As promised a review of my L2P24 - London to Paris in 24 hours ride. It was eventful, painful, scary, fun, a right laugh but most importantly - an experience!
London-Dover - 90miles @ 17+mph inc bit of climbing. was ok weather and feeling good!
Calais-Amiens - It went pearshaped (sorry Kirstin French! ) . 2 mechanicals inc a buckled wheel which rubbed on rear brake on every rotation for over 30 miles!!, 1 crash (there was a few crashes inc a few hospital trips!), busted front light which went into demo mode on every bump - low/high/flashing/off every few seconds! Grrrr!!! Weather was heavy rain initially (so wet feet etc), then showers, then I overheated but couldn't take the waterproofs off because it was quite cold but I was sweating which then got cold and knackered my knee anyway! I did 110 miles in France to Amiens (?), headwind most of the way!! then hit the wall - no matter what I ate or drank, it didn't give me any energy to move and I was feeling faint so I pulled up and had to catch a lift on the support vehicle. Then at next stop it bloody pee'd it down for the next 50 miles so I was gutted.
I heard only 8 made it in 24hrs and only about 30 managed the full distance so it makes me feel better about only doing the double ton!
See what the future holds now!
Getting back from the hotel.... Eurostar trains cancelled everywhere, about a 2hr delay initially... then another wait on the track with no food available on Eurostar (thanks Amy Bee you are a lifesaver!) and ended up getting a taxi back with a few people then picking bike up.... then hitting burger king 70 miles from at 10 pm!! A long day!
So to summarise, 200miles cycled, 1 crash, 2 mechanicals, headwind for hours, rain for hours, hitting the wall and feeling crap but great event and camaraderie and great people. The way my legs feel proved I worked for all I was worth!
About 6000ft of climbing I did too apparently. over the entire route there was nearly 10000ft!
So gutted with myself but I gave it my all!
Speech went very well in Paris too! Very proud moment!!
Here is the speech:-
Speech
Hi everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the ride and it exceeded your expectations of the experience. Hope it showed just how far you can push yourself when it’s needed and you’re in the company of likeminded people!
I’ve been asked to give a little background on myself and my experiences of all this. I’m going to borrow some inspiration from Stephen Hawking – this is ‘A Brief History Of Dan!’
Please feel free to interrupt if I’ve not explained something properly – I’ve never done public speaking before.
Why Scope and Why This Ride?
Originally I was asked if I’d ever fancy doing London-Paris with my uncle in 2012 over a few days. I had only been road riding less than a year so I was nowhere near comfortable with going over 20 miles. In 2013 I had an epiphany or a psychotic episode in February and signed up for it. With little comfortable preparation I managed to do all 280miles due to determination I guess – the fact is was for Scope and would help my health in turn made up my mind for me once I secured backing of my work place to kick-start my funding pledge.
Because of my time spent in the Walsgrave hospital in Coventry I made some good friends who I still see now for meals etc who have gone through much worse than I’ve had to and still got a smile on their faces! It was the physios who had got me into cycling because of my injuries – by the time I left hospital I went from being unfit and broken and wheelchair-bound to cycling 7miles on an exercise bike.
A little history of my hindrances:-
My injuries included:-
Severe head injury - Sub-arachnoid haemorrhage or Brain Bleed
Spent 3 weeks in a coma with a week of that in critical care where I was given 24hrs to live
Collapsed both lungs
Rebuilt left knee
Broke every major bone in left leg – tibia/fibula/femur and have a metal rod the length of my femur
Broke my left forearm – plated and screwed (1 bone/2 bones?)
Broke 5th metacarpal in left hand - meaning my little finger doesn’t straighten
Shattered right humorous/upper bone in arm and broke radial/ulnar in forearm
Ulnar nerve damage in right forearm – 3 months to regain enough movement to grip
Possible broken collar bone and ankle – physios think I broke them as they weren’t ‘quite right’
Arthritis
Tracheotomy – done at the pub I had the accident outside as there happened to be a table of doctors and nurses having dinner inside! Without them being there I’d quite simply died as I had stopped breathing and my heart had stopped beating.
Result of all that is a lot of rehab for my physical injuries and also because of my head injury. I’ve had attitude changes, resets – it reset all my taste buds from never eating fruit or vegetables to loving them, memory loss – had to relearn how to tie shoe laces – I spent hours doing it and each time I’d ask a nurse for a mark out of 10 and suggestions, relearn balancing to enable me to walk. I got told off once when I fell over after practicing walking between beds on my own unaided to make myself ‘relearn’ after doing it for hours. Physical side was a limitation in my right elbow movement to 20 degrees – further op expanded this to 45 degrees, little finger as said and knee was incredibly weak and not as flexible as it should be so issues kneeling down etc. The only limb I didn’t break they took a skin graft off from the entire of my thigh.
Ever since my accident where I ‘died’ 3 times apparently due to my heart stopping beating or me stopping breathing. I’ve lived by a mantra I made up myself from learning to stand, walk, run, cycle and pretty much start from ground zero by going from wheelchair bound to how I am today – “There are no ifs, buts or maybes – only I will.”
I had a tattoo to remind me to NEVER GIVE UP! This was because of the head injury issues again which in many ways has been far worse than the physical injuries. I could feel an affinity with Scope and the work it does because I’ve seen it help my friends and having ‘issues’ I could relate better than most. I never once considered myself disabled in spite of being told I could or should. I’ve been offered help by Headway and Scope were suggested but if I had taken a space up it would quite simply seem like me taking away from those who are less fortunate because of simple genetics or in the wrong place at the wrong and having done nothing to cause it. I still consider myself very fortunate and I’ve had a lot of fantastic support from people.
2014 Ride
I wasn’t happy with my time in 2013 as at 24.5 hrs as I felt I’d let myself down and others. I blame the competitive nature of being an ex-motorcycle racer who has won races and championships for that.
I had a lot of support and belief from people last year and quite simply whenever anybody asked if I’d do it again – “I’d do it tomorrow as it was such a fantastic experience, great people and all for a great cause.” I’ll always help anybody as long as they are willing to help themselves. Some people try like mad and need a helping hand to support or guide them as they try to get back to somewhere near what’s considered normal and that is where charities like Scope come in.
How Did The Ride Go?
I had a LOT of support again! From strangers to friends to family members. Especially from Cat1 Cycling who revolutionised the way I ride a bike with some changes, suggestions and a bit of ‘out of the box’ thinking. Before I could never ride without painkillers and after 10 miles I was always on pain management which sapped energy. Now I can ride without painkillers and with a bit of pain. I have been very fortunate with how things have gone.
*insert general idea of how ride went on day*
What The Future Will Hold?
I’m not sure yet – only thing I know is I’ll keep cycling. The physios at the Walsgrave Hospital told me to cycle to help keep my knee as good as can be as it is non-impact, unlike running. I’d like to do this event again for the reasons I’ve said but a lot of support is needed and the future is always uncertain so I’ll sit and hope and see what happens.
I hope this has given you a bit of incite into why this is such a great occasion for me as being involved in something like this and giving a speech, in Paris of all places, is something I had never considered happening so to get a chance like this is very special. Thanks for listening and I’ll leave you to enjoy the fantastic night and all the bits that have been laid on.
All in all - another hell of an experience! So wanted to do full distance but apparently only 8 did it in 24hrs and only 30ish out of 300 did the full distance due to weather, accidents etc! People were being treated for dehydration at 2am then treated for hypothermia at 6am!! Toughest double ton I've ever done!
