Training week #7

Obviously I haven’t been properly training for the last 2 weeks as I was in holidays in France, but within a month to go before the start of my trip, I thought it was time to step up despite the lack of recent training. So this morning I decided to head to the coast where I would need to board the ferry, Hewhaven (near Brighton).

Departure few minutes after 8 this morning, this training was also the occasion to scape the route from London to Newhaven. I prepared it again last night and honestly everything was alright today, I didn’t get lost and I don’t think I rode extra miles. Just had this little segment of A23 at 10miles of Newhaven where the cars were driving fast, it was a bit scarry! So I’m satisfied with this, I know the route now.

However to be honest I wasn’t expecting this level of difficulty. You could think England is flat, but this part isn’t. Either in London, from Brixton to the M23 cut it’s all about climbing. After that, there are a lot of hills to climb, no flat, and short parts to recover. The route is exhausting then, I also get a good piece of a rain as well as some strong wind while arriving near to Newhaven. It was a very hard training. I haven’t seen a lot of other cyclists too, surprisingly.

I took me 4h30 and I rode 70 miles (110km) to Newhaven. Then I caught a train there to London Victoria (1h25) and rode back home to add an extra 6kms. However it took me ages as I had to walk a lot due to the olympics road race restrictions and I forget to switch of my computer so my average and total trip time are a bit distorted.

Otherwise, I was feeling very weak and tired when I arrived in Newhaven, but I was feeling better after the train back home.

A month to go before the beginning, so this is the last straight!

Total Trip: 72.32 miles // 116 km

Total Time: 4h 59min

Average Speed: 14.45mph // 23.26kmh

Max Speed: 35mph // 57kmh

Planning the Route: Part 1

Ferry’s ticket in the pocket I have now to look a bit more into the route I’m planning to ride along. For France, I’m not really afraid of it, I know the French motorway system and the rules, and I if I want to have a good and safe ride, I know I’ll have to stick to D roads (départementale) which are usually quiets and perfect for cycling.

However my main worry is more about this side of the channel; indeed as if I’m used to cycle in the city, other kind of roads are totally unknown for me. Wouldn’t like to end up on a road where cars can drive at 70mph!

There are bunch of routes on the internet, all of them around 60-65 miles from London to Newhaven where I would need to be at 9am on Saturday 25th of August to catch my ferry. I spend 2hours comparing maps between google maps and my road maps, as well as looking for different routes by other people. I didn’t thought that planning a route could be so complex, and I can’t rely on someone else as I would ride alone. Plus the pressure of getting on time at the ferry is real.

Finally I think I’ll stick to my first thinking with this route (via) which looks quite alright, the most annoying part of it being to exit from London to join Redhill, after that it would be a piece of cake. I am just a bit worried about the part between Purley and Redhill (brighton Road, A23) as it seems being a big road heading to the M25. The only way to figure it out is to ride the route at least once before the big day (and comeback by train from Newhaven). Soon then… And it’s still pourly raining in London.