By Jonnie Galvin-Wright. Above & Beyond business ambassador for the challenge – and managing director of Stuff Advertising in Bristol when he is not on a bike.
Well here we are again. I say again as I am once more attempting this ride following its inaugural event last year.
All a bit surprising really when you consider that two years ago I had not been on a bike for a long time and the thought of riding for 10km (let alone over 430km) was a bit of a challenge. But cycling is like that. It gets you in your soul.
Next Friday some 80 cyclists will depart once again from Bristol on their way to Salisbury, Portsmouth, Caen, Evreux and finally Paris; all in aid of one of the very best local causes – Above & Beyond, the charity that raises much needed funds for Bristol’s hospitals. 
In 2015 we raised more than £100,000 and this year we’re hoping to beat that with a target of £150,000!
Day one is famed as ‘the hardest day’; it’s not because it’s the most kilometres in a day (just 95) or has the biggest day of climbing overall. It’s because, to coin a phrase from our 2015 ride leader Gideon, it’s ‘lumpy’. Lumpy means up and down; and up and down. And it’s this that tires the legs.
Tip No. 1: Take it easy in the morning and don’t push too much. After Warminster we enter the Salisbury flood meadows and drift down into the city for the evening. Survive this day though and, as a rider, you will start to relax in to the ride a bit more.
Following a stay over in a Salisbury hotel, where you will meet some of your fellow riders properly (Tip No. 2: get to the hot water before your new friends do), we head out towards Eastleigh and Portsmouth. It’s a very different day compared with day one with half the elevation and slightly less distance. But beware: as you ride towards Portsmouth there is a bit of a sting in the tail with a long, slow hill past some World War Two encampments before dropping in to Portsmouth.
The evening in Portsmouth last year was characteristically ‘dockside’. We arrived at a pub right next to the ferry port and it was here we ate and awaited departure with a very entertaining landlord!
Tip No. 3: The Saturday night crossing on the ferry is everything a rider’s training has not allowed for. Late night, very early start. So, get to the cabin and get your head down ready for Sunday which brings a truly fantastic day. Riders get their first taste of French roads and the day is spent riding on top of two rolling plateaus (once climbed up to!) and through French fields and villages. If the wind gets behind us the ride speed picks up and the kilometres start to go very quickly.
Sunday night brings the ride down to the cathedral town of Evreux and in to a pretty town square.
Tip No 4: There is a very hospitable wine bar in the square (which we also ate in last year) which provides a real chance to relax and have a well-earned French beer following two days of cycling and travelling.
And then, on the final day it’s up to Paris. I say “up to” as there are a few hills to challenge the group on this day (though never anything too steep). But by this point many of the riders will be used to this kind of terrain and the distance. Once we reach Paris we’ll collectively regroup in the parks outside the capital before making our way to the finish line at the Eiffel Tower to meet friends and family.
It’s a bit of buzz when you realise you’ve made it, that’s for sure. And rest assured that throughout the trip you will have received a lot of encouragement from the Above & Beyond team and this is a chance to thank them too. You will also have made some new friends, some of whom you may want to keep riding with on another challenge. One couple even got engaged in Paris last year!
In summary this is a challenge you can certainly put down as a ‘life achievement’. I certainly felt like this last year, and I was rather embarrassed to receive a ‘lifetime achievement’ award for my work with this great Bristol charity.
I don’t raise this as some kind of boast but merely to make the point that the real life time achievement ‘winners’ are actually the patients, friends and family that gain from the ride’s efforts.
It also recognises and thanks the dedicated consultants, doctors, midwifes, staff and carers of any specialism who serve the NHS and, ultimately, all of us. That’s what makes this ride so special and why all who partake in it should be very proud of their efforts.
‘Chapeau’ to all and I will see you on the start line (not that it’s a race you understand!)
To find out more information about the Above & Beyond Bristol to Paris Challenge, or to make a donation, please click here.
Bristol Business News will give full coverage of the challenge departure nexxt Friday and will follow the progress of the intrepid cyclists with regular reports, updates and live blogs as they make their way to the French capital.
