London to Paris in 24 hours, could you do it?

Fitness blogger Lorna North shares what it takes to cycle from London to Paris in 24 hours and triumph over physical and mental barriers.

At the turn of the New Year, I promised myself that 2015 would be one full of lots of challenges. I had fallen off the wagon slightly after a disappointing marathon and plateaued in my fitness and my drive to push my limits and explore what I am capable of. This was also part of my rationale for starting my own women’s cycling and running blog and it was through this network that I first heard of Sophie Radcliffe, also known as Challenge Sophie.

I followed her journey for a year as she completed lots of mental and physical challenges, including a world first to climb the highest mountains in the seven Alpine countries and cycle in between them. I was totally inspired. So when I heard that she was running a sportive to get from London to Paris and cycle 200 miles in 24 hours, I was in.

Facing the beast
When you sign up to events, you always assume that come the day, you’ll be ready. I felt totally unprepared and was trying to silence all the usual demons – had I done enough? What if I get dropped? Do I have what it takes? I’ve only had a road bike for a year and half and my longest mileage to date was just under 100 miles. This would be double that and cycling through the night, on next to no sleep. Were my legs even capable of such a feat?

We set off from Greenwich and headed in the direction of Kent, ultimately to end up in Newhaven. The route to the English coast was undulating and there were some pretty steep hills to overcome. The feed stations along the way were very welcome but as my energy started to lag, all I could think about was that we had more than double the distance to do on the other side of the Channel.

It was about seven miles from the ferry port that the rain began and we later learned that it would not stop until about seven miles from the Eiffel Tower. We caught an 11pm ferry out of Newhaven and tried to get some much needed sleep in the lounge chairs before the aggressive tanoy announcement wrenched us awake and dispatched us into the early-hour obscurity of Dieppe.

Peaks and troughs
It was the first 30 miles of French soil that I was at my lowest. Bleary eyed and hungry, watching those early miles pass in what was still the middle of night felt like entering a long dark tunnel that I couldn’t see the end of. It also didn’t help that my left pedal suddenly stopped working and I anticipated the thought of having to do another 100 miles with only one shoe clipped in. If anyone has ever tried to cycle up a hill with only one cleat, you’ll understand my fear!

I seemed to turn a corner after we pulled into a feed station somewhere in Northern France and had the opportunity to wolf down some breakfast. I had got over my early-morning moodiness and started to enjoy myself. By this time the sun had risen and we were flying along in a group of eight, taking regular turns to sit at the front of the peloton, which meant that we were working together as a team to get to our destination. Looking back now, I am not sure I would have made it without the comradery of this group – it made a huge difference to both our average speed and morale.

Counting down from 10
Despite one working pedal, I was in high spirits and as we inched closer to Paris the reality of what I had achieved even by that point was starting to sink in. I thought I was on the home straight and it would be easy from here on in. I was wrong. With only 10 miles to go I started hurting. It was an internal ache somewhere between muscle fatigue, mental exhaustion and hunger, and I was beginning to feel a bulging pain in my right knee – the one that had taken an imbalanced proportion of the work thanks to my broken left pedal.

There was also the time. We were in the 23^rd hour of our journey and it was touch and go whether we would make it in time to succeed in hour 24-hour challenge. This realisation gave me the tenth wind I needed to pull myself together and look longingly ahead, searching for the city of love.

French revolution
Rolling up to the Eiffel Tower after a 23:50 mission while avoiding awkward collisions with tourists was one of the most surreal and incredible experiences I have ever had. I couldn’t quite believe that I had got here through sheer manpower alone. I have Sophie, her team and our peloton to thank for most of it. I have come away with a lot more self-belief than I had before, which I will take with me into future challenges. It took me a few days to restore my body to normality but this recovery was accelerated by a mixture of relief and happiness that I had just cycled from London to Paris in less than 24 hours.