get a fantastic view. 

We then cycled all together down the Champs Elysees. There had been a rugby game on that finished around the same time with Toulouse winning so all the fans were in high spirits. Paris is busy anyway, but with the added rugby supporters, there were hundreds of people there as we cycled past. A lot of people had lined the streets to see what all the commotion was (I'd imagine that 100+ people cycling down the Champs Elysees is not something you see every day) and they all started to cheer and applause as we went past. The feeling is so hard to describe unless you were there, but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. The rugby fans were running into the street and patting people on the back and throwing high fives. We hadn't known what to expect when we arrived in Paris but I don't think anyone was expecting the welcome that we got.