The first week of my season in France has come and gone without any problems. I arrived at the central train station in Rouen at 9pm Sunday night where Didier (who is the club president) welcomed me and drove me to Pavilly where the apartment is that I am living in. It is a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment which is in the center of Pavilly and as I write this while sitting in the lounge I turn my head to the left and look out the window on to the centre square and village church. I share the apartment with one of my team mates Thomas who is from Poland and speaks French and English flawlessly which is a blessing as he helps me out with my French allot. When I awoke to my first day in France I went straight to the local boulangerie (Bakery) and bought a baggett which was unbelievably good. After breakfast Thomas and I went a few km down the road to the club house where I picked up my new bike a BH G4 and the new clothing that I would be riding in. Over the next couple of days I went for a couple of short rides so that I could perfect my riding position and get use to the bike. Thursday I didn’t get a chance to get out on the bike as it rained and snowed for the majority of the day. I had planned that come Friday I would ride part the way to Dover, England and then jump on the train for the remainder of the trip as it’s a total of 240km. I left at 7 am as the sun was rising and the mercury still below 0 to be persist -2. I rode to Abbeville which was meant to be about 110km but ended up been 150km as I ended up getting lost a couple of times. So I had lunch in Abbeville and then jumped on a train to Calais and then a boat to Dover where I road to a friend’s house about 20km out of Dover. I stayed until Sunday where once again I left bright and early to catch the boat to Calais and a train on to Abbeville. I then rode back to Pavilly where I had a massive head wind all the way and an average speed of 21km/h. With about 20km to go I somehow ended up getting lost again and added an extra 30km onto the ride which took close to 7hrs. I have now just got back from testing at the local hospital as it is obligatory to have a vo2 test and other test to make sure you are able to race.
4 comments:
I've been in the NT to long - can't imagine going for a ride when the mercury is below zero.
Like the photos. Your outside of your flat looks like the GingerBread Mans house. The new BH looks flash. Cheers Bill
Life in Pavilly sounds good and the bike looks great. Well done for riding to Dover in sub zero degrees bit hard to imagine with the heat we have had here recently. Glad the French is going well.
Good Luck
Tony.
Ah! Is that fixing a flat tyre I see? I thought they only happened in Darwin! The colour coordinated 'Winter Woolies' look good but if it was 'zero' I'd be wearing a ski mask or at least have two wads of cotton up my nostrils to stop the 'dripping'.
Stay warm & upright,
Bubby
Haha Thanks guys, riding in sub zero wasn't the best choice I have made. So now I have decided not to up before 10am so as it will be at lest 7.
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