Archive for the ‘Paris’ tag
Audacious
I’ve ridden a few Audaxes and enjoyed all of them, but never longer than 200 km which strikes me as quite a day out in the saddle. I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie and the opportunity to meet new cyclists, and the routes are often carefully crafted to show the best of the local countryside.
I’ve never been tempted by the longer distances and particularly not by the killer Paris – Brest – Paris, all 1200 miles of it. It’s the talk of hallucinations and fall asleep while riding along which rather put me off. To my knowledge I have only met one person who has ridden it and she struck me as slightly bonkers. But I have to say that this video did make it appear to be quite a fun experience. Love the Twin Peaks music at the night-time feed station.
Besoin de vélo
Velib tickets piling up
I’ve posted before about how fabulous the Paris Vélib’ scheme is. Virtually indestructible bikes scattered around the city to pick up and drop off as you need them.
There are three essential things to know about hiring a Vélib’ bike as a tourist.
Firstly, check out the bikes in the stands – choose one that has inflated tyres, that you can adjust the seat height and that generally looks OK. Things that can go wrong include broken rear brake cables, broken mudguards that snag the wheels – the bikes are only virtually indestructible – there is a number on the top of the bike stand – make a note of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Folding Bike Challenge: The summary
Brompton have undercover publicists everywhere
The Folding Bike Challenge is the best possible way to spend five days. I am pleased to have met a fantastic bunch of people and cannot praise enough the organisation that is Action Challenge. I am indebted to the fabulous guys at Folding Bike Hut – thanks for bike – you made it possible for me to carry on.
What did I learn? Read the rest of this entry »
Folding Bike Challenge: Rest day
The great thing about the Velib bikes is they are so cheap to hire, you can stop and have breakfast whenever you want, for as long as you want. And when you are tired from 250 miles of cycling you don’t notice the chair immediately in front of the camera.
Folding Bike Challenge: Day 4
And so to Paris. The final day was a ride of three halves. Cold and windy to start, followed by warm and hilly and then a relaxed descent into Paris with bells dinging and observers either waving or muttering ‘Ils sont malades’ under their breath.
